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MeshCore Repeater Setup

This page pulls together everything you need to bring a MeshCore repeater onto the NEO Mesh, in one place. It assumes you have already read MeshCore Getting Started and know what a repeater is.

If you want to host a repeater without getting deeply involved in the community, read Host a Node instead — volunteers can help with hardware and setup.

Ask in the NEO Mesh Discord before deploying. Repeaters affect everyone around them, and the community can help you pick a location, a prefix, and hardware.

Before you start​

Location and power​

A repeater is only as good as its placement. Height and a clear horizon matter more than transmit power or antenna gain.

  • Mount it as high as practical, ideally outdoors and above your roofline. Indoor repeaters perform significantly worse.
  • Use stable power: mains with a UPS, or solar with a battery sized for Ohio winters. Typical draw is about 2–5 watts.
  • Check the Live Map for nearby repeaters, and use Tools → Line of Sight in the MeshCore mobile app to evaluate paths. Line of sight tools account for terrain, but not buildings.
  • Test a temporary setup before committing to a permanent mount.

Hardware​

  • A supported LoRa board. Heltec v4 boards are our current recommendation; ask in Discord for other known-good options.
  • An antenna designed for 902–928 MHz. Antennas advertised for the wrong band may perform poorly even if they fit.
  • A weatherproof enclosure if mounting outdoors.
  • A USB cable and a computer with Chrome or Edge for flashing and serial configuration.

A higher gain antenna can increase distance but flattens the radiation pattern. A better antenna does not fix a bad location.

Step 1: Flash the firmware​

Flash the Repeater role using the official MeshCore Web Flasher:

  1. Connect the board to your computer over USB
  2. Open the web flasher
  3. Select your device (or detected port)
  4. Choose the Repeater role
  5. Flash, then power-cycle the board

Use the latest firmware. Firmware 1.14 or newer is required for 2-byte path hashes (see Step 5).

Many repeaters in the NEO region run IoTThinks' Easy SkyMesh custom firmware, which improves power savings. This is worth considering for solar installs.

Step 2: Open the console​

All settings below are entered at the repeater command line. Over USB, go to the MeshCore Web Flasher, click Console, and select the device. Once the repeater is configured, most commands can also be sent remotely by logging in as admin from the MeshCore app.

Confirm the firmware version:

ver

Step 3: Apply NEO Mesh settings​

Radio​

Use the USA/Canada preset:

SettingValue
Frequency910.525 MHz
Bandwidth62.5 kHz
Spreading Factor7
Coding Rate8
set radio 910.525,62.5,7,8

If the frequency, bandwidth, or spreading factor do not match, your repeater cannot communicate with the NEO Mesh.

Transmit power​

Set TX power to match what your board supports (1–22 dBm at the LoRa chip). For example, if your board supports 22 dBm:

set tx 22

Some boards have an extra power amplifier stage, so the chip setting is not the total output. Check your board's documentation. Running above 1W requires proper licensing (for example, under amateur radio rules).

Adverts​

set advert.interval 240
set flood.advert.interval 47
  • Zero-hop advert: 240 minutes. Allowed range is 60–240 minutes. Set this explicitly — a factory-fresh node defaults to 2 minutes, and saving any setting resets an out-of-range value to 0 (disabled).
  • Flood advert: 47 hours. Allowed range is 3–168 hours.

More power or more frequent adverts is not better. Consistent settings keep RF noise down for everyone.

Reboot to apply radio and TX power changes:

reboot

Step 4: Identity, name, and security​

Pick a unique prefix​

MeshCore uses the first hex characters of the public key as a short node ID. Two repeaters sharing a prefix make paths and debugging confusing. Check prefixes already in use (the CLE region on the analyzer repeater list, or /prefix-list in #meshcore-general on Discord), then generate and set a non-colliding key.

The full procedure is in MeshCore Repeater Collisions. Do this before deploying — changing the key later changes the repeater's identity, and anything that references the old public key will need updating.

Name​

set name CLE - Tower 1 NE

Choose something descriptive and reasonably unique; town or neighborhood names are common. Avoid very short or generic names. Names are limited to 23 bytes when location is included (31 bytes otherwise), and longer names are truncated.

Location (optional)​

set lat 41.4993
set lon -81.6944

Decimal degrees. Publishing location helps the community map coverage. Leave it at 0 if you prefer not to share it.

Owner info (optional)​

set owner.info Your callsign or Discord handle

Requires firmware 1.12+. A | character is displayed as a newline.

Admin password​

Change the default admin password. The default is password, and anyone who logs in with the admin password can reconfigure your repeater remotely.

password <new-admin-password>

Store it in a password manager rather than a plain text file.

Step 5: Switch to 2-byte path hashes​

2-byte path hashes make nodes easier to tell apart on the mesh. This requires firmware 1.14+. Older firmware silently drops these packets.

set path.hash.mode 1
get path.hash.mode

The reply is > 1. No reboot is needed. See Switch to 2-Byte Hashes for companion settings and current adoption across the mesh.

Step 6: Verify​

Send a flood advert so the mesh learns about the repeater:

advert

Then check from the field:

  • Neighbors: run neighbors on the repeater to list nearby nodes it has heard (8 most recent adverts).
  • Trace: from your companion, use Tools → Trace to your repeater, then to a known nearby repeater with yours as the final hop (Your Repeater → Target Repeater → Your Repeater).
  • Repeats heard: send a message in #test and confirm repeats are heard.
  • Analyzers: look for your repeater and its traffic on the LetsMesh analyzer and the Live Map.

Not appearing on a map does not necessarily mean the repeater is not transmitting. Trust trace results and repeats heard first. If something is off, see MeshCore Troubleshooting.

Step 7: Save a rebuild kit​

Keep a small "rebuild kit" for each repeater in a password manager:

  • Private key (get prv.key, serial only)
  • Repeater name
  • Admin password
  • Lat/long (if published)

If you ever reflash or replace a board, you can restore these values and bring it back up identical to what is in the field.

Optional: Run an observer​

A repeater can also report the packets it hears to LetsMesh as an observer, which helps the community see coverage and routing quality. See MeshCore LetsMesh Observer.

Quick command summary​

ver
set radio 910.525,62.5,7,8
set tx 22
set advert.interval 240
set flood.advert.interval 47
set name <name>
set lat <latitude>
set lon <longitude>
password <new-admin-password>
set path.hash.mode 1
reboot
advert

Set a non-colliding private key using MeshCore Repeater Collisions before deploying.

For every available command, see the official MeshCore CLI reference.