UK radio rules at a glance

One-page table of UK licence-exempt limits: 868 MHz LoRa, 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, PMR446 and CB, from Ofcom IR 2030 v1.16 and related documents.

This is the one-page version of the UK limits that matter to a mesh builder. For LoRa the answer is short: 868 MHz, 500 mW e.r.p. in one slot, 10% duty cycle, no licence. The rest of the table is here so you can see how other licence-exempt radios differ.

LoRa and other short-range devices (868 MHz)

The main non-specific short-range device (SRD) rows a LoRa mesh radio falls under are below. No licence is needed within these limits.

Interface	Band	Max power	Access rule
IR2030/1/15	868.0 to 869.7 MHz	25 mW e.r.p.	LBT/AFA per EN 300 220, or 0.1% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/16	868.0 to 868.6 MHz	25 mW e.r.p.	LBT/AFA per EN 300 220, or 1% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/17	868.7 to 869.2 MHz	25 mW e.r.p.	LBT/AFA per EN 300 220, or 0.1% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/18	869.30 to 869.40 MHz	10 mW e.r.p.	25 kHz channel or less, 10% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/19	869.40 to 869.65 MHz	500 mW e.r.p.	LBT/AFA, or 10% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/20	869.7 to 870 MHz	25 mW e.r.p.	LBT/AFA, or 1% duty cycle or less
IR2030/1/21	869.7 to 870 MHz	5 mW e.r.p.	No access rule stated in the row

IR2030/1/15 is the only row that covers 868.6 to 868.7 MHz and 869.2 to 869.3 MHz, so 25 mW e.r.p. is the limit there. The 500 mW slot in the table is the highest limit inside the 863 to 870 MHz band. IR 2030 v1.16 also has IR2030/1/47 (870 to 874.4 MHz, 500 mW e.r.p., for data networks only, with adaptive power control required and a duty cycle of 10% for network access points or 2.5% otherwise), so "500 mW only in 869.40 to 869.65 MHz" is true only within 863 to 870 MHz. Meshtastic's EU_868 region sits in the 869.40 to 869.65 MHz slot.

The Meshtastic EU_868 defaults sit in the 500 mW slot, and Meshtastic's documentation says EU_433 and EU_868 are limited to a 10% duty cycle, calculated every minute over a rolling hour. 10% means at most 6 minutes of transmission in an hour, shared by every message your node sends or forwards.

The 433 MHz band is also an SRD band. IR 2030 lists 433.05 to 434.79 MHz at 10 mW e.r.p. (v1.15 reading); we could not read the duty-cycle layout cleanly, so we give no access rule for it. Meshtastic's table lists EU_433 at 10% duty cycle and 10 dBm.

IR 2030 contains further rows that we have not summarised. We do not describe 915 MHz as a UK mesh band: never use a 915 MHz region (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) in the UK. Buy the 863 to 870 MHz or "868" variant of a board; "863 to 928 MHz" printed on some boards is a tuning range, not a legal band. Turbo presets are not available in EU_868.

Wi-Fi and 2.4 / 5 GHz

Wi-Fi limits are in e.i.r.p. and are device-class limits. Community Wi-Fi mesh nodes must meet the DFS, TPC and outdoor restrictions.

Interface	Band	Max power	Notes
IR2030/7/1	2400 to 2483.5 MHz	100 mW e.i.r.p.	Wideband data (WBDTS); EN 300 328 techniques
IR2030/8/1a	5150 to 5250 MHz	200 mW mean e.i.r.p. (plus 10 mW/MHz density)	Outdoor allowed but not as part of a fixed outdoor installation; liberalised in v1.15
IR2030/8/1b	5250 to 5350 MHz	200 mW mean e.i.r.p.	Indoor only; DFS and TPC
IR2030/8/2	5470 to 5730 MHz	1 W mean e.i.r.p. (50 mW/MHz)	DFS and TPC
IR2030/8/3	5725 to 5850 MHz	200 mW mean e.i.r.p. (plus 10 mW/MHz)	Not part of a fixed outdoor installation in 5730 to 5850 MHz

We do not give 6 GHz (5925 to 6425 MHz) power values: the figures we extracted for the low-power indoor and very-low-power classes were interleaved and could not be separated, and a later IR 2030 consultation was widening access. Check Ofcom.

