Following is a presentation I gave recently at DC720 for their March meetup.

Download the PDF version of the presentation slides:

Seize the Means of Communication

DC720: Meshtastic for Emergency Communications
Amber Harrington
March 6 2026

The Grid is Fragile

Centralized infrastructure concentrates points of failure!

• Most communication infrastructure depends on centralized communication landlords.
• Outages cascade quickly and unpredictably during disasters.
• Even systems with “99.9% uptime” fail during crises of failing underlying infra.
• High congestion or distant environments are not able to use centralized infrastructure.
• Blackouts can completely remove access to means to operate conventional radio equipment or charge cell phones.

Conclusion:
We need fully decentralized communication systems, which are battery powered, able to be charged by solar, and able to be made to go into sleep mode(s) to conserve energy.

The Grid is Watched

Centralized infrastructure enables surveillance!

• Most communication infrastructure depends on centralized providers which the government has abundant access.
• High surveillance and control over centralized networks.
• IMSI from cell phone.
• No need to upload your I.D. to chat on Meshtastic.

Conclusion:
Oh hey same thing: a community needs decentralized communication options and definitely with a minimum of security options.

Peer-to-Peer Networking

The Basics

“Everyone is a cell tower.”

• Each client node relays messages through the network.
• No central servers.
• A smart phone can connect to the device over Bluetooth.
• No Internet Service Providers required.
• Devices communicate directly node-to-node.

Result

• Self-forming network
• Resilient communication

Hardware Overview

Typical components for a Meshtastic network operate in the 900 MHz ISM band.

Meshtastic devices can be grouped into three broad categories by transmit power (range):

• Smaller devices (Set these to CLIENT MUTE)
• Larger nodes (Set these to CLIENT or CLIENT BASE)
• Secret third option (for experienced operators only)

Examples of specific hardware appear in the appendix “Demo Gear”.

Configure Your Node

After setting your general LoRa region, set the Range LoRa Preset.

The default is: LongFast 20

You can leave this if you want to join the public network.

Next set the Device Role.

Recommended roles: CLIENT MUTE → weaker devices in larger networks CLIENT → relatively strong devices —

Using the correct role helps the network transmit packets with the fewest hops.

Documentation:

• https://meshtastic.org/blog/why-your-mesh-should-switch-from-longfast/#understanding-lora-presets
• https://meshtastic.org/docs/configuration/radio/device/#role-comparison

Why Would Anyone Bother With This? Example 1

RAVES

• Activate location settings to rally easy.
• Campgrounds / dancefloors remote from cell towers.
• Crowds can swamp towers that may be reachable.
• Secure comms and create channels.

Why Would Anyone Bother With This? Example 2

SPECIAL RAVES

• Disable location in advance.
• Venues in cities near cell towers → Stingrays.
• Use burner cell or have a mesh device with keyboard (such as a LilyGo).
• Leave your real phone at home.

Operational advice

• Coordinate settings with friends beforehand.
• Do not allow network changes once headed to the special rave.

Why Would Anyone Bother With This? Example 3

HIKING

• Enable location.
• Maybe upgrade your antenna.
• Campgrounds and wilderness remote from cell towers.
• Max out range settings.

Configure Your Node – Common Use Cases

Preconfigured channel setups:

• Default Meshtastic – Standard LongFast
• MtnMesh Community – MediumFast with slot 20
• Emergency / SAR – Maximum range configuration
• Urban High-Density – ShortFast
• Private Group – Custom encrypted channels
• Long Range – Maximum distance configuration
• Repeater / Router – Infrastructure node setup

Is There Anything Better Than Meshtastic?

There are multiple meshnet projects.

• Meshcore – alternative not covered here.
• Reticulum – arguably a more capable approach.

Important:

You do not need new hardware to try Reticulum.
It supports almost the same devices as Meshtastic — only the software changes.

More details in the appendix.

Appendix: Reticulum vs Meshtastic (Part 1)

Appendix: Reticulum vs Meshtastic (Part 2)

Traditional LoRa mesh networks have structural issues:

• Flat network → mainly text, MQTT (optional), and location data
• Flood routing → packet duplication, airtime exhaustion
• Reliability sweet spot → performance collapses as node count grows
• Weak security models → shared keys or optional encryption
• Device addressing → identities tied to hardware
• Limited delay tolerance → network fails when paths disappear
• Bad router placement → excessive hops and airtime exhaustion

Appendix: Reticulum vs Meshtastic (Part 3)

What Reticulum Does Differently

• Adaptive routing instead of broadcast flooding.
• Works across multiple transports:
  • LoRa
  • packet radio
  • TCP/IP
  • serial
• End-to-end encrypted destinations by default.
• Delay-tolerant networking (store-and-forward).
• Cryptographic identities independent of hardware.

When to Use Either

Meshtastic

Best for ad-hoc contexts where information is mostly:

• brief text messages
• optional location data

Examples:

• camping
• protests
• raves
• crowded events where cell infrastructure fails

Reticulum (RNS)

Best for building a long-term alternet that keeps working even if:

• cell towers fail
• the Internet becomes inaccessible

Advantages:

• scalable
• stronger security model
• suitable for long-term networks

Appendix: Demo Gear

Example hardware:

• KeepTeen D5L Meshcore Repeater
  Solar panel system with Heltec ESP32 V3 LoRa modules and battery controller

• Sensecap Solar Node P1-Pro
  Outdoor solar-powered Meshtastic node

• LILYGO T-Deck
  Handheld terminal with ESP32, screen, and keyboard

• T-1000E
  Portable tracker and node for Meshtastic networks

• Lecrow ThinkNode M5
  LoRa transceiver with GPS and e-paper display

Bibliography & Notes

Sources

• Reticulum Network Stack
• Meshtastic Project
• “Gadgets For People Who Don’t Trust The Government” — Benn Jordan

Video:

https://youtu.be/W_F4rEaRduk?t=178

Documentation:

• https://reticulum.network/index.html
• https://meshtastic.org/

Note: Please Consider Using Less AI

LLM tools should assist with thoughtless tasks, not replace thinking.

Maintaining independent reasoning will always be valuable.