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Why Model Before Deploying Walking a coverage area with a radio after installing a repeater is valuable ground-truth — but it is expensive if the site turns out to be wrong. Free online tools let you model RF line-of-sight and rough coverage before committing ...

Why Field Test? Even the best RF prediction tools are only as good as their terrain models. Buildings, vegetation, and local obstructions can significantly degrade predicted coverage. Field testing confirms what the models predict — and reveals the surprises t...

LoRa Channel Capacity LoRa is a low-data-rate technology. Unlike Wi-Fi, the RF channel is shared by all nodes simultaneously using a CSMA-like approach combined with Meshtastic's flooding mesh mechanism. Understanding channel capacity helps you design a networ...

Geographic Context Metro Vancouver sits between the Coast Mountains to the north and the US border to the south, with the Fraser River delta extending to the east. This geography provides exceptional repeater sites on the North Shore mountains: Grouse Mountain...

Geographic Context Toronto sits on the flat north shore of Lake Ontario at roughly 250 ft elevation. The Niagara Escarpment runs to the west (rising 200-300 ft above the lake plain near Hamilton and Burlington), and the Oak Ridges Moraine rises to the north, p...

Geographic Context Ottawa sits at the confluence of the Ottawa and Rideau Rivers at roughly 250 ft elevation. Directly across the Ottawa River, the Gatineau Hills in Quebec rise to 1,400 ft, providing commanding elevated positions that overlook the entire Nati...

Geographic Context The Twin Cities metro sits on relatively flat terrain at 800-1,000 ft elevation. The bluffs along the Mississippi River -- rising up to 300 ft above the river level -- provide the best elevated positions in the metro. The broader Minnesota l...

Geographic Context Salt Lake City sits in a bowl valley between two mountain ranges: the Wasatch Range to the east (peaks at 9,000-11,000 ft) and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west. This enclosed geography creates both exceptional elevated repeater opportunitie...

Board Comparison Table The table below covers the most widely deployed boards for LoRa mesh networking as of 2025–2026, across both Meshtastic and MeshCore platforms. All TX power figures are nominal maximum; actual radiated power depends on antenna gain and a...

Board Selection by Use Case Use this guide to narrow down board options based on your deployment scenario. Every use case has a different set of priorities — power consumption, form factor, display needs, and software support all vary. Start with your primary ...

MeshCore Routing Architecture MeshCore uses a demand-driven path-based routing protocol. Unlike Meshtastic's flooding approach, MeshCore establishes explicit routes before sending data. Route Request (RREQ) Mechanism Route discovery works in four steps: W...

MeshCore Packet Format and Encryption Packet Structure Overview MeshCore packets are compact binary structures optimized for LoRa's low-data-rate radio. A typical data packet contains: Source and destination node IDs — 8-byte public keys identifying the co...

MeshCore Network Topology Best Practices Backbone vs. Client Layer A well-designed MeshCore network is organized into two distinct layers: Backbone layer: dedicated repeaters placed on elevated sites with clear line-of-sight between them. These form the ro...