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Hardware options

This page documents a certain number of LoRa and Meshtastic hardware devices we have tested or somehow evaluated. It is of course not exhaustive, and it is opinionated in the sense that it tries to guide you towards specific purchases to simplify your life.

Let us know if you want to buy a lot so we can organize.

This is the easiest, "just tell me what to buy" guide. There are more options below, but we only recommend devices that we have tested ourselves.

Tip

We do not recommend standalone devices, in general. They're niche devices that might have their use case, but they typically use more battery and power than normal devices (as they are often based on ESP32 device) and are hard to use.

This is particularly true of Reticulum and Meshcore, for which the standalone interfaces are far less advanced and much harder to use than Meshtastic, which is already not very intuitive.

If you're just starting, just get the cheapest device you can get your hand on quickly, it's 50$. Plug it into your phone, a USB charger or a battery, and get talking!

How we classify devices

We have those categories:

Success

Those devices were successfully tested and used on a daily basis. A select few of those end up being recommended above. We only "recommend" one device per category to simplify user's choices but "success" devices should be also considered recommended.

In testing

We have our hands on those devices and are testing them. So far, they work, but need more testing before they can be promoted to a full "success".

Untested

Those devices are interesting, but we haven't lay our hands on them yet.

Warning

We tested those devices, and there are serious caveats against using them. Do not order one unless you know what you read an understand the note on the device.

Not working

We tested those devices, and we recommend against using them entirely.

Pocket-sized

Those are day-to-day use device, can you can easily carry in a pocket or a pouch. Those generally have a battery.

Success

  • Heltec v4 prebuilt kit, 50-60USD: touch screen, 18650 flat-top battery (tight, hard to remove), belt clip bulges the back cover, can also serve as a "standalone" device because of the touch screen
  • simpler, cheaper Aliexpress Heltec v4 kit, 43CAD
  • WisMesh Pocket V2: GNSS, 1.3" OLED, acceleration sensor, power button, 3200mAh battery, USB-C powered, 100$
  • Lilygo T-Deck Plus (80$): blackberry-like, standalone device with battery, keyboard, trackball, LCD display, 2000mAh battery, BLE, WiFi, GPS, MicroSD card reader, microphone/speaker

In testing

  • XIAO ESP32S3 & Wio-SX1262 Kit: tiny, cheap, - 40℃ ~ 100℃, WiFi 2.4GHz, BLE 5.0 / Mesh, reset/boot button (hidden under the daughterboard, press both to enter JTAG so you can flash, requires opening the case and removing the daughterboard), 22x23x57mm, 37g, exposed GPIO ports, no battery, 20$. Good candidate for the cheapest kit.
  • T-Echo: 200x200 e-ink display, NRF52840, GPS, BT 5.0, no wifi, only two buttons, NFC, 850mAh battery, temperature/pressure sensor, 55$USD
  • Seeedstudio XIAO ESP32S3 & Wio-SX1262 Kit: tiny, - 40℃ ~ 100℃, WiFi 2.4GHz, BLE 5.0 / Mesh, reset/boot button, 22x23x57mm, 37g, exposed GPIO ports, cheap (20$), does not ship with Meshtastic firmware, needs full erase before reflash or gets into a boot loop

Warning

Untested

  • Elecrow ThinkNode M1: nRF52840, 1200mAh battery, 1.54" e-ink display, GPS, BLE, RP-SMA, -10~50°C, 54$USD, 89$CAD at Muzi,
    similar to the Lilygo T-Echo, but has a better battery
  • T-Deck Pro: 3.1" e-ink touch screen, 4G module, WiFi 2.4GHz, BLE 5, GPS, TF Card, mic, speaker, keypad, see also the T5 e-paper s3 pro
  • Muzi has builds on top of the Heltec, e.g. this H2T (137CAD) made with a Heltec T114, this R1 Neo (123CAD) is similar to the WisMesh Pocket, but smaller, better sealed, but more expensive

Base stations and solar

Those are bulkier devices that are mounted on a mast or are used as a back-haul, possibly with a special antenna. The devices may or many not have batteries.

