Radio Settings

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Meshtastic is not LoRaWAN, Helium or TTN (TheThingsNetwork). Meshtastic uses the full spectrum frequency range designated to LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. technology per region. This allows for several hundred possible frequency channels in the US region alone.

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Power limits will generally be lifted in the software if is_licensed is set to true. See Ham Mode for more information.

Frequency Slot Calculator

Filter regions

Region:USEU_433EU_868EU_866EU_N_868CNJPANZANZ_433RUKRTWINNZ_865THUA_433MY_433MY_919SG_923PH_433PH_868PH_915KZ_433KZ_863NP_865BR_902ITU1_2MITU2_2MITU3_2MITU2_125CMITU1_70CMITU2_70CMITU3_70CMLORA_24

Modem Preset:LONG_FASTLONG_SLOWMEDIUM_SLOWMEDIUM_FASTSHORT_SLOWSHORT_FASTLONG_MODERATESHORT_TURBOLONG_TURBOMEDIUM_TURBO

Default Frequency Slot:

Frequency Slot:12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152Number of slots:

Frequency of slot:

Europe Frequency Bands

EU countries will generally be covered by the Radio Equipment Directive (2014/53/EU) and subsequent amendments, which is then enacted in local laws. See additional information about Radio equipment Directive 2014/53/EU. The bands below were selected based on the maximum power and the duty cycle available. It may be possible to use other frequency bands for specific applications, but these are not currently supported "out of the box".

433 MHz

The maximum power allowed for Europe is +10 dBm ERP (Effective Radiated Power).

The band range is from 433 to 434 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate..

There are four frequency slots defined with the standard radio preset LongFast. After factory reset the radio will be set to frequency slot 4 with a center frequency of 433.875 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate..

868 MHz

The maximum power allowed for Europe is +27 dBm ERP (Effective Radiated Power).

The band range is from 869.40 to 869.65 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate.. This is less than the 863–870 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate. range defined as SRD (Short Range Devices) Band, but allows for a higher ERP and a duty cycle of 10%.

There is one frequency slot defined with the standard radio preset LongFast. After factory reset the radio will be set to frequency slot 1 with a center frequency of 869.525 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate..

It is worth noting that 868 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate. is generally the most popular frequency band for Meshtastic in Europe.

North America Frequency Bands

915 MHz (ISM Band)

The maximum output power for North America is +30 dBm ERP (Effective Radiated Power).

The band range is from 902 to 928 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate..

In North America, the available Frequency Slots depend on the bandwidth setting, which is included in the selected Radio Preset. The standard Preset, LongFast, provides 104 Frequency Slots. After a factory reset, the radio defaults to LongFast with a Frequency Slot of 0, which translates to Slot 20 (centered at 906.875 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate.) based on the channel hashing algorithm.

Data Rates

Considerations

Various data-rate options are available when configuring a frequency slot and are inversely proportional to the theoretical range of the devices.

• Spreading Factor (SF) - How much we "spread" our data over time.
  • Each step up in Spreading Factor doubles the airtime to transmit.
  • Each step up in Spreading Factor adds about 2.5db extra link budget.
  • Note: Spreading Factors 5 and 6 are only supported on 2nd generation LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. chips (SX126x, LR11xx, SX128x). 1st generation chips (SX127x / RF95) are limited to SF7-SF12. If you select SF5/6 on an unsupported device, the firmware will automatically clamp it to SF11.
• Bandwidth - How big of a slice of the spectrum we use.
  • Each doubling of the bandwidth is almost 3db less link budget.
  • Bandwidths less than 31 may be unstable unless you have a high quality Crystal Oscillator.
• Coding Rate - How much redundancy we encode to resist noise.
  • Increasing coding rate increases reliability while decreasing data-rate.
  • 4/5 - 1.25x overhead
  • 4/6 - 1.5x overhead
  • 4/7 - 1.75x overhead
  • 4/8 - 2x overhead

Presets

Meshtastic has nine general-purpose LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. presets. These are the most common settings and have been proven to work well:

Radio Preset	Alt Preset Name	Data-Rate	SF / Symbols	Coding Rate	Bandwidth	Link Budget
Short Range / Turbo	Short Turbo	21.88 kbps	7 / 128	4/5	500 kHz1	140 dB
Short Range / Fast	Short Fast	10.94 kbps	7 / 128	4/5	250 kHz	143 dB
Short Range / Slow	Short Slow	6.25 kbps	8 / 256	4/5	250 kHz	145.5 dB
Medium Range / Turbo	Medium Turbo	7.03 kbps	9 / 512	4/5	500 kHz1	145 dB
Medium Range / Fast	Medium Fast	3.52 kbps	9 / 512	4/5	250 kHz	148 dB
Medium Range / Slow	Medium Slow	1.95 kbps	10 / 1024	4/5	250 kHz	150.5 dB
Long Range / Turbo	Long Turbo	1.34 kbps	11 / 2048	4/8	500 kHz1	150 dB
Long Range / Fast	Long Fast	1.07 kbps	11 / 2048	4/5	250 kHz	153 dB
Long Range / Moderate	Long Moderate	0.34 kbps	11 / 2048	4/8	125 kHz	156 dB

note

The link budget used by these calculations assumes a transmit power of 22 dBm and an antenna with 0 dB gain. Adjust your link budget assumptions based on your actual devices. Data-rate in this table is the theoretical max but doesn't account for packet headers, hops and re-transmissions. Calculations based on data from the official Semtech LoRa calculator.

