United States Network

MeshCore Regions In The United States

How American mesh operators use shared region names and scopes to reduce congestion and keep traffic relevant

View The Regions How Does It Work?

Why Region Configuration?

As the RegionMesh network expands across America, managing message propagation becomes increasingly important. Without geographic boundaries, a message intended for neighbors in San Diego might traverse repeaters all the way to Seattle, consuming precious airtime unnecessarily. Region configuration addresses this by creating intelligent boundaries.

Through Regions (configured on repeaters) and Scopes (applied to messages), operators can define the geographic reach appropriate for their communications. A neighborhood watch announcement need not propagate beyond the county, while emergency broadcasts might warrant nationwide distribution.

There is no single nationwide U.S. naming standard that every MeshCore community is required to follow. What matters is that nearby operators agree on the same names. Many communities start with broad labels such as us, state-level names like us-co, or metro labels that fit local geography.

Note: Firmware Required

Region and scope features should be treated as current-generation MeshCore functionality. Use at least MeshCore firmware 1.15.0+ and the MeshCore app version 1.38.0+ if you want scope selection to behave reliably. If you also want default scope, use app version 1.43.0+.

How Does It Work?

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Regions On Repeaters

Repeater administrators configure which geographic areas their infrastructure serves. A common starting point is one broad region plus one more specific local region. For example, a repeater in Colorado might use us and us-co, but another community might prefer a city, metro, or corridor name instead.

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Scopes On Messages

When sending, users can specify a geographic scope such as a broad U.S. region, a state-sized region, or a local metro region. Messages without explicit scope still propagate widely, which is why scoped traffic becomes more important as a mesh grows.

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Exact Matching

Repeaters only forward messages when the scope matches a configured region name. Exact spelling matters. us does NOT automatically match us-tx unless you deliberately configure hierarchy for that relationship.

✳️

Wildcard *

Every repeater includes a default wildcard region *. Messages lacking explicit scope always propagate, maintaining backward compatibility with older firmware.

Example U.S. Region Names

Practical examples only. Use lowercase names and agree locally on what your mesh will use.

Region Code State/Region Example Areas
us United States Nationwide messages
us-ca California Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego
us-tx Texas Houston, Dallas, Austin
us-co Colorado Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs
us-wa Washington Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane
us-ny New York New York City, Buffalo, Albany
us-fl Florida Miami, Tampa, Orlando
us-az Arizona Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff
us-or Oregon Portland, Eugene, Bend
us-nv Nevada Las Vegas, Reno, Carson City
us-ut Utah Salt Lake City, Provo, Park City
us-ga Georgia Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta
us-nc North Carolina Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville

More Specific: Local Regions

For metropolitan areas or cross-boundary communities, more granular names can be added. This remains optional and should be decided by local community consensus. Examples:

  • dfw - Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex
  • bay-area - San Francisco Bay Area
  • greater-atlanta - Greater Atlanta area

Local region names do not need to match a national template. The important part is that nearby operators, repeaters, and clients all use the same names.

Repeater Configuration

Via CLI (Command Line Interface)

Regions are configured through the CLI, accessible via USB serial connection or remote administration. A practical setup usually starts with one broad region plus one narrower local region that your nearby mesh already recognizes.

1

Establish CLI connection to your repeater

2

Add a broad region name, for example: region put us

3

Add a narrower regional name, for example: region put us-co us

4

Allow flood forwarding for the regions your repeater should actually carry. In current firmware, region put may already default to allow-flood, but verify your result with region.

5

Persist configuration with region save

Example Configuration (Colorado)

region put us
region put us-co us
region allowf us
region allowf us-co
region save

Important

  • Verify each command receives an OK acknowledgement
  • Confirm configuration using the region command
  • The hierarchy syntax (region put us-co us) establishes us-co as a child of us
  • region save is essential for configuration to survive power cycles
  • Remote administration via app may encounter reliability issues; physical access sometimes proves necessary

Technical Specifications

Maximum Length

29 bytes (UTF-8) per region identifier

Permitted Characters

Lowercase letters (a-z), numerals (0-9), and hyphen (-) only

Maximum Regions

32 regions per repeater (auto-discovery limited to 172 characters)

Uniqueness

Region identifiers must remain unique within the mesh network

Benefits Of Region Configuration

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Increased Airtime

Messages avoid unnecessary propagation beyond their intended scope, freeing channel capacity for other communications.

⚡

Faster Delivery

Messages require fewer hops when constrained to relevant geographic areas, reducing end-to-end latency.

🔋

Battery Conservation

Repeaters handle fewer messages, reducing energy consumption, which proves particularly valuable for solar-powered installations.

📍

Local Relevance

Receive only messages pertinent to your geographic area, eliminating noise from distant regions.

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Scalability

Network growth becomes sustainable as each region functions semi-independently without degrading overall performance.

🤝

Community Driven

Local communities determine their own configuration conventions while the national structure provides consistency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Must I update my repeater for region support?

Yes. Treat MeshCore firmware 1.15.0+ as the practical baseline if you want regions and scopes to work smoothly with current repeaters and apps. Flash the latest firmware via meshcore.io/flasher.

What happens when sending without specifying a scope?

Messages lacking scope propagate through all repeaters via the wildcard * region. The network operates as before, though you forfeit the efficiency benefits of regional filtering.

Can multiple regions be configured on a single repeater?

Yes, up to 32 regions per repeater. A practical starting point is one broad name and one or more local names that your surrounding mesh actually uses, such as us and us-ca if your community has agreed on those.

How does the hierarchy (region put us-co us) function?

Hierarchy establishes parent-child relationships. region put us-co us designates us-co as a child of us. Consequently, messages scoped to us also propagate through repeaters configured for us-co.

Can scope be selected within the Companion App currently?

Yes. Scope selection is available in current MeshCore app releases. Use at least app version 1.38.0+. If you want default scope behavior as well, use 1.43.0+.

Who determines which local region codes to adopt?

The local community decides collectively. There is no single U.S. rulebook that every mesh must follow. Coordinate via the RegionMesh forum or Discord channels and adopt names that nearby operators will actually recognize and use.

Want To Discuss Region Configuration?

Region configuration develops through community collaboration. Questions, suggestions, or willing to assist? Join the conversation:

MeshCore Discord

Help The Network Grow

Configuring regions on your repeater contributes to maintaining a scalable, efficient MeshCore network across the United States.

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