PMR446 and CB

Service	Band	Limit	Notes
PMR446	446.0 to 446.2 MHz	500 mW e.r.p.	Hand-portable only, no base stations, simplex peer-to-peer. Analogue: 16 x 12.5 kHz channels. Digital: 16 x 12.5 kHz or 32 x 6.25 kHz. Digital PMR446 is not harmonised across Europe, so UK-compliant digital sets may not be licence-exempt abroad. 180-second transmit timeout for digital. Data allowed on digital. (Ofcom sheet, February 2018)
CB (FM)	26.965 to 27.405 MHz plus 27.60125 to 27.99125 MHz (UK band)	4 W carrier (FM; 4 W ERP if integral antenna)	40 channels, 10 kHz spacing, single-frequency simplex, licence-exempt since 8 December 2006. Ofcom's CB page describes CB use as secondary to the MOD and on a "non-interference, non-protected" basis; IR 2027 (amended January 2018) says only that the service is "subject to interference and is not afforded any protection"
CB (AM/SSB)	CB band	DSB 4 W (rms), SSB 12 W PEP	IR 2027.2 (June 2014)

The CB figure is the legal limit at the antenna terminals (or ERP with an integral antenna), not what every cheap radio delivers. For PMR446, say "hand-portable, 0.5 W ERP maximum" and do not add an external gain antenna. See Meshtastic vs PMR446 and CB.

Amateur bands

Amateur radio bands are not in this table. They need a licence and have different rules: unencrypted traffic, amateur-to-amateur, no commercial use. A licence does not raise your 868 MHz limits, because there is no amateur allocation there. See the UK amateur radio licence path.

How to read the numbers

e.r.p. versus e.i.r.p. SRD limits (868 MHz) are in e.r.p., which is relative to a half-wave dipole. Wi-Fi limits are in e.i.r.p., relative to an isotropic antenna. The difference is 2.15 dB, so 500 mW e.r.p. (about 27 dBm) is about 29.1 dBm e.i.r.p.
Antenna gain counts. A 28 dBm radio (such as the Heltec V4) plus a gain antenna can exceed 500 mW e.r.p. Turn transmit power down to compensate. Meshtastic's default TX power setting (0) means "region maximum", which is 27 dBm in EU_868. Set an explicit value no higher than 29.1 minus antenna gain (dBi); treat cable loss as zero unless you have measured it.
The Meshtastic power cap is a firmware ceiling, not the law. Meshtastic's EU_868 limit is 27 dBm; its docs say the listed limit is the ceiling the firmware applies, not your national limit. See the hardware buyer's guide and flash Meshtastic.
Duty cycle and LBT. Duty cycle limits how much of the time you transmit. LBT/AFA (listen before talk / adaptive frequency agility) is the alternative access rule in some rows.
Use the link budget tool at /tools/link-budget to see how power, gain and settings combine.

We did not research penalties or enforcement and make no claims about them.

Version stamp: IR 2030 v1.16, published 7 April 2026; page checked 2026-10-29. Ofcom can issue newer versions, so check the PDF. For context, see LoRa vs Wi-Fi mesh, the glossary and what you can actually do. A mesh is text-only and is no substitute for broadband or 999.

FAQ

Do I need a licence for Meshtastic in the UK?

No, not on 868 MHz within the limits above: 500 mW e.r.p. and a 10% duty cycle in 869.40 to 869.65 MHz. Amateur bands need a licence.

Is 915 MHz legal in the UK?

Do not use it for a mesh. The UK band for Meshtastic and MeshCore is 868 MHz (EU_868); 915 MHz is the US and ANZ band.

What is the UK power limit for LoRa?

500 mW e.r.p. in 869.40 to 869.65 MHz, with a 10% duty cycle. Other 868 MHz sub-bands are lower: 25 mW, 10 mW or 5 mW e.r.p. (within 863 to 870 MHz; a separate row, IR2030/1/47, allows 500 mW e.r.p. at 870 to 874.4 MHz for data networks).

What is the UK CB limit?

4 W for FM CB, per Ofcom IR 2027 (amended January 2018). AM/SSB has separate limits in IR 2027.2.