Meshtastic Insights

Go-to resource for real experiences

  • MESHTASTIC – How to Choose an Antenna 1/3

    Why Antennas Matter I have mentioned several times that the right antenna solves many problems with network communication reliability. This conclusion is based on experiments I conducted to set up a main node that covers traffic throughout my apartment and also works outdoors, contributing to communication with nearby nodes (up to 3 km in rugged…

  • MESHTASTIC – How to Choose an Antenna 2/3

    Methodology for Measuring and Comparing the Gain of Tested Antennas (at Home on Your Knee) As I mentioned in the introduction, I did not use any professional equipment. I prepared everything necessary for the comparison myself, and you can set it up at home. Despite the lack of specialized tools, the results of these experiments…

  • MESHTASTIC – How to Choose an Antenna 3/3

    Rubber LoRa Antenna – 868MHz 5cm This is a commonly included antenna in Meshtastic device kits. It was used as a reference antenna when measuring and comparing different models. Being omnidirectional, it radiates in all directions and is designed for vertical polarization (upright). Its use in a Meshtastic network is quite limited—it works well for…

  • MESHTASTIC – MEDIUM-FAST, LONG-FAST, DX-Meshing and large-scale networks

    It is a mistake to expect that today the Meshtastic network could be used as a regular communicator, which we know from our phones. In fact, in 99% of cases, it is still a user-hidden transmission of telemetry, location sharing and information about nearby nodes. Only a negligible fraction (per thousand) of packets are messages…

  • MESHTASTIC MANIFEST – Recommended Settings (DRAFT)

    BASIC PRINCIPLES Operation in the ISM Band The Meshtastic network operates in the ISM band under a general license. Users MUST adhere to the following binding rules: The operation must not significantly restrict other users of the band. The Meshtastic network is not the only technology in the ISM band and must respect other networks…

  • MESHTASTIC – What to do when they’re angry

    Before you throw away your device due to inoperability or start experiencing poor Meshtastic network reliability, I recommend taking the following steps to find out what’s really going on in your network and most likely identify the cause of the problem. Device settings – always check for errors in your settings. If in doubt, perform…

This is how it all started…

I started exploring Meshtastic out of curiosity, aiming to build a reliable communication network using LoRa. As I experimented with different hardware, antennas, and firmware configurations, I quickly realized that real-world performance often differs from theoretical expectations. Through trial and error, I optimized my setup, tested range limits, and fine-tuned settings to reduce network overhead and interference. My goal with this blog is to share these insights with others—providing realistic expectations and practical solutions—because online forums are often filled with misleading or irrelevant information. Here, you’ll find not just speculation.

The texts on this blog are written in a way that is easy to understand for beginners and may contain simplifications or inaccuracies that do not meet professional standards. Professionals may have objections to the content, which is perfectly fine. However, I believe that even these insights can help newcomers better understand Meshtastic and avoid the mistakes I made myself.

In the texts, I refer to the unit dBi** – a pseudo-unit of antenna gain, experimentally derived from data presented directly by LoRa/Meshtastic devices. The purpose of introducing this convention is to capture improvements or degradations as perceived directly by the device itself.

Contributions and insights from other users are welcome—feel free to comment, message me on Telegram (user Z001/ZR10), email me or leave comments.