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· 2 min read

The Meshtastic Team is excited to announce Meshtastic Solutions. This new venture will support the Meshtastic open source project, as well as provide a pool of expertise for anyone building tools and systems with Meshtastic. Meshtastic Solutions will ensure the long-term health and success of the Meshtastic team and ecosystem, as well as to spur development of the Meshtastic firmware, clients, libraries, and utilities.

This support will be fueled by partnerships with hardware vendors, many that you are familiar with, and some that are new to Meshtastic. In time, high quality devices will bear the Meshtastic seal of approval. Individual devices will be eligible for registration through Meshtastic, providing assurance of genuine hardware, as well as identity and cryptographic key attestation.

Meshtastic Solutions will also serve as a hub for businesses that need custom solutions or expert consultation within the Meshtastic ecosystem. Meshtastic Solutions is open for business for providing engineering, software solutions, and other support for custom use-cases. The first stage of this support is the Backer program, where existing manufacturers can financially support Meshtastic. This will be extended to include a full Partner program, offering in-depth design, close support, and device testing assistance. All with the goal of helping hardware vendors produce the best products possible for Meshtastic.

Meshtastic Solutions is separate from both the Meshtastic open source project, and Meshtastic LLC, the license and trademark holding entity. There will be no drastic changes to the Meshtastic project as a result of this new venture, with the exception of more development and higher quality products and solutions to choose from. This support from Backers and Partners will fuel some long-awaited milestones, including a well-tested Stable firmware release.

We’re looking forward to a stronger Meshtastic ecosystem that continues in the strong open source legacy the project has worked hard to foster. Follow our progress at Meshtastic.com, and feel free to contact us with questions or to discuss business opportunities.

· 5 min read
Jonathan Bennett
Crichton

Meshtastic began with a straightforward goal: to keep hiking buddies connected in the outdoors when cell service was unavailable. What started as a simple project has grown, thanks to a passionate community pushing the boundaries of what's possible. Today, Meshtastic is used in Search and Rescue operations, off-grid communication, disaster recovery, and even grid-down scenarios. Whether it's preparing for the next flood or tornado, extending communication over the Internet with MQTT, or simply enjoying an off-grid adventure, Meshtastic has become an essential tool for many.

· 4 min read
Crichton

The Meshtastic project-hosted MQTT server, which allows sharing mesh traffic over the Internet, has recently made an important change that impacts the way information is shared via MQTT: the ability to subscribe to all topics has been removed. However, users can still subscribe to regional topics, such as msh/US/#, to view nodes in their specific area. The MQTT functionality remains intact, public maps are still accessible, and users can continue to see nodes within their specified regions with some new changes.

· 5 min read
TheBentern
GUVWAF

Designing a low-bandwidth wireless mesh network to run on low-power microprocessors with limited memory is challenging. Arguably the simplest mesh routing protocol is Flood Routing: each radio receiving a packet will rebroadcast this again, up to a defined hop limit. Although Meshtastic is based on this strategy, there are a few subtle, but significant enhancements. Most importantly, before a node rebroadcasts, it waits a short while and listens if anyone else is already rebroadcasting. If so, it will not rebroadcast again. Therefore, “Managed Flood Routing” would be a better name. For more details on the enhancements, please review our documentation.

· 6 min read
Crichton

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently considering a proposal from NextNav that could drastically reshape the 900 MHz band. While this proposal may seem like just another routine reconfiguration, it has significant implications for a broad range of users, particularly those who rely on unlicensed spectrum for innovative, community-driven projects. At the heart of the debate lies the potential impact on open-source initiatives like Meshtastic, an open-source, decentralized communication platform that operates in the 900 MHz ISM band.