WaunaMesh – MeshCore Off Grid Text Messaging

May 11, 2026 / 0 Comments

I created a new organization for my community, WaunaMesh! This is a community-built off grid encrypted text messaging. Covering Waunakee, the surrounding area, and linking to the larger Madison Mesh.

It is usable right now! You can see the latest map coverage on MeshMapper, and jump straight to getting on the network!

Summary:

  • WaunaMesh has deployed five repeaters covering about 70% of Waunakee.
  • FLARC provided a repeater to connect Waunakee to Madison.

The network is built using low power radios. Messages hop from one nearby repeater to the next, allowing communication across town without relying on cell towers, internet service, or even power!

The MeshCore network is up and in use right now. You can watch live message routing and playback visualizations of traffic moving through the mesh at https://map.rflab.io/#/live. It is genuinely mesmerizing watching packets hop across town in real time.

Getting a Community Started

To use the MeshCore network requires two things: a small inexpensive personal LoRa radio like the Heltec V3, and enough repeaters in an area to carry your message to the recipient. Getting enough coverage of an area is difficult, as folks are hesitant to invest before the network is useable.

So instead of waiting for enough people to randomly deploy repeaters, I decided to start building repeaters myself through WaunaMesh. With a donation from my church, I was able to offer repeaters free or reduced cost to local homeowners willing to host them.

That turned out to be one of the fastest ways to grow the network.

People are far more willing to participate if:

  • they do not need to research hardware
  • they do not need to configure firmware
  • they do not need to climb ladders
  • and the node already arrives ready to mount

About those repeaters I built… I have two repeater designs:

  • a ruggedized long duration solar repeater
  • an ultra cheap gutter mounted solar repeater

Both use the RAK4631 platform and have been performing surprisingly well.

The Rugged Solar Repeater

This is the more serious version designed for difficult installs where reliability matters more than cost.

Hardware

Main components:

  • RAK4631 starter kit
  • 2200 mAh battery
  • 5 dB antenna
  • 2 W solar panel
  • Weatherproof enclosure

The RAK4631 platform is hard to beat for solar infrastructure nodes. Power consumption is incredibly low. Experimental data here: Haruki’s Meshtastic Experiments- Battery Runtime Tests

The 5 dB antenna makes a noticeable difference for rooftop-to-rooftop coverage.

Winter Runtime Goals

This was my primary design goal. I intentionally designed around worst case winter conditions.

The node is capable of:

  • surviving 2+ weeks without sunlight
  • continuing operation while completely snow covered
  • recovering from only a few hours of sunlight per week

That sounds excessive until you realize how little current these radios actually draw.

The Gutter Repeater

This one is probably my favorite because it feels ridiculous that it works as well as it does. A homeowner can install this repeater to their roof in under ten minutes without drilling holes. Similar to the Rugged Repeater, it is designed to operate for 2+ weeks without sunlight. The smaller 0.5W solar panel means it takes longer to recover from a snow storm. Requiring a few hours of sunlight per day.

Menards clearanced out these clip-on gutter solar lights in two packs for around six dollars. This solar light is absurd considering what you get for $3.

Most cheap solar lights are junk internally:

  • tiny batteries
  • terrible charge circuits
  • glued shut housings
  • built to die after 1 year

But these menards specials turned out to be unusually good.

Inside:

  • full size 18650 battery compartment
  • real protected solar charge circuit
  • easy to modify weather resistant housing
  • includes mounting hardware
  • battery cuttoff on/off switch

That combination is extremely rare at this price point. Plus the enclosure already includes that gutter mounting clip! It is very compelling to say this repeater can be installed to a roof with No drilling. Just clip it onto a gutter. :D

The only negative is the included 1200mAh battery. The stock battery died after a few weeks of testing. It feels very light weight, I assume that the 1200mAh marking is wrong. Here’s the thing, since this solar light uses a standard 18650 holder, I can swap in a REALLY good name brand battery for under $10.

Hardware

Main components:

  • RAK4631 starter kit
  • Samsung 3000 mAh 18650
  • 3.4 dB antenna
  • 0.5 W solar panel
  • Gutter clip-on enclosure

Modifications

The conversion process is pretty simple:

  1. Open the solar light
  2. Remove the LEDs
  3. Cut a hole for the antenna
  4. Wire up the RAK4631 starter kit
  5. Replace the battery with a Samsung 3000 mAh 18650 cell
  6. Flash MeshCore firmware
  7. Mount it somewhere high

The original solar panel is only 0.5 W, which sounds tiny compared to other MeshCore repeater builds you find online, but the RAK4631’s nrf52 chip consumes so little power that it works surprisingly well. The battery upgrade matters far more than solar panel size.

Conclusion

Still reading? You can help!