Join the Mesh

This guide walks you through getting a Meshtastic node on the air and onto the MeshMY community mesh in Malaysia. No amateur radio licence is required to get started on the 919 MHz band — anyone can join.

1. Get a device

Meshtastic runs on inexpensive LoRa radios. Pick anything from the official supported hardware list — a simple handheld unit (e.g. a Heltec, T-Echo, or RAK) is a great first node.

2. Install the app

Install the official Meshtastic client for your platform:

Pair your device over Bluetooth or USB and complete the initial setup, then come back here for the MeshMY-specific settings below.

3. Radio Configuration → LoRa

Open your device's LoRa settings and set the following:

Region: 919 MHz (MY_919) — the license-free ISM band. This is the recommended default for everyone. See the full region by country list for reference.

Region: 433 MHz (MY_433) — this falls within Malaysia's amateur radio band. Only select it if you hold a valid Malaysian amateur radio licence. If you're not a licensed ham operator, use 919 MHz instead.

Also on this page:

Set Modem Preset to Medium Fast — this is the preset the rest of the MeshMY community uses, so staying on it keeps you compatible with everyone else's mesh timing.
Leave Max Hops at its default of 3, which is fine for most setups.
Turn on OK to MQTT. This tells nearby gateway nodes they're allowed to bridge your packets onto MQTT — see the note on MQTT below for why this matters.

4. Radio Configuration → Channels

Open your Channels settings and leave the primary channel's name field blank and its PSK at the default. With the name blank, the channel is named automatically after your modem preset — MediumFast per step 3 above. Don't create a custom channel or change the PSK; staying on this default channel is what puts you on the air with the rest of the MeshMY community.

On that same primary channel, turn on Uplink Enabled and Downlink Enabled. These work together with "OK to MQTT" above to let your messages flow to and from MQTT gateways.

5. Module Configuration → MQTT

Meshtastic's MQTT module controls whether your node talks to an MQTT broker directly. There are two reasonable ways to set this up, depending on how your node connects to the internet:

Rely on a nearby gateway (recommended default). Leave the MQTT module disabled on your own node. As long as "OK to MQTT" and the channel's uplink/downlink toggles are on (steps 3–4 above), any MeshMY gateway node within RF range will bridge your messages for you.
Be your own gateway. If your node is often out of RF range but has Wi-Fi or a phone with cellular data nearby, enable the MQTT module directly and point it at MeshMY's community server — see below.

Not recommended: turning off both "OK to MQTT" and the module (an "RF-only" setup). This isolates your traffic to local RF range only and prevents it from being linked over MQTT to nodes out-of-state. Only do this if you deliberately want to stay off MQTT entirely.

MeshMY's community MQTT server

mqtt.lucifernet.com is MeshMY's preferred MQTT server (maintained by 9W2LWK). If you're setting up the MQTT module yourself, use:

Address: mqtt.lucifernet.com
Username: meshdev
Password: large4cats
Root topic: msh/MY_919 (or msh/MY_433)
Encryption: enabled

This server also feeds the community mesh map — once your node is uplinking to it (whether directly or via a nearby gateway), you'll show up at meshmap2.lucifernet.com.

Once you're set up, head over to the weekly net page to take part in the community check-in.

Get help

Questions, node placement help, or just want to say hi? Check our events page for upcoming meetups, browse the community's repositories on GitHub, or read more on the About page.