• 15.6 kHz
• 62.5 kHz
• 125 kHz
• 250 kHz
• 500 kHz

Filter presets

Narrowband presets

Three narrowband preset families serve bands where the 250 kHz and 500 kHz general-purpose presets are not permitted. Each family belongs to specific regions and can't be selected anywhere else:

• Lite — EU_866, the 865.6 - 867.6 MHzMHz (Megahertz). A unit of frequency equal to one million hertz (cycles per second), used to specify the operating frequency of LoRa devices in the Meshtastic network, affecting range and data rate. European SRD band.
• Narrow — EU_N_868, plus the 70cm and 1.25m amateur regions (ITU1_70CM, ITU2_70CM, ITU3_70CM, ITU2_125CM).
• Tiny — the 2m amateur regions (ITU1_2M, ITU2_2M, ITU3_2M), where many administrations cap the occupied bandwidth well below 62.5 kHz.

Radio Preset	Alt Preset Name	Data-Rate	SF / Symbols	Coding Rate	Bandwidth	Link Budget
Lite / Fast	Lite Fast	1.76 kbps	9 / 512	4/5	125 kHz	151 dB
Lite / Slow	Lite Slow	0.98 kbps	10 / 1024	4/5	125 kHz	153.5 dB
Narrow / Fast	Narrow Fast	2.28 kbps	7 / 128	4/6	62.5 kHz	149 dB
Narrow / Slow	Narrow Slow	1.30 kbps	8 / 256	4/6	62.5 kHz	151.5 dB
Tiny / Fast	Tiny Fast	0.68 kbps	7 / 128	4/5	15.6 kHz	155 dB
Tiny / Slow	Tiny Slow	0.33 kbps	8 / 256	4/6	15.6 kHz	157.5 dB

Custom settings

Custom settings can be applied by using supported software.

The settings apply without a restart. A channel's QRQRA scannable square code. In Meshtastic it encodes the Channel URL, which carries the channel and LoRa settings needed to join a mesh.² code and URL carry its LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. settings, so share the updated QRQRA scannable square code. In Meshtastic it encodes the Channel URL, which carries the channel and LoRa settings needed to join a mesh. code or URL with your other nodes.

Some example settings:

Data-rate	SF / Symbols	Coding Rate	Bandwidth	Link Budget	Note
37.50 kbps	6 / 64	4/5	500 kHz	129 dB	Fastest possible speed
3.125 kbps	8 / 256	4/5	125 kHz	143 dB
1.953 kbps	8 / 256	4/8	125 kHz	143 dB
1.343 kbps	11 / 2048	4/8	500 kHz	145 dB
1.099 kbps	9 / 512	4/8	125 kHz	146 dB
0.814 kbps	10 / 1024	4/6	125 kHz	149 dB
0.610 kbps	10 / 1024	4/8	125 kHz	149 dB
0.488 kbps	11 / 2048	4/6	125 kHz	152 dB
0.073 kbps	12 / 4096	4/5	31 kHz	160 dB	Low resilience to noise
0.046 kbps	12 / 4096	4/8	31 kHz	160 dB	High resilience to noise

The link budget used by these calculations assumes a transmit power of 17 dBm and an antenna with 0 dB gain. Adjust your link budget assumptions based on your actual devices.

These frequency slot settings may not have been tested. Use at your own discretion. Share on the Meshtastic Discussions page with your successes or failure.

Cryptography

The pre-shared keyPSK (Pre-Shared Key). A secret code or passphrase used in Meshtastic channels for encryption, ensuring that only devices with the matching PSK can communicate within that specific channel. (PSKPSK (Pre-Shared Key). A secret code or passphrase used in Meshtastic channels for encryption, ensuring that only devices with the matching PSK can communicate within that specific channel.) used by the devices can be an AES128 or AES256 sequence. Alternatively, encryption can be turned off, which may be useful if you are operating under a ham radio license.

Footnotes

1. The Turbo presets use 500 kHz bandwidth, which is not legal to use in all regions. They are unavailable in EU_868 and in every narrowband region. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. The Meshtastic QRQRA scannable square code. In Meshtastic it encodes the Channel URL, which carries the channel and LoRa settings needed to join a mesh. code (or Channel URL) allows users to quickly share channel and LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. settings, making it easy to configure multiple nodes with matching settings for communication. Scanning a QRQRA scannable square code. In Meshtastic it encodes the Channel URL, which carries the channel and LoRa settings needed to join a mesh. code applies all included channel settings and LoRaLoRaA low-power, long-range wireless communication technology used by Meshtastic devices to enable communication over distances of several kilometers without the need for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other traditional network infrastructures. configuration settings, so be sure to review what these settings include before proceeding. Only scan QRQRA scannable square code. In Meshtastic it encodes the Channel URL, which carries the channel and LoRa settings needed to join a mesh. codes from trusted sources.

   For more details, see:

   • Channel Config
   • LoRa Config
   ↩