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FAQ

Quick answers to questions that come up often. For setup walkthroughs see Onboarding, for error catalogs see Common Errors, and for config syntax see Configuration.

What is a Meshpoint?

A Raspberry Pi 4 plus an SX1302/SX1303 LoRa concentrator that listens to eight Meshtastic channels at once and natively transmits Meshtastic messages from a browser. Optionally adds MeshCore monitoring and TX through a USB companion radio. Optionally syncs with Meshradar for multi-site mesh intelligence.

If you have a phone with the Meshtastic app, you already have a single-channel node. A Meshpoint is the same network from the perspective of an observer sitting on top of the mesh: it sees everything in range and stores it.

Do I have to use the Meshradar cloud?

No. Set upstream.enabled: false in config/local.yaml and the device runs fully offline. The local dashboard, capture, decoding, MQTT publishing, and storage all keep working. The cloud is opt-in.

Note: the service still requires a valid auth_token at startup as a guardrail, even when upstream is off. Run sudo meshpoint setup once, paste the API key from your Meshradar account, then flip upstream.enabled: false. A "no API key required" mode is on the backlog.

See Configuration > Upstream for details.

RAK Hotspot V2 or SenseCap M1: which should I buy?

Functionally identical for Meshpoint. Both are Pi 4 + SX1302/SX1303 concentrator + metal case + antenna + power supply. RX performance is the same.

RAK Hotspot V2 (RAK7248) SenseCap M1
Concentrator RAK2287 (SX1302) WM1303 (SX1303)
SD card included Usually 32 GB Sometimes 64 GB
Carrier crypto chip None ATECC608 (auto-detected for board ID)
SPI bus latch on hard power loss Yes (mitigated by service shutdown handler) No
Typical eBay price $40-70 $30-60

Decision: if you have a UPS or your power is reliable, buy whichever is cheaper. If you expect occasional power loss without a UPS, the SenseCap M1 is the safer pick because the RAK2287 can latch its SPI bus on hard power cuts and need a 10-second power-off to clear.

For deeper hardware comparison see Hardware Matrix.

I already have a Pi 4. Can I just buy a concentrator?

Yes. See README > Option C: Build Your Own. A RAK2287 module + RAK Pi HAT + antenna runs about $50 on eBay. Total cost with a Pi you already own is in the $50-90 range. Assembly is straightforward: seat the RAK2287 on the HAT, mount the HAT on the Pi GPIO header, attach antenna, run the installer.

Can I set up the Pi before the concentrator arrives?

You can run scripts/install.sh and sudo meshpoint setup, but the wizard will fail at the hardware-detection step and the API will report unreachable because it cannot initialize the concentrator. The simplest path is to wait until the concentrator arrives, then flash and set up. If you do pre-stage, plan to either re-run the wizard or reflash the SD card when the real hardware lands. You may need a fresh API key from your Meshradar account.

My Meshpoint flips between online and offline on the cloud map. Why?

The cloud uses a 5-minute heartbeat. If no heartbeat arrives for 15 minutes the map dot turns red. Your Pi keeps trying to reconnect indefinitely so it should self-recover, but a flaky WiFi link or a redoing-the-network situation can produce long red stretches. Hardwire to Ethernet to confirm. If it persists on a stable network, check upstream errors:

sudo journalctl -u meshpoint --since "30 min ago" | grep -i upstream

I re-ran setup and now there are two Meshpoints in my fleet. How do I remove the old one?

Two options:

  1. Wait. The old device disappears from the map after 24 hours of inactivity.
  2. Remove now. Hard-refresh the cloud dashboard, go to Fleet, click the orphan card, and use the Remove button. You will see a confirmation dialog. Confirm to delete.

If the old device is still running and connected, the Remove will be short-lived: it will reappear on the next connection. Stop the service on the old SD card first if you want it gone for good.

I want to listen on a custom slot (BW500, SF9, custom MHz). Is that supported?

Yes from v0.5.x onward. Set the slot in local.yaml and restart:

radio:
  region: "US"
  frequency_mhz: 918.25
  bandwidth_khz: 500.0
  spreading_factor: 9
  coding_rate: "4/5"

After changing radio config, clear local history if you want a fresh node table:

sudo systemctl stop meshpoint
sudo rm /opt/meshpoint/data/concentrator.db
sudo systemctl start meshpoint

The database recreates on startup. See Radio Config Explained for the "why" and Configuration > Radio for syntax.

How do I clear local packet and node history?

sudo systemctl stop meshpoint
sudo rm /opt/meshpoint/data/concentrator.db
sudo systemctl start meshpoint

The cloud (Meshradar) is not affected. This only resets the local SQLite database.

Can the MeshCore companion talk to Meshpoint over TCP instead of USB?

Not yet. Currently MeshCore companions must be USB serial. TCP support would allow the companion to live somewhere else on the network with its own antenna, separate from the concentrator antenna. It is on the roadmap.

I am putting a Meshpoint on a tall tower. What antenna?

At significant height, even a low-gain antenna sees exceptional coverage. A 3-6 dBi omnidirectional in the 902-928 MHz band (US) is a great starting point. Higher-gain antennas (10-12 dBi) flatten the radiation pattern, which is great for distant horizon coverage but loses nearby low-elevation nodes.

For tower deployments the bigger wins are usually:

  1. Lightning protection at the antenna and equipment.
  2. Low-loss feedline (LMR-400 or better for runs over 30 ft).
  3. PoE + UPS at the base so SD card writes survive breaker trips. The RAK2287 SPI latch issue is much more likely if power cuts are frequent.

Does Meshpoint transmit by default?

No. TX is disabled by default to be safe. Enable it from the Radio settings page on the local dashboard once you have verified RX is working and your antenna is connected. Never transmit without an antenna: it damages the radio.

See Configuration > Transmit for power, duty cycle, and node identity settings.

Why does the dashboard show an orange triangle next to the version?

A newer version of Meshpoint is available on GitHub. To update:

cd /opt/meshpoint
sudo git pull origin main
sudo /opt/meshpoint/venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
sudo systemctl restart meshpoint

If you are upgrading from v0.6.x or earlier for the first time, re-run install.sh instead of just restarting (it cleans up stale .cpython-*.so binaries from pre-v0.7.0 installs and re-applies HAL patches, sudoers, and the systemd service in one idempotent pass). See README > Upgrading from v0.6.x or earlier.

How do I get help?

  1. Search this docs/ folder.
  2. Check the Common Errors catalog.
  3. Search GitHub Issues.
  4. Open a GitHub Discussion.
  5. Hop into the Discord.

When asking for help, please include:

  • Output of meshpoint status
  • Last 50 lines of meshpoint logs
  • Hardware (RAK V2, SenseCap M1, DIY)
  • Region (US, EU_868, etc.) and any non-default radio settings from local.yaml (mask any keys you want private)