Node Star
Mesh Gateway

Right now the mesh networking world is fragmented. Meshtastic, MeshCore, and Reticulum are three separate communities using three incompatible protocol stacks. If you want to participate in all three, you need three separate devices. Nobody has built the thing that bridges them.

That is what the Node Star Mesh Gateway is. A compact appliance — roughly the size and footprint of a home Wi-Fi router — with three dedicated LoRa radios inside, each running its own protocol firmware. It sits on your shelf, plugged into power and Ethernet, and it participates in all three mesh networks simultaneously, around the clock.

You manage it from a browser on your local network. No terminal required. No SSH. You plug it in and it works.

Running a permanent mesh node is harder than it should be. Even for technically capable people, keeping a Raspberry Pi stable, managing USB device persistence, writing systemd services, and handling firmware updates across multiple radios is a real time investment. Most people give up before they have something reliable.

We want a fixed node that just runs. The kind of thing you forget about because it works. The mesh equivalent of your cable modem — anonymous, unglamorous, and always there.

And we want it to speak every dialect. The fragmentation between Meshtastic, MeshCore, and Reticulum is a problem for the whole community. A device that participates in all three creates a bridge between groups of people who currently cannot hear each other.

Three Heltec LoRa32 V3 modules connect to a Raspberry Pi 5 via a powered USB hub. Each module runs independent firmware for its target protocol. The Pi runs all three network daemons simultaneously and will eventually bridge traffic between them where possible.

Design Blueprint — NS-01-A (Concept)

All three radios operate on 915 MHz. Physical separation inside the enclosure and staggered channel assignments minimize interference between simultaneous transmitters. Each radio connects to its own external antenna via U.FL to SMA pigtail, with three SMA ports on the enclosure face. You can upgrade to high-gain antennas without opening the device.

We are at the start. Hardware is being sourced. The architecture is settled. The software approach is clear. What we do not have yet is a working prototype on a desk with all three radios talking simultaneously — and that is the next thing that needs to happen.

Here is the honest roadmap:

We are being honest with you about the open questions. If you have worked through any of these, we want to hear from you.

Open protocols. Open firmware. Open hardware. The entire stack this device runs on was built by people who shared their work. Building the Mesh Gateway in public is the only approach that makes sense given what it is and who it is for.

This community has knowledge we do not have. People who have already wrestled with USB persistence on Pi, systemd watchdog configs for serial devices, the current state of the Reticulum-Meshtastic bridge. Publishing the architecture and the problems openly is how that knowledge finds its way into the build.

For anyone who wants to build along with us. This is what we are sourcing right now.