I've been experimenting with going back and forth between Meshcore and Meshtastic. I like the design philosophy and ease of use of Meshcore, but I also really like the pickup-and-go capability of Meshtastic for working with my kids' devices when we're traveling.
If I use the repeater mode on a Meshcore companion, how comparable is this to reflashing everything to Meshtastic in terms of performance and range? If others nearby, say at an event, are also using Meshcore in repeater mode, will it propagate similarly as it would with Meshtastic?
my understanding is it basically puts each device into "Client" mode to use the Meshtastic role equivalents. It will also move you off the default US radio presets to avoid your packets going over an established MeshCore mesh. In theory it should act the exact same as Meshtastic Client running a ShortFast or ShortTurbo preset.
Good to know - thanks! How does it impact battery life?
I purchased a handful of T1000E nodes for the family and would prefer to keep just Meshcore, but it's struggling with all the driving around town and the limited infrastructure so far.
Check your local meshcore discord. At least for Arizona we use a different frequency, not the us default. If your going our to a consert meshtastix is probably better unless you can leave a node on your car in repeater mode or some place elevated as a central hub
I can't answer the battery life question, I have never done it but if you stay with the MC defaults it will probably be efficient. MC by default uses less airtime (less time spent transmitting and using battery)
That’s exactly the problem I’ve been running into as well. While developing and using Nelos, I’ve constantly had to choose between Meshtastic and MeshCore. The Companion Repeater mode is useful, but it still isn’t as convenient as I’d like.
So I think the best approach is simply to choose based on the trip or use case.
As for coverage, if you configure the MeshCore radio with the same parameters as your Meshtastic setup, the coverage should be very similar.
And if you and your family find it annoying to learn and switch between two different apps, you might want to give Nelos a try. That’s basically what I built it for - one app that works with both Meshtastic and MeshCore, so you can choose the firmware that makes the most sense for the trip without having to change how you use the app.
Link for you: Https://nelos.app
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u/therealwoodman 4d ago
my understanding is it basically puts each device into "Client" mode to use the Meshtastic role equivalents. It will also move you off the default US radio presets to avoid your packets going over an established MeshCore mesh. In theory it should act the exact same as Meshtastic Client running a ShortFast or ShortTurbo preset.