How to build a country wide Meshcore network
0. See if you already have a community. If not, start it - website, meetups, ...
1. Get ham radio and rf enthusiasts on board. They know things you don't and it's much more difficult than just get a big antenna
2. Settle on frequency and parameters that work in the country. If don't know, EU narrow preset is good to start
3. Repeaters in line of sight, preferably on hills. Solar+battery powered nodes (we want the network to work when grid is down)
4. Monitor, communicate, test, tune
5. Meetups are good
6. Do all this before a revolution, before apocalypse
7. Get as many companion nodes as possible. Give them to family members - flashed and ready to go.
8. Use them daily to get a feel, see uncovered areas
9. Have fun!
Note: I do not take credit for this anywhere, it's just what I've observed others did. I have a shitty repeater in already well covered area, but hopefully I'll be able to set up and maintain a repeater in an uncovered area soon.
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Replies (18)
What do you recommend as hardware for starters ?
Good question. I'm looking for hardware that supports both meshcore and meshtastic to play around a bit.
Most do both.
I recommend Wio Tracker L1 pro.
Preassembled with battery, antenna, USB-C charging.
Works with both meshtastic and meshcore.
Wio Tracker L1 pro
Thanks for the information.
I checked on Meshcore's website and got a Heltec V3. Let's see how it goes.
send an invitation to 3 letter agencies also
Why meshcore? Isnβt reticulum more interoperable?
MeshCore has much better infrastructure.
I love Reticulum, I've tried unsuccessfully to build Reticulum network. And now half the country is covered with MeshCore.
I work with what works and is deployed. I didn't even like Nostr as a protocol in the beginning. But here we are - it works, there are apps, people and I develop for it now.
With tech, you gotta find a Schelling point if it's network based.
Enjoy and have fun!
Thank you @Juraj , what is a good resource to understand Meshcore and see the difference with meshtastic?
What did make you give up on reticulum?
Your favorite AI
I tried to build the network without success, too few people too far away. And then some people built basically a country-wide MeshCore network. Network effects beat beauty of technology all the time. I need to work with something that people actually use.
VHS vs. BetaCam 2.0
How about mesh Bluetooth networks? Far easier to setup. Repeaters should be possible. @jack just built one.
Indeed!