Repeater Setup Guide

This guide walks you through flashing MeshCore repeater firmware, configuring your node, and getting it on the Inland NW Mesh network.

Contents

Step 1: Flash Repeater Firmware

  1. Go to the MeshCore Web Flasher
  2. Find your hardware in the list
  3. Select role: Repeater
  4. Select the latest firmware version — as of April 2026, all new repeaters should be running v1.14.1 or newer
  5. Click Flash and follow the prompts

Tip: Use Google Chrome or a Chromium-based browser — the flasher requires the Web Serial API. If your device is not detected, try a different USB cable.

Step 2: Configure Radio Settings

After flashing, connect to your repeater via the MeshCore client app and set:

Important: All repeaters on the Inland NW Mesh must use the same radio preset to communicate with each other.

Step 3: Set Admin Password

Step 4: Name Your Repeater

Naming is not required but helps the community identify and manage repeaters across the region. We use a structured three-part naming convention borrowed from the telecom industry:

Format: [LOCATION]-[SITE]-[OWNER]

Part 1 — Location (6 characters): The CLLI location code for the area.

Code Location
SPKNWA Spokane, WA
CDANID Coeur d'Alene, ID

Part 2 — Site (4 characters): A short code identifying the specific site or structure.

Code Site
NKAT North Krell ATT Tower
ROOF Rooftop installation
WATR Water tower

Part 3 — Owner (4 characters): Identifies the organization or individual managing the node. Licensed ham operators may substitute their FCC callsign.

Code Owner
ARDN Ardent Networks

Example: SPKNWA-NKAT-ARDN = A node in Spokane, WA on the North Krell ATT Tower, managed by Ardent Networks.

This structure allows the community to uniquely identify and manage hundreds of repeaters across multiple states at a glance.

Step 5: Set Owner Info

Enter your Discord handle and any other contact information you want to include. This helps the community reach you if there are issues with your repeater.

Step 6: Set Position Coordinates

Residential locations: It is recommended that you manually select a position at cross streets a few blocks away from your actual location for privacy. Do not use your exact home address.

Business locations: If you have permission from a business owner to deploy a repeater, get permission to use exact coordinates. Otherwise use a nearby location as with residential.

Step 7: Configure Path Hash Mode

Connect to your repeater's Command Line Interface and enter:

set path.hash.mode 1

This configures the repeater to use 2-byte path hashing, which reduces hash collisions on a larger network.

Step 8: Reboot and Advertise

  1. Reboot your repeater from the repeater tools menu or via the CLI command reboot
  2. Log back into your repeater after it restarts
  3. Send a Flood Advert to announce your repeater to the mesh

Step 9: Verify on CoreScope

  1. Note the first 4 characters of your repeater's Public Key
  2. Go to CoreScope
  3. Click Analytics → Hash Issues
  4. Verify your repeater is not listed in the 1-Byte Hash Usage Matrix
  5. Click the 2-Byte tab — your repeater should appear here once it has been picked up by network observers

Note: It may take a few minutes for your repeater to appear in CoreScope after sending an advert. If it does not appear after 10 minutes, check your radio settings and try sending another flood advert.

Migrating Your Repeater Identity to a New Device

If you are upgrading to new hardware or replacing a failed device, you can transfer your repeater's identity to the new device by extracting the private key from the old device and setting it on the new one. The public key is derived from the private key automatically — you only need to move the private key.

Warning: Never share your private key. It is the cryptographic identity of your repeater on the mesh.

Step 1: Connect and Open the Console

Plug your repeater into your computer via USB and open the MeshCore Web Flasher. Navigate to Console and select your device.

Step 2: Extract the Private Key from the Old Device

In the console, enter:

get prv.key

The device will output the 128-character private key. Copy and save it somewhere secure — you will need it in the next step.

Step 3: Flash and Configure the New Device

Flash the new device with repeater firmware and complete the standard setup steps above. Then open the console on the new device.

Step 4: Set the Private Key on the New Device

Enter the following command, replacing the placeholder with your saved 128-character hex string:

set prv.key [your_128_character_hex_string_here]

Step 5: Verify and Reboot

Confirm the key was set correctly:

get prv.key

Verify the output matches your saved key, then reboot:

reboot

The new device will come up with the same mesh identity as the old one — the public key updates automatically to match the private key.