I just started using this so I know very little.
From what I gather, there’s a default channel called “LongFast” which every device has from the start. I can see some messages in “LongFast” where I am.
I can see I can create another channel and share it via link, QR, etc.
Do people make such channels and share them publicly, for say local or topical chat groups? E.g. “Canada”, or “Meshtastic Support”, “BurningTesla”, or “Cats”? Is this a thing? Can it be a things?
When I check local groups info, I see links to online comms like Telegram (ew), Discord, Matrix, etc. I don’t see Meshtastic channel links.
Each channel also has a pre-shared key (even the default
LongFastone). Most community groups only share their channel info once you’ve joined or otherwise been vetted; they typically don’t post those details for everyone to see.If you keep the default
longFastas your primary channel, be aware that your location is shared over the primary channel, so you’re sharing it with everyone.On my mesh, my primary channel uses a custom name and PSK so that only members can use it / see my location.
Because I also wanted to be able to relay for and interact with the “public” / default channel, I created a secondary channel named
LongFast. For that to work, I had to also modify my LoRa settings to use the default frequency slot for my region (20, in my case, which is 906.875 MHz).Who’s in your private channel?
I’m still setting up my mesh, so just me and a friend at the moment lol.
Once I get everything planned, the goal is to start a community mesh project for this area.
So something like “Local Community Mesh” with local people in it. How would you share the channel with new people who get a Meshtastic device?
I definitely wouldn’t force people to join a Discord channel, that’s for sure.
Forget exactly which community mesh page I was looking at, but basically you create an account on their website, the admin verifies you’re not spam, and then a section becomes available to you that has the mesh channel config info. The community mesh page would also get listed on the Meshtastic Local Groups list.
So I would setup a website for it, create a registration/membership system, and put the channel info in the “Members Only” section of the site.
Edit: Ah, yeah: Dayton Mesh
Configuring your Meshtastic Device for the Dayton Mesh
In order to access the Dayton Mesh channel information, you may become a member by Creating an Account. Once you are signed in, a new link will appear called Channel Settings. There is no cost, and we do not collect personal information aside from your email . The reason we have decided to go this route for membership is twofold. Primarily, this allows us to protect channel information from scraping while still having all information in one location. Secondarily, we may add user-centric features in the future such as self-reported node locations, member-only event information, user-submitted blog posts about builds, etc. As such, having a membership system from the beginning allows us to more easily implement such features in the future. We use Amazon Cognito for user management.
Would you create a public channel that doesn’t need vetting, posting its info publicly somewhere?
Would I personally? No. If you’re posting the pre-shared key publicly, then might as well just use the default one.
What about topical channels if the mesh grows large, to hundreds or thousands of people? E.g. ask support questions in “Local Support” instead of “LongFast”
In addition to what the other commenter said, I’ll say “technically you can do whatever you want.”
If you want to create a channel to talk about cats with local people, you could make the channel and share the QR/link and some sort of “this is for meshtastic, look it up” sign at local cat related places like pet stores or shelters or whatever, but who knows how many people will actually join it.
You could also try (and I haven’t so if you do try let me know how it goes!) to create a new topic on the MQTT server (msh/us/cats or something like that) and share the link with meshtastic groups or cat groups online. I’d like to know if it’s possible to create a new topic on the server by just adding one in your settings, so definitely let me know! Note, only people with the same topic in their MQTT settings will be able to see your posts there, it’s like a room within a room.
My local area has a set up like the aforementioned dayton mesh, and another dude nearby who created a channel as well but I’ve never made a contact on it, so people are indeed doing it, but at least in my area it isn’t really feasible to be that specific on topics yet. Mostly it seems to be LongFast, Localmesh (like daytonmesh or ohiomesh type stuff), and then private channels for friends who all play paintball or camp or something like that. There are probably many that are sort of ephemeral, like they’ll spring up for a protest or concert or hamfest, and then they’ll all just be deleted at the end of the event.
