Answer six questions about your goal, budget, licence, distance, skills and need for internet traffic, and get pointed to Meshtastic, MeshCore, Reticulum, a community Wi-Fi mesh or AREDN. The questions and scoring are all listed on this page.
Updated 29 Oct 2026
How we decide
The scoring is deterministic: the same answers always give the same result, and nothing is sent anywhere. Each answer adds or removes points for each of the five options, the highest total wins, and a few hard rules override the points. The scores are our editorial judgement, built from the comparison in which mesh is right for you; they are not measurements.
Starting points and hard rules
Starting score: A community Wi-Fi mesh −1, all others 0. Community Wi-Fi meshes start one point down because they exist only in specific places, and we found no UK group in our research.
If you answer "No, and I do not plan to get one" to question 3, AREDN is removed from the result.
If you need real internet traffic (question 6, "Yes"), a community Wi-Fi mesh is always ranked first, whatever the scores say, because none of the LoRa options can carry web, video or streaming traffic, and AREDN's own documentation says routing general internet traffic is usually not desirable. No other option is shown alongside it.
Ties are broken in the order Meshtastic, MeshCore, Reticulum, community Wi-Fi mesh, AREDN. Any option within 1 point of the winner, with a positive score, is shown as "also worth a look".
"Close" means within 1 point. In practice Meshtastic and MeshCore often finish close together; the guide explains that Meshtastic nodes all relay (managed flooding) while MeshCore uses repeaters and room servers, and that the right choice is usually the network with more nodes near you.
The six questions and what each answer scores
1. What do you mainly want from a mesh?
Chat off-grid: messages that still work when the internet or mobile network does not. Scores: Meshtastic +3, MeshCore +3.
Replace or add to my home internet connection. Scores: A community Wi-Fi mesh +4.
Experiment and learn: build something, try the technology. Scores: Meshtastic +2, MeshCore +2, Reticulum +3, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) +1.
Up to about £50: one board. Scores: Meshtastic +1, MeshCore +1.
About £50 to £200. Scores: no points.
More than £200. Scores: A community Wi-Fi mesh +1, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) +1.
3. Do you hold an amateur radio licence?
LoRa meshes in the UK 868 MHz band need no licence within the Ofcom limits. AREDN runs on amateur allocations and does.
No, and I do not plan to get one. Scores: removes AREDN (licensed amateurs only).
Yes, I hold a UK amateur licence. Scores: AREDN (licensed amateurs only) +3.
Not yet, but I would consider getting one. Scores: no points.
4. What distance and terrain do you have in mind?
Close by: a street, a village or a small group of friends. Scores: Meshtastic +1.
Across a town or city, with a few high sites available for repeaters. Scores: MeshCore +1.
Long hops over open country, hills or water. Scores: Meshtastic +1, MeshCore +1, Reticulum +1.
A fixed link between two buildings that needs real bandwidth. Scores: Meshtastic −1, MeshCore −1, Reticulum −1, A community Wi-Fi mesh +1, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) +2.
5. How technical are you?
Low: I want to flash a board in a browser and pair a phone app. Scores: Meshtastic +1, MeshCore +1, Reticulum −2, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) −1.
Medium: I can change settings and follow a long guide. Scores: no points.
High: the command line and config files are fine. Scores: Reticulum +2, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) +1.
6. Do you need to carry internet traffic?
LoRa carries short text messages, positions and telemetry. It cannot browse the web, stream video or make video calls.
No: short text messages are enough. Scores: no points.
A little: some messages to reach or leave the internet. Scores: Meshtastic +1, Reticulum +1, A community Wi-Fi mesh +1.
Yes: web, video calls or streaming. Scores: Meshtastic −3, MeshCore −3, Reticulum −3, A community Wi-Fi mesh +5, AREDN (licensed amateurs only) −1.
The five possible results
Each result has a short reason, the main catch, and where to go next. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy a particular product.
Meshtastic
Open-source LoRa firmware where every node rebroadcasts what it hears, so a few friends with nodes can form a working mesh without any dedicated infrastructure. No licence is needed in the UK within the Ofcom 868 MHz limits.
The catch: Short text messages, positions and telemetry only. It does not carry internet traffic, and it is only as useful as the number of nodes near you.
LoRa messaging built around repeaters and room servers: ordinary client devices do not relay, so it suits an area where someone puts repeaters on high sites. No licence is needed in the UK within the Ofcom 868 MHz limits.
The catch: Short text messages only, and a phone alone cannot join: you need a LoRa board in range of a repeater. Our research found a large UK presence, but numbers vary hugely between areas.
A general networking stack that runs over LoRa, TCP, Wi-Fi and other links, so you can start with no hardware over the internet and add an RNode radio later. It rewards people who like to tinker.
The catch: Highest setup effort of the options here (command line, config files). It is its own network layer, not an internet replacement, and few UK interfaces appear on the public map.
Community-owned networks run largely by volunteers are the only option here that can replace or supplement broadband, through upstream connections the network provides.
The catch: They exist only in specific places (NYC Mesh, Guifi.net, Freifunk and similar), and we found no UK group. If there is none near you, the honest answer is a normal broadband connection; starting a network is a multi-year project.
High-speed IP data between fixed sites on amateur-radio spectrum, using 802.11 hardware. It is built for amateur and emergency data links.
The catch: Needs an amateur radio licence, and amateur rules forbid encrypting traffic to obscure its meaning. AREDN's documentation says routing general internet traffic is usually not desirable, and the UK has very few nodes, so expect to build rather than join.
The scores and the hard rules are our judgement. A different set of reasonable scores would reorder close results.
We found no UK Wi-Fi community mesh group in our research. If one has started near you, it may be worth more than this quiz says. Check find a local mesh.
UK radio limits are from Ofcom IR 2030 v1.16 (published 7 April 2026); a newer version may exist. Our disclaimer covers licensing and safety.
Node counts on different networks mean different things, so they are deliberately not part of the scoring. Look at the maps for your own area.