I am literally building a network in my town. Love this project, so much fun and useful
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
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The meshtastic website has a getting started guide that assumes you already have equipment first...which is odd. Is there a reason to go with Bluetooth only? Does it make more sense to get a Bluetooth and WiFi device?
Bluetooth first generally because you use a companion app on your phone to interface with the device and the BLE chip (nrf25840) sips power compared to the esp based wifi chips, that you will likely be supplying with a battery of some sort.
Lot of complex discussions here about Ham radio operator, new hardware or protocol like Mestastic, SDR, etc so I'd start with "just" what people already have at home and only AFTER go there, if need be.
If you have WiFi Mesh at home or IoT via ZigBee or Z-Wave you already are doing mesh networking. Sure you might not have Internet access this way but the principle is already there via your existing relative affordable infrastructure.
I got a visa gift card for Christmas I'm spending on LORA today. Western NY here. Probably gonna build some decent nodes at home and office. Will add to the map to help encourage others.
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