Join your local mesh: Meshtastic or MeshCore depends on your county

A LoRa mesh is a network of small, cheap radios that pass short text messages from one to the next. It needs no cell towers or internet, and the radios run on batteries or solar. In parts of Washington, volunteers have built regional meshes with repeaters on hills and rooftops. If one reaches your home, a pocket-sized node paired to your phone can send texts to neighbors when the phone network is down.

There is a catch, and it’s the reason this guide exists. A mesh radio is only useful if it runs the same protocol and settings as the radios around it. Find out what your neighbors run before you buy anything.

Call 911 if you can. Mesh and radio are best-effort backups.

Step 1: find the group for your county

1. Open your county on the counties page or browse the mesh directory.
2. Each mesh listing shows the group’s protocol (Meshtastic, MeshCore or another) and the settings it publishes, with a link to the group’s own settings page.
3. If nothing is listed for your county, look at the neighboring counties. Regional meshes often reach farther than their name suggests. Meshtastic also keeps a local groups list.
4. Say hello to the group before you buy. They’ll tell you what works in your area and whether their repeaters reach you.

As of late 2026, groups in Washington are split. Some regional groups run MeshCore and others run Meshtastic, and a few support both. That is why our answer is “it depends on your county.”

Step 2: understand why protocols and settings must match

Meshtastic and MeshCore are different firmware. They run on much of the same hardware, but they don’t speak the same language. A Meshtastic node can’t read MeshCore traffic, and the reverse is also true.

Within Meshtastic, the preset must match. A preset (Long Fast, Long Turbo, Medium Fast and others) bundles bandwidth, spreading factor and coding rate. Meshtastic’s own blog puts it this way: “Two nodes on different presets don’t have a weak link. They have no link at all, at any distance” (Meshtastic).

The preset also picks the frequency. Unless you rename the primary channel, Meshtastic picks the frequency slot from the preset name. In the US, Long Fast listens on 906.875 MHz, Long Turbo on 908.750 MHz and Medium Fast on 913.125 MHz.

MeshCore groups publish exact numbers instead of a preset name: frequency, bandwidth, spreading factor (SF) and coding rate (CR). For example, Puget Mesh publishes 910.525 MHz, 62.5 kHz, SF7, CR5, which its page says appears in the MeshCore app as “USA/Canada (Recommended)” (Puget Mesh). Copy your own group’s values. Don’t copy this example.

Why your node hears nothing

Work through this list in order.

• Wrong protocol. You flashed Meshtastic and your area runs MeshCore, or the reverse.
• Wrong preset or frequency. In Meshtastic 2.8, a node set to the US region on its own screen for the first time starts on Long Turbo. A node set up from the app or command line stays on Long Fast. Meshtastic notes that two identical nodes set up the same afternoon “can end up nearly 2 MHz apart” (Meshtastic 2.8). Upgrading from 2.7 leaves your preset alone.
• Renamed primary channel. On Meshtastic, renaming the primary channel moves you to a different frequency slot. For private groups, use secondary channels 1 to 7 instead. They share your settings and use their own keys.
• Wrong region. Choose the US region and buy the 915 MHz version of the board.
• No repeater in range (MeshCore). MeshCore’s FAQ says clients “do not repeat.” Your phone-paired companion needs at least one repeater within reach.
• No one nearby. If nobody has confirmed an active mesh near you, silence may simply mean nobody’s there yet. Meshtastic’s Android and Apple apps have a Local Mesh Discovery scan. An empty scan only means nothing is on the default public channel. Meshes with a custom channel won’t show up.
• Old names in the list. Meshtastic keeps nodes it heard before, so a list full of names doesn’t prove you can reach them. Send a direct message and wait for the acknowledgment.

The FCC Part 15 500 kHz point, in plain words

LoRa meshes in the US run in the 902–928 MHz band without a license, under FCC Part 15. Two rules matter:

• 47 CFR §15.247 allows up to 1 watt of conducted output for digitally modulated systems. It applies only when “the minimum 6 dB bandwidth” is at least 500 kHz (§15.247(a)(2), (b)(3)). Antennas with more than 6 dBi of gain require cutting the power (§15.247(b)(4)).
• Settings narrower than 500 kHz fall under other Part 15 limits instead, such as §15.249, which sets a much lower field-strength limit.

Meshtastic cites §15.247 as the reason 2.8 starts new US nodes on Long Turbo, which is 500 kHz wide. Long Fast is 250 kHz wide. Many community meshes use narrower settings, such as 250 kHz or 62.5 kHz, and some groups are testing 500 kHz links. We don’t judge any group’s settings. Read the rules, talk with your group, and use your radio’s certified power and antenna.

What we do say:

• Use a device with an FCC ID and the antenna it was certified with. §15.204 limits antenna swaps to the same type with equal or lower gain.
• Never add an external amplifier, and never raise power above what the device is certified for.
• A high-gain antenna needs a matching cut in power under §15.247(b)(4).
• This is not legal advice. For questions, read the rule text or ask the FCC.

Privacy settings to check on day one

• Node name: don’t use your full name, street or house number.
• Position: Meshtastic 2.8 turns position and telemetry broadcasts off by default and doesn’t send precise position on public channels. On 2.7, check this yourself and leave it off or imprecise.
• The default public channel is public. Meshtastic’s default primary-channel key is published, so anyone can read what you send on it (Meshtastic encryption). Use direct messages or a private secondary channel for family.
• Map reporting and MQTT: leave them off unless your group asks. Meshtastic’s MQTT map reports are unencrypted and include your node name and approximate position.
• Never send “nobody’s home,” addresses or medical details on a public channel.

What a mesh does not do

• It doesn’t reach 911 or the phone network.
• It doesn’t guarantee delivery. Messages hop from radio to radio at best effort, and a busy mesh drops traffic.
• It doesn’t carry voice, photos or video. In the normal apps it is short text, plus position if you choose to share it.
• It doesn’t promise range. Coverage depends on terrain and on volunteer repeaters on high ground. Ground-level handheld range is often short.
• Internet-linked “statewide” coverage disappears when the internet goes down. MQTT bridges need the internet, so in an outage you’re left with radio-only links.
• It depends on volunteers. Repeaters need power, upkeep and permission to be where they are.

Firmware note

Checked on 2026-11-01. Meshtastic’s newest beta is 2.7.26 (2026-06-24). 2.8.1 is an alpha (2026-10-01) that the project says “most people should wait” for, and 2.8.0 was revoked. Upgrading to 2.8 changes your node number. MeshCore’s current release is 1.18.0 (2026-10-15) for companion, repeater and room server. Your local group may ask everyone to stay on a particular version, so follow its advice.

We use the name Meshtastic® only to describe the software. Pac West Hub is independent and is not endorsed by the Meshtastic or MeshCore projects.