Meshtastic - the future?

 As I mentioned yesterday, there is a small, but dedicated group of experimenters. In my view, these experimeners will increasingly use licence-free bands such as LoRa at 868 or 915MHz.

In my view, Meshtastic and Meshcore are in their infancy. Given this, I expect we will see maturity in the next 10 years. In theory, these rely on mesh networks and don't depend on the internet. In big cities where coverage is good, this is fine. In rural areas, or areas with poor coverage, meshes may not reliably cover an area. Over time, these gaps are likely to be filled in.

I can imagine we will see "mature" data transceivers in the near future.

Is this where real experimenters will be found?

Meshtatic, Meshcore and LoRa

It seems to me that very few radio amateurs now experiment. 

Most just want to talk or tick off more DXCC entities using modes like FT8. Most have no idea how their expensive black box works! Sadly, very few now embody the true spirit of amateur radio. 

In 20 years there will be little left of our hobby.

The new challenge seems to be LoRa, Meshcore or Meshtatic . This is licence free technology. It seems to be in its infancy, much like amateur radio was in the early days. I have not dabbled in this...... yet. 

The problem at the moment seems to be there are few nodes in rural areas. As this system relies on meshes, not the internet, the more users the better.

Meshcore and Meshstastic

These feel like the future. 

More and more people are looking for a means of communication that does not depend on the internet. These are mesh based messaging systems, so the more nodes the better.  In urban areas there are more and more nodes springing up. In rural areas, nodes may be far apart.

They use 868MHz in Europe (I think), licence-free LoRa. Units - including solar powered external repeaters suitable for mounting on houses - are available on-line at low cost.

I have the feeling things will mature in the coming years. At the moment it feels like the early days of the internet.

In about 10 years' time I can see this getting there. It's not there yet.

It would appear there is far more experimentation (and licence free!) than with traditional amateur radio. In the future I can see ISM and other licence free systems replacing amateur radio.

Real-world amateur radio

 I only came across this blog seeing a post in Amateur Radio Weekly.Maybe true experimenters are not in amateur radio?

See https://mw1cfnradio.blogspot.com/2026/03/868mhz-dx.html

Meshtatic and MeshCore - NOT amateur radio

Some people look for ways to communicate that do not depend on the internet. I have no experience of these which use licence free Lora to join up stations without the internet. 

In theory, if the network is big enough almost anyone should be able to message anyone. I have no idea how large these meshes are.

The aim is to have nationwide (or even international) networks that allow text messages to be exchanged in public or as a private message without the internet.  

It looks like apps are available for Android or iOS phones.

There is a map of Meshtatic nodes.