Success

Untested

Mounts

Base stations will typically be mounted on rooftops or poles.

The Ottawa Mesh docs have great documentation and examples for this.

Development boards

Those are bare-bones circuit boards that work standalone but cannot really be used in production as they lack a proper case.

The devices here generally do not have a battery.

Success

  • HELTEC v4 (v3) is the cheapest option, v3 is 20$ (30$CAD) with the case, v4 doesn't ship with a case (but no battery, and battery doesn't fit in the case). one advantage Heltec has over the below RAK kits is that you can connect to them over wifi, the downside is they use more power because they are ESP32 based instead of NRF5280
  • the RAK19003 base kit (28$) is more expensive, but less power-hungry than the Heltec

In testing

  • XIAO nRF52840 & Wio-SX1262 Kit: even tinier, nRF52840, Semtech SX1262, NFC, BT, -40°C ~ 65°C, 22 x 21 x 17.8mm. Probably the smallest kit you can get. Reset button hard to reach.

Untested

  • T-Beam Supreme: 1.3" OLED display, 18650 battery socket, magnetometer, 2.4GHz WiFi, BLE 5, GNSS, no case, ESP32, 52$, the T-Beam SoftRF is similar but without a display and cheaper, 30$USD
  • Heltec Vision Master E290: eink dev board, ESP32S3 SX1262, 20$USD 180 days display, WiFi, BT

Cases

If you use a development board, you might want a case around it: most of them (except the Heltec v3) come without a case.

The Ottawa folks recommend the AlleyCat models, although the license on the page is a bit unclear, as it claims CC BY-SA but then follows that with a paragraph limiting commercial use.

DIY build on top of the RAK kit

The RAK19003 base kit comes without a case, but one can be printed. It's tricky because there are many (83!) design files in there.

On top of 3D-printing the case, you need to also buy:

Power

Moved to its own page, see Power.

Batteries

Moved to its own page, see Batteries.

Antennas

Tip

For a more in-depth discussion about antenna testing, theory and practice, see the Antennas section.

We have experience with this:

Warning

The antenna reports project warns against using a SeeedStudio 600mm antenna, particularly for non-US frequencies. While it is a different antenna, it's unclear if the above RF Explorer has the same flaw, further testing necessary.

Note that, to connect those to (say) a Heltec, you will need adapters:

N (Antenna) --(cable)--> RP-SMA --(adaptor)--> SMA --(pigtail)--> IPEX U.FL (Heltec v4)

Nooelec has a kit.

See also this connector guide for recognizing those N, RP-SMA, SMA and IPEX connectors. And yes, in the above setup, we essentially touch on all the connectors from the guide.

Other lists include:

Alfa upgrade on the SenseCAP P1

The SenseCAP Solar Node P1 can be upgraded with an Alfa antenna easily, but needs some sort of adapter because the stock connectors are SMA-based.

This connector works well: it is a SMA to N converter that fits above the stock pigtail. The connector is sold at Addison.

It also raises the antenna a little higher which is good because it clears the solar panel better. The only downside is it introduces some loss compared to a pigtail only solution.

Note that we have had problems with this connector, where packets would only be sent out and not received correctly.

For this, you need a 30cm N to RP-SMA pigtail connector.

Make sure you get a "bulkhead mount“ that has a little flat piece chamfered off the side, which helps prevent it from rotating in the hole when you tighten it down. Otherwise it won't fit in the socket.

This 20 cm pigtail from Muzi Works works, but is a little short: you can only install it on the hole nearest to the router instead of the further one, as shown on the image here.

Resellers

The above lists generally link to the upstream supplier or official resellers.

There are, however, other resellers that might be more interesting to you for various reasons:

Hacks

Other documentation

  1. It's really important to get button-top batteries for the SenseCAP Solar node P1! Normal flat-top batteries won't connect correctly. Seriously consider buying it with batteries, as button-top batteries are often more expensive, which makes the RobotShop kit particularly attractive. ↩