What is a mesh network?

Welcome. If the word "mesh" has felt like homework, you are in the right place. Nothing here assumes you already own a radio.

Picture a few neighbors, each with a small radio, and no one person in charge of the conversation. A message does not have to reach a tower. It can hop from one radio to the next until it arrives. If one radio goes quiet, the others try a different path. People call that self-healing. It just means the neighborhood does not go silent because one house lost power.

That is handy for a household that wants to be ready, for a street checking on itself after a storm, and for any ordinary day you would rather not depend on a cell tower to send a text.

MeshCore

A lot of this hardware can run more than one open firmware. Around here we focus on MeshCore, because we want messages to get through quickly and reliably. A radio sold for Meshtastic will usually run MeshCore too, so you are not locked into one brand of box.

Two roles matter on an ordinary day.

Repeater

A repeater listens and passes a message along. These are the helpful neighbors up high: a roof, a hill, a tower, often with a small solar panel. Without them, two pocket radios in town may only hear each other inside a mile. One repeater with a view can add several miles, and sometimes much more. That is how a street becomes a community network.

Companion

A companion is the radio you carry. It pairs with your phone over Bluetooth through the MeshCore app. You type on the phone, the radio sends, and any repeater in range carries it onward. It is also how you change settings on a repeater you look after. No companion, no way onto the network, so this is the piece most people start with.

If that already feels like enough, you can stop here and just know what your neighbors are building. When you want a radio of your own, the shop has them ready to go, and Get Connected walks through building one. A beginner question is a welcome one. If you have a high spot instead of a radio, hosting might be your way in.