Zero-hardware start

You do not need to buy anything to start learning how these networks behave. You do need hardware to join the radio side of Meshtastic or MeshCore. This guide separates what genuinely works with no radio from what only looks as if it does.

What works with no radio

We could not confirm that either MeshCore or Meshtastic offers a way to join the RF mesh from a phone or browser alone. Neither the MeshCore FAQ nor its GitHub README mentions MQTT or internet bridging in the summaries we read, so we treat internet bridging for MeshCore as unconfirmed rather than non-existent.

Option 1: Reticulum over the internet

Reticulum is a networking stack, not a single network, and it can use TCP as a carrier. That means you can run a real Reticulum node on a laptop with no radio, connect it to others across the internet, and learn how destinations, announces and messaging work. If you later add an RNode (a LoRa radio running Reticulum firmware), the same identity and software carry across. Setup for that stage is in RNode and Reticulum setup.

Finding an entrypoint

The Reticulum manual does not hard-code any public hubs. It points to two community directories as "good places to find interface definitions for bootstrapping connectivity":

• rmap.world, the Reticulum nodes auto-discovery map. Its "Copy Config" function gives interface snippets for the Reticulum config file.
• directory.rns.recipes, a user-submitted directory. In our testing the list is loaded by JavaScript and appeared empty to automated fetches, so you will need to open it in a browser.

On 2026-10-29 RMAP listed 7,801 entries (source: its JSON feed). Most are services rather than network interfaces: 3,543 NomadNet nodes and 2,943 propagation nodes. About 1,108 were interfaces, of which 347 were of type Backbone and 327 were LoRa RNodes. Only 686 entries carried coordinates. That is a snapshot of an undocumented feed, so it is a rough indicator.

Steps

1. Install Python 3 and then Reticulum: pip install rns --upgrade.
2. Run rnsd once so it creates the default config at ~/.reticulum/config.
3. Open RMAP in a browser, pick an entry that offers a TCP interface, and use "Copy Config" for its interface snippet.
4. Paste the snippet into the [interfaces] section of your config. A generic TCP client entry has this shape (placeholders only, do not use as-is):

[[A public hub]]
  type = TCPClientInterface
  enabled = yes
  target_host = <host from RMAP>
  target_port = <port from RMAP>

5. Restart rnsd and run rnstatus to see whether the interface is up.
6. Install a client. On Android, Reticulum's own Getting Started says "the easiest way to get started is using an app like Sideband"; that is the manual's Android suggestion, and other platforms have other clients (see below).

What "public transport nodes" means

In Reticulum, a transport node is a node that forwards other people's traffic. Announces are forwarded through transport nodes, up to 128 hops by default, and no single node knows the complete path to a destination; each one only remembers the best way to get a packet one hop closer. When you connect to a public hub over TCP, you are connecting to a transport node run by someone else. You do not need to be a transport node yourself to use the network as a client. For a plain-language account of this, see how mesh routing works.

Option 2: Meshtastic MQTT

MQTT is a lightweight publish-and-subscribe protocol. Meshtastic nodes with Wi-Fi or Ethernet can publish the channel traffic they hear to an MQTT broker, and receive it back. The project runs a public broker at mqtt.meshtastic.org, and community maps such as meshmap.net are built from its traffic.

Limits and etiquette, from Meshtastic's documentation:

• Traffic arriving from MQTT is zero-hop. It does not spread further through local radio meshes.
• Only certain message types are prioritised, and location precision on the default channel is limited to 10 to 16 bits.
• Uplink and downlink are enabled per channel. Avoid enabling both on a busy channel.
• Do not use the default key on a private broker, because that floods meshes.

MQTT needs a node with network access, so it is not a true zero-hardware route. Think of it as a way to link meshes and feed maps, not as a replacement for radio coverage. See privacy and encryption before publishing positions.

Apps and tools you can use today

More on clients is in clients and apps.

When you are ready for a radio

1. Check coverage first with find a local mesh. A radio with no neighbours is a very quiet radio.
2. Decide the network: which mesh is right for you.
3. Buy an 868 MHz board, not 915 MHz. UK readers should read the band notes in the hardware buyer's guide. LocalMesh, a UK MeshCore volunteer project, describes entry-level devices as starting from around £25 to £40 on different pages (self-reported).
4. Fit an antenna before powering on. Meshtastic warns that powering a radio without an antenna can damage the radio chip.
5. Flash it: flash Meshtastic, flash MeshCore, or RNode and Reticulum.
6. Then think about antenna placement and power.

What we could not verify

• No fixed public Reticulum hub address is published on the live Reticulum pages we read, so none is recommended here.
• The relationship between the Ratspeak project and the Reticulum author is not stated in anything we fetched.
• Whether a web-only client can take part in a MeshCore mesh without a radio is unconfirmed.