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Seeking advice for a "repeater" node (beehaw.org)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz
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Hey folks, I'm totally new to the whole meshtastic thing, but I checked the coverage in my area and it is basically nonexistent. I'm not primarily interested in using meshtastic myself but I am super into the idea of deploying my own repeater node to expand coverage here for the folks who may want to use it or need to use it.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Ideally it would be solar powered and waterproof so it can be self sufficient out in the elements and just do its thing. Bonus points if it can be used from my phone via bluetooth so I can fiddle around with meshtastic as a user instead of just an extra node in the mesh.

I don't have access to a 3d printer or soldering tools, so I understand that limits the options

Edited to remove use of "repeater" as this has a defined meaning in meshtastic.

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[–] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Kudos for contributing to the public good!

I bought this Solar Radio Node, ready made, on Etsy. Not the cheapest solution, but it was still pretty reasonable and it works beautifully. It has now been running out in the weather (in Wisconsin) for more than six months without any downtime and with absolutely no maintenance. Rain, snow, and 40 mph winds have not bothered it any.

You can still connect to a repeater from your phone via Bluetooth. It is possible to designate something as an "Infrastructure Node", which most keeps people from sending direct messages to it. If you do not designate it that way, which really doesn't have a downside, you will be able to use it as a regular node, in addition to having it act as a general-purpose repeater.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    I bought this Solar Radio Node, ready made, on Etsy. Not the cheapest solution, but it was still pretty reasonable and it works beautifully.

    I bought peakmesh's smaller solar node (micromag?) and it's great. At the time I was using it on my campervan but now it's stuck to the side of the two-story apartment where I live.

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