RAK WisBlock 4631 Starter Kit

What it is

WisBlock is RAK Wireless's modular system: a core module plugs into a base board, and sensors, GPS and displays plug into the base. The Meshtastic Starter Kit uses the RAK4631 core (nRF52840 plus SX1262, Bluetooth 5.0, U.FL connector for the LoRa antenna) on a RAK19007 base board. Retailer and search listings for the kit show a Bluetooth PCB antenna, a LoRa PCB antenna, an iPEX to SMA cable with bulkhead, an SMA antenna, a USB cable and screws, with the Tracker role adding a RAK12500 GNSS module and a RAK1904 accelerometer. We could not open RAK's own store page (it returned an error), so check the contents of the kit you are buying. We did not confirm the RAK19007's battery or solar connector details.

Who it suits

Best for: a modular, low-power fixed or solar repeater where you want to choose the extras yourself.

Not for: a first-time buyer who wants a screen and an enclosure out of the box. The kit has no screen by default. RAK's enclosed WisMesh products are a different range, which we have not researched here.

UK 868 MHz notes

RAK lists the RAK4631(H) variant as supporting EU868 alongside US915, AU915 and others. We could not confirm the SKU naming of the starter kit for EU868: the retailer pages we saw listed only "US915" and "9xxMHz" kits. Confirm the band on the listing before you buy; never use a US915 kit for the UK. See Buy the right frequency.

The arithmetic (ours): e.r.p. = TX power in dBm + antenna gain in dBi - 2.15 - cable loss.

Ofcom IR 2030 v1.16 (published 7 April 2026) allows 25 mW e.r.p. in most of the band and 500 mW e.r.p. at 869.40-869.65 MHz with a 10% duty cycle or listen-before-talk. Meshtastic's EU_868 region sits in that slot.

Firmware

• Meshtastic: supported. Meshtastic needs the RAK4631 with the Arduino bootloader; the RAK4631-R (RUI3 bootloader) is a different variant.
• MeshCore: supported ("RAK WisBlock / WisMesh (RAK 4631)" in the flasher catalog; rak4631 in the repository).
• RNode / Reticulum: supported. The Reticulum manual lists RAK4631-based boards, and RNode_Firmware has an 868 MHz RAK4631 model.

Flashing: Flash Meshtastic, Flash MeshCore, RNode and Reticulum setup.

Known quirks

• Check you have the RAK4631 (Arduino bootloader) and not the RAK4631-R, which uses the RUI3 bootloader.
• Meshtastic's page says no usable GPIO pin is available on any RAK base board except the large RAK19001, unless you add a RAK13002 IO module.
• Attach the antenna before power.

Power

RAK's datasheet gives, for the RAK4631 core module only (no base board, GPS or sensors): sleep 2.0 uA, transmit 125 mA at 20 dBm, and receive 17 mA with the radio in receive mode and Bluetooth sleeping. This is the only manufacturer figure we found that is explicitly labelled receive. A whole node with a base board, GPS and display will draw more, so measure your own. See Power and Solar node sizing.

Related

• Guides: Flash Meshtastic, Flash MeshCore, RNode and Reticulum setup, Power, Antenna placement
• Tools: Link budget calculator, Solar node sizing
• Other boards: Heltec Mesh Node T114, Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3
• Comparison: Meshtastic vs MeshCore