MESH NETWORKS

What is a mesh network?

In most networks, there's a clear hierarchy: you connect to a router, the router connects to your ISP, the ISP connects to the wider internet. Remove any link in that chain and your connection breaks. A mesh network works differently: every device on the network can talk directly to nearby devices, and those devices pass the traffic onward. Messages find their own route through whatever nodes are available.

Think of it like a human chain passing a message down a line — if one person isn't there, the chain simply adjusts and passes around them. There's no central router that everything depends on. The network heals itself around failures.

This makes mesh networks extremely resilient. They're used in battlefield communications, disaster response, remote wilderness areas, and increasingly by communities who want a network that nobody can simply "turn off."

The tradeoff is that each additional hop adds a small delay and reduces total bandwidth. Mesh networks are not fast compared to a direct fibre connection — but they work where nothing else does.

LoRa: long-range, low-power radio

Most mesh networks in the community space today are built on a radio technology called LoRa — short for Long Range. LoRa is a clever way of encoding data that sacrifices speed for range and battery life. A LoRa device might transmit at 250 bytes per second, but it can do so over distances of several kilometres using a battery that lasts months or years.

That tradeoff makes LoRa perfect for mesh networks where you need a message to reach across a city or mountain range. You won't be streaming video — but short text messages, GPS positions, sensor readings, and alerts travel just fine.

LoRa hardware is now very cheap — often under $30 for a complete module — which has enabled an explosion of community mesh projects.

Meshtastic: community mesh for everyone

Meshtastic is an open-source project that builds a text messaging and GPS sharing network out of inexpensive LoRa hardware. You flash the Meshtastic firmware onto a small LoRa-capable board, and it becomes a node in the mesh. Everyone nearby can message each other, share their location, and relay messages further along the network — no internet required, no central server, no registration.

The typical range between two Meshtastic nodes with basic antennas is 3–5 km in urban areas and 10–20 km with line of sight. Nodes relay messages for up to a few hops, which means a mesh of nodes across a city can pass messages across the whole network even if no two nodes are within direct range.

Meshtastic has a smartphone app (iOS and Android) that connects to your node over Bluetooth, so most users never need to interact directly with the hardware at all. It just works.

Common hardware and software

What people use mesh networks for

• Off-grid communication — hiking, camping, sailing, or anywhere without cell coverage
• Emergency preparedness — messaging when cell networks are overloaded or down
• Community events — local communication without relying on cell towers (which get congested at festivals, protests, etc.)
• Rural areas — covering large farms, ranches, or remote properties where a few nodes can communicate over long distances
• Neighbourhood networks — local chat and GPS sharing for community groups
• Sensor networks — IoT devices reporting conditions without needing cell or Wi-Fi coverage