Meshtastic: a neighbourhood mesh

By the end of this page your phone is connected to a Meshtastic radio on the right frequency, in a private channel for your family or neighbourhood, and you know where the IranTalk public channel and its internet bridge are announced.

Tier 0: no internet · Works without internet.

Meshtastic has the largest LoRa user base and the cheapest way in: a board costing a few dollars and a phone. Short messages hop from radio to radio until they reach their destination. The same boards (T-Deck Plus, T-Lora Pager, Heltec V3, T-Beam) can run Ratspeak or RNode instead; we document both and you choose.

1. Install the firmware

1. On a computer with Chrome or Edge, open the Meshtastic web flasher: flasher.meshtastic.org. The offline pack carries the firmware release we checked.
2. Choose your board from the list, connect it by USB and install.
3. Install the Meshtastic app on the phone (Android or iPhone). The Android file is in the offline pack too.

2. Frequency and first settings

1. In the app, connect to the board over Bluetooth (the pairing code is shown on the board's screen; boards without a screen want 123456).
2. Set the Region. Meshtastic has no preset for Iran: EU_868 for an 868 MHz board, EU_433 for a 433 MHz one. Every board in a group must have the same region and the same modem preset; the default is Long Fast.
3. Give the device a long and a short name that are not your name. Switch position sharing off unless you want it on purpose.

Never switch the board on without an antenna.

3. A private channel

The default primary channel is public and anyone in range can read it. For a family or neighbourhood:

1. Channels, new channel: a short name and a random key.
2. Share the channel's QR code with exactly the people who should be in it, in person. Whoever scans it is in the channel.
3. Keep the default public channel so any other radio in range still forwards your messages.

4. The IranTalk channel and the internet bridge

We publish a channel with an announced name and key so boards set up from this guide find each other, and an MQTT bridge that joins scattered meshes whenever there is any internet. The channel name, the key and the bridge address come only from the signed list; once published, the "Meshtastic MQTT" row appears on Ways to connect. Until then, use the private channel.

When the row is there: Settings, MQTT, the address and user from the list; then on the IranTalk channel switch on "uplink" and "downlink". The public channel's key is published on purpose: it is for finding each other, not for secrecy. Say private things in the private channel.