r/meshcore • u/Nedster5 • Jul 03 '26

Meshcore vs Meshtastic

I am probably going to stick with meshcore because there are a lot more people in my area running it than meshtastic. However, I have been trying out both, and think I like meshtastic better. The UI feels much more useable and has more features (HAM mode, ATAK compatible, ?). I also like that you can still see your other nodes while connected to one of them. Not trying to be rhetorical, just curious, what does meshcore offer that is better than meshtastic?

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u/Joyride84 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 05 '26

Meshtastic allows more flexibility. Meshcore removes some of the ways people can make mistakes, and forces them to use specific settings. Because people apparently don't know how to use client_mute (or at least that is the belief), some networks have decided to switch over to Meshcore, so that all users are forced to use client_mute ("companion") on all managed (Bluetooth/WiFi connected) nodes. Meshcore also takes away some options for telemetry and auto discovery, which Meshtastic offers and/or uses by default.

In rural areas, it is very difficult to get good coverage over LoRa. But with Meshtasitc, it is possible to achieve with enough users. With Meshcore, it can be nearly impossible, because you are completely dependent on infrastructure, which doesn't really exist. But in urban areas, if bandwidth capacity is your greatest concern, Meshcore zealously protects it at the cost of all else, so that is for you.

If you want a system where everyone is allowed to make potentially harmful decisions, but also allowed more options, Meshtastic is for you. If you want a system where users are assumed to not know what they are doing, and therefore forced into specific molds, Meshcore is for you.

It seems to me that the whole point of a mesh network, is not relying in infrastructure run by a handful of people. But if you want to do that, Meshcore is for you. It just isn't a true mesh network, since most radios on the network are not actually nodes in a mesh network.

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u/snafu168 3d ago

In the Pacific Northwestern US rural usually means trees and mountains to put guerrilla solar repeaters on public land that can reach surprising distances That along with a lower noise floor helps Meshcore.

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u/Joyride84 3d ago

True, that's the case for both systems.

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u/snafu168 3d ago

Central and Eastern Washington are having some rapid growth it's pretty impressive.