# 📖 Start Here — Network Planning Guide

This book is for people designing and managing community mesh networks - coverage planning, RF propagation, node placement strategy, monitoring, and advanced configuration.

## 🚀 What's Your Goal?

- **Planning coverage for a new area:** Start with [Coverage Planning Tools Overview](/books/network-planning/page/coverage-planning-tools-overview)
- **Optimizing an existing network:** Start with [Building a Mesh Network Dashboard](/books/network-planning/page/building-a-mesh-network-dashboard)
- **Placing new repeaters:** Start with [Repeater Placement Principles](/books/network-planning/page/repeater-placement-principles)

## 📚 What's In This Book

### Coverage Planning

- [Coverage Planning Tools Overview](/books/network-planning/page/coverage-planning-tools-overview)
- [RF Coverage Prediction Tools](/books/network-planning/page/rf-coverage-prediction-tools) - Heywhatsthat, Radio Mobile, etc.
- [MeshMapper Wardriving Guide](/books/network-planning/page/meshmapper-wardriving-guide)
- [Field Testing and Coverage Verification](/books/network-planning/page/field-testing-and-coverage-verification)

### RF Propagation

- [Urban Propagation](/books/network-planning/page/urban-propagation)
- [Forest and Vegetation Propagation](/books/network-planning/page/forest-and-vegetation-propagation)
- [Mountain and Complex Terrain](/books/network-planning/page/mountain-and-complex-terrain)
- [Water and Coastal Propagation](/books/network-planning/page/water-and-coastal-propagation)
- [Link Budget Calculations](/books/network-planning/page/link-budget-calculations)
- [RF Propagation Planning Tools](/books/network-planning/page/rf-propagation-planning-tools)

### Node Placement

- [Repeater Placement Principles](/books/network-planning/page/repeater-placement-principles)
- [Coverage Radius Estimation by Terrain Type](/books/network-planning/page/coverage-radius-estimation-by-terrain-type)
- [The Repeater Grid Approach for Urban Coverage](/books/network-planning/page/the-repeater-grid-approach-for-urban-coverage)
- [Designing for Redundancy](/books/network-planning/page/designing-for-redundancy)

### Channel and Frequency Planning

- [Frequency Coordination and Channel Planning](/books/network-planning/page/frequency-coordination-and-channel-planning)
- [Meshtastic Channel Number Selection Guide](/books/network-planning/page/meshtastic-channel-number-selection-guide)
- [Operating Multiple Channels on One Network](/books/network-planning/page/operating-multiple-channels-on-one-network)

### Network Monitoring

- [Building a Mesh Network Dashboard](/books/network-planning/page/building-a-mesh-network-dashboard)
- [Using meshmap.net and Community Maps](/books/network-planning/page/using-meshmapnet-and-community-maps)
- [Mesh Network Capacity and Congestion](/books/network-planning/page/mesh-network-capacity-and-congestion)

### RF Tools

- [Using an SDR for 915 MHz Band Analysis](/books/network-planning/page/using-an-sdr-for-915-mhz-band-analysis)
- [NanoVNA Guide for Mesh Antenna Work](/books/network-planning/page/nanovna-guide-for-mesh-antenna-work)

## ➡️ Related Books

- [Antennas & RF](/books/antennas-rf) - Antenna fundamentals and testing
- [MeshCore Repeaters](/books/meshcore-repeaters) / [Meshtastic Repeaters](/books/meshtastic-repeaters) - Deploying nodes
- [Starting a Community Mesh](/books/starting-a-community-mesh) - Community and governance side