What’s your node doing?

Region isn’t set

This is the single most common reason a brand-new node appears dead. A freshly flashed node has no region configured, and the radio will not transmit at all until you pick one. It isn’t broken; it’s refusing to emit on an unknown band.

1. Open the Meshtastic app (or web client) and connect to the node.
2. Go to Radio Configuration → LoRa and set Region. In the United States that is US.
3. Let the node reboot, then re-check that the region persisted.

For reference, the US region is 902.0–928.0 MHz, up to 30 dBm, with no duty-cycle restriction.

Modem preset doesn’t match the mesh

The modem preset determines the actual radio parameters. Nodes on different presets are effectively on different networks, even in the same room on the same frequency. If someone changed the preset from the default, that node is isolated.

1. Check Radio Configuration → LoRa → Modem Preset.
2. Match whatever your local mesh uses. LONG_FAST is the default and what most public meshes run.
3. Confirm every node you expect to reach is on that same preset.

Channel name or key doesn’t match

Matching frequency gets your packets heard; matching channel gets them decoded. The channel name and the pre-shared key must both match, exactly, on every node that should talk.

1. Compare channel name across nodes — it is case-sensitive.
2. Compare the PSK. Sharing the channel QR code is the reliable way to copy it.
3. Confirm the channel is in the same slot and is enabled on both ends.

Phone won’t pair with the node

Most pairing failures are procedural rather than hardware. The big one: scan from inside the Meshtastic app, not from your phone’s system Bluetooth list.

1. Scan from within the Meshtastic app.
2. If your phone already has a stale entry, forget the device in system Bluetooth settings, then pair again from the app.
3. On a node with no screen, try the default PIN 123456.
4. If the PIN is rejected, connect over USB and open a serial terminal — the debug output prints the actual PIN.
5. Check that the app has Bluetooth and location permissions; Android scanning fails silently without them.

No GPS fix

A first fix from cold can take several minutes, and GPS essentially does not work indoors. Rule out the ordinary causes before suspecting the module.

1. Put the node outdoors with a clear view of the sky and leave it there for several minutes — a cold start is slow.
2. Check the GPS antenna is connected and seated.
3. Confirm power is stable; a browning-out node will never hold a fix.
4. If GPS broke right after a firmware update, verify the correct GPS module is selected in device configuration.

Can’t flash, or the computer doesn’t see the device

1. Suspect the cable first. Many USB-C cables are charge-only and carry no data. Swap in a known-good data cable before anything else.
2. Install the USB-serial driver your board needs — commonly CP210x or CH34x.
3. Use a supported browser for the web flasher (Chrome or Edge; Web Serial is required).
4. Try a different USB port, ideally directly on the machine rather than through a hub.
5. Some ESP32 boards need to be put into bootloader mode: hold BOOT, tap RESET, release BOOT.

It works, but range is poor

Before touching any radio setting: range is usually a geometry problem, not a power problem. The radio horizon grows with the square root of antenna height, and a link also needs clearance around the sightline, not just along it.

1. Raise the antenna. Going from 1.5 m to 5 m takes the horizon from roughly 5 km to 9 km, with no change to the radio.
2. Keep the antenna vertical and the feedline short; a poor connector undoes a good location.
3. Never transmit without an antenna attached — you can damage the radio.
4. Check the antenna is right for the band you are on (US: 902–928 MHz).
5. Only then consider a slower preset, which trades data rate for sensitivity.

Battery drains too fast

1. The screen is usually the biggest draw. Set a short display timeout, or turn the screen off entirely on a deployed node.
2. GPS is the next biggest. Increase the position broadcast interval, or disable GPS on a node that never moves and give it a fixed position instead.
3. Check the device role. A router-type role stays awake to forward traffic and will not sleep like a client.
4. Enable power saving in the power configuration for battery-only nodes.
5. Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth if the node does not need them.

Not showing up on the public map / MQTT

Appearing on a public map is deliberately opt-in, and it needs more than one switch. Your node also has to reach a gateway that actually has internet.

1. Enable uplink on the channel you want shared.
2. Turn on “OK to MQTT” in LoRa configuration.
3. You must be using the default primary channel for the public map to accept the data.
4. Confirm a gateway node with an internet connection is actually in range — your node does not upload directly unless it is itself the gateway.

Still stuck

1. Check the open issue tracker for your specific board — several current bugs are hardware-specific.
2. Ask the regional group. MSP Mesh covers the Twin Cities, Greater Minnesota and western Wisconsin, and runs a weekly virtual Node Night.
3. If you think you have found a genuine bug, file it upstream with your board, firmware version and steps to reproduce.