Choosing Your Protocol and Channel
Choosing Your Protocol and Channel
The two dominant LoRa mesh protocols for community networks are MeshCore and Meshtastic. They are not interoperable - nodes must use the same protocol to communicate.
Protocol Comparison
| Feature | MeshCore | Meshtastic |
|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure model | Dedicated repeaters + companion nodes | Peer-to-peer; any node can relay |
| Room servers | Yes - built-in store-and-forward | No full equivalent (an optional Store & Forward module on a PSRAM node is a partial analog, not a room-server/bulletin board) |
| MQTT gateway | Community brokers (e.g. letsmesh.net, meshmapper.cc) | Official public broker (mqtt.meshtastic.org) |
| Regional scoping | Yes - operator-defined region labels (lowercase alphanumeric + hyphen, max 29 bytes) hashed to 2-byte transport codes; no official registry or ISO standard | No |
| App | MeshCore companion app | Meshtastic app (iOS/Android) |
| Hardware compatibility | Commonly ESP32 and nRF52840 boards with SX1262 radio (e.g. Heltec V3, RAK4631, T114, T-Beam); some SX1276 boards are also supported. Verify the current board list at flasher.meshcore.io / docs.meshcore.io. | ESP32 and nRF52 boards |
| Large existing network | RegionMesh (a growing national MeshCore network; see the live map at regionmesh.com for current coverage) | Meshtastic worldwide (meshmap.net, a community map - the official map link is on meshtastic.org) |
General Guidance
- If your area has an existing RegionMesh presence or you want to contribute to a nationwide infrastructure, choose MeshCore.
- If your community already uses Meshtastic or you need nRF52 hardware compatibility, choose Meshtastic.
- Running both is possible but means operating two separate device fleets (the protocols cannot share a radio), which adds operational complexity.
Channel Selection for MeshCore
Most North American MeshCore networks use the USA/Canada preset: 910.525 MHz / 62.5 kHz BW / SF7 / CR5 (as of 2026-06). This is the default for RegionMesh and many other communities; confirm current settings with your local network before deploying, as presets are periodically revised.
If your area has a pre-existing local MeshCore deployment on different settings, match those settings to join that network. Check locally first - then default to the USA/Canada preset.
Channel Selection for Meshtastic
- LongFast preset is the documented Meshtastic default and the most widely used (as of 2026-06); some communities migrate to MediumFast/MediumSlow as they grow.
- Default channel key:
AQ==(the publicly known default key, base64 for the single byte 0x01 - default-channel traffic is readable by any Meshtastic node) - Hop limit: 3 (default; increase only if you have specific reason to)
Do not use a custom channel key unless your community has a specific reason to create a private channel. Using the default key ensures maximum interoperability with travelers and other local nodes.