Meshtastic and MeshCore
Many months ago, I got interested in Meshtastic. I presented it as a workshop to my radio club. I built three nodes. I didn't use it much since then as it seemed like a solution looking for a problem. In talking with others in the club, they felt the same way.
At the Chattanooga Hamfest in October, 2025, someone presented Meshtastic, and I thought more about it. He showed a new device, the SeeedStudio T1000E which is credit card sized tracker. So I bought one. Now what?
Then I saw a YouTube video "Why we're switching from Meshtastic to MeshCore" by The Comms Channel. TC2 is based near me so I was interested. MeshCore is a newer LoRa project that tries to improve on the Meshtastic model by repeating only through repeaters rather than through every node. I suggested to my radio club that we should install Meshtastic and/or MeshCore repeaters on some of our locations.
Here is what I presented:
PROPOSAL: Install Meshtastic and MeshCore repeaters at at least one site (Harrison?)
MeshCore vs. Meshtastic: MeshCore is an alternate to Meshtastic. It works on the same LoRa hardware and offers a different method for getting messages delivered. It is newer and therefore not as developed - yet. Both are used by many discovering mesh communication.
MeshCore could be a great choice for a group that wants to communicate reliably without Internet.
From Austinmesh.org:
When to use which
Both work independent of Internet or cell towers
Meshtastic shines for non-geostationary groups (e.g. a ski hill or a bike ride with moving parties).
MeshCore is optimized for large scale meshes with infrastructure nodes (repeaters) placed on high points.
At the Chattanooga Hamfest in October, 2025, someone presented Meshtastic, and I thought more about it. He showed a new device, the SeeedStudio T1000E which is credit card sized tracker. So I bought one. Now what?
Then I saw a YouTube video "Why we're switching from Meshtastic to MeshCore" by The Comms Channel. TC2 is based near me so I was interested. MeshCore is a newer LoRa project that tries to improve on the Meshtastic model by repeating only through repeaters rather than through every node. I suggested to my radio club that we should install Meshtastic and/or MeshCore repeaters on some of our locations.
Here is what I presented:
PROPOSAL: Install Meshtastic and MeshCore repeaters at at least one site (Harrison?)
MeshCore vs. Meshtastic: MeshCore is an alternate to Meshtastic. It works on the same LoRa hardware and offers a different method for getting messages delivered. It is newer and therefore not as developed - yet. Both are used by many discovering mesh communication.
MeshCore could be a great choice for a group that wants to communicate reliably without Internet.
From Austinmesh.org:
When to use which
- Choose Meshtastic if you want a "bring-a-radio, it just works" experience for roaming groups, mapping, and rich telemetry modules, with minimal setup and no guaranteed infrastructure.
- Choose MeshCore if your aim is a resilient, city or region scale messaging network with fixed repeaters, where end-users don’t rebroadcast by default.
- Implication for AustinMesh: Hill/valley terrain often needs many relays. Seven hops can be a hard ceiling for Meshtastic across the whole metro, while MeshCore's higher limit (63) gives more headroom.
Both work independent of Internet or cell towers
Meshtastic shines for non-geostationary groups (e.g. a ski hill or a bike ride with moving parties).
MeshCore is optimized for large scale meshes with infrastructure nodes (repeaters) placed on high points.
SEEED Studios SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro
COST: $115 per solar powered repeater: SEEED Studios SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro
Plus $10-$50 for better antenna
They would allow me to put repeaters up if I paid for them and did the work. So that is what I am investigating now. I got a better antenna for the Seeed Studios solar repeater and will put it up on my mast in my backyard. It is working now in my radio room. My plan is to put a repeater at Harrison and Signal Mountain.
Another ham is interested in using MeshCore for his part of the county and will put a repeater on his tower about 50 feet up. He also wants a Blackberry style node, the Lilygo T-Deck Plus Meshtastic. I ordered one as I can't easily support him if I am not familiar with it myself.
After learning more about Meshtastic and Meshcore and seeing the UI, I learned that the UI for the Seeed Solar node is much more functional in Meshtastic than Meshcore, so for now, we will use Meshtastic. When Meshcore matures a bit, we will consider migrating to it.
Plus $10-$50 for better antenna
They would allow me to put repeaters up if I paid for them and did the work. So that is what I am investigating now. I got a better antenna for the Seeed Studios solar repeater and will put it up on my mast in my backyard. It is working now in my radio room. My plan is to put a repeater at Harrison and Signal Mountain.
Another ham is interested in using MeshCore for his part of the county and will put a repeater on his tower about 50 feet up. He also wants a Blackberry style node, the Lilygo T-Deck Plus Meshtastic. I ordered one as I can't easily support him if I am not familiar with it myself.
After learning more about Meshtastic and Meshcore and seeing the UI, I learned that the UI for the Seeed Solar node is much more functional in Meshtastic than Meshcore, so for now, we will use Meshtastic. When Meshcore matures a bit, we will consider migrating to it.