Channels
The channels we run
Start on LongFast, frequency slot 20. It is the factory default and it is where many of us are. MediumFast slot 45 is the alternate.
- Set this one
LF20
LongFast · slot 20
906.875 MHz
The default, and where most of us are. Set your region to US and a new radio is already here. LongFast with the slot left alone resolves to 20, so most people change nothing else. Set this one first.
MF45
MediumFast · slot 45
913.125 MHz
The alternate. Faster on the air, and plenty of us in SoCal use it. It is not always strong though, and it depends on your area. Try it if you can connect.
- Experimental
LT14
LongTurbo · slot 14
908.75 MHz
What we are trying next. A wider 500 kHz channel, a little quicker than LongFast for about 3 dB less reach. We are starting to experiment with it and we think it becomes our default in time. Needs firmware 2.7.17 or newer.
Start on LongFast, slot 20
This is the factory default and it is where many of us are. Set your region to US and a new radio is already on it, because LongFast with the slot left alone resolves to 20. For most people that means there is nothing to change here at all.
MediumFast slot 45 is the alternate
Plenty of us in SoCal use it, and it is faster on the air. The same message takes less airtime, so a busy channel fills up more slowly. It is not always strong though, and whether it works for you depends on your area. Try it if you can connect on it.
LongTurbo slot 14 is an experiment
A wider 500 kHz channel. It carries a little more than LongFast for roughly 3 dB less reach, and slot 14 is the slot it settles on by itself, the same way LongFast settles on 20. We are only starting to test it, and we think it ends up as our default here in time. You need firmware 2.7.17 or newer, and older phone apps may not list the preset yet. Switch a radio over to it if you want to help test.
How to tell what is near you
Check our live map for MediumFast slot 45 nodes around you. Remember a node only reaches a map if its owner switched on OK to MQTT, so there are always more nodes on the air than any map displays. An empty patch is not proof nobody is there. Some of why MF45 can be weaker is physics: it has about 5 dB less link budget than LongFast, so each hop reaches less far and the channel leans on having enough nodes nearby. Asking on Discord is the surer answer.
Where these numbers come from: Meshtastic's own radio settings reference (the presets, their speeds and their link budgets). The case for MediumFast is argued by Meshtastic itself in Why your mesh should switch from LongFast, and by the communities that have moved. Bay Area Mesh and MtnMe.sh are both on MediumFast slot 45. It is a genuine argument. It just leans on having enough nodes near you, and that is the part that varies across Southern California.
Set both the preset and the frequency slot. Type the slot number in rather than leaving it at 0. On 0 the radio works its frequency out from the primary channel's name, which is fine on a factory-fresh radio and stops being fine the moment anything has renamed that channel. A LongFast radio also cannot hear a MediumFast one at all, whatever the slot says, because the preset has to match too.
