导读

This article delves into the core value of mesh networks by reviewing three mainstream solutions: Meshtastic, MeshCore, and Reticulum. The author, who has run an independent network with a dedicated ASN since 2024, shares his perspective on the limitations of current Internet centralization, and explains why heterogeneous, protocol-agnostic mesh networks like Reticulum have the potential to build a more resilient, user-controlled alternative to the traditional Internet. For anyone interested in anti-censorship connectivity, off-grid communication, or decentralized technology, this article provides a practical comparison of existing options and a clear outlook on the future of peer-to-peer networking.

这篇文章从一个自建独立网络两年多的技术爱好者视角出发，拆解了当下三种主流网状网络方案的优劣，点破了当前互联网中心化架构的核心痛点：哪怕你有自己的ASN和IP段，依然要受运营商和管理机构的约束，真正的网络主权几乎不存在。作者对比了Meshtastic、MeshCore和Reticulum三类方案的适用场景和局限性，最后提出了支持多传输介质、可无缝扩展的异构网状网络才是未来的发展方向，不管是对关注抗 censorship 通信、断网应急场景，还是对去中心化技术感兴趣的读者，都很有参考价值。

I've been running my own independent network with a dedicated ASN, IP address space and fiber connections since 2024, and it didn't take long for me to realize how dependent we all still are on central service providers. The Internet is technically a mesh, but the number of real core players is extremely small, and they are easily pressured into censorship and other harmful practices. Even with direct BGP peering access, my right to use network resources is tied to annual fees from ARIN, and there's no real "ownership" of Internet real estate like IP addresses anymore.

我从2024年就开始运营带独立ASN号、自有IP段和光纤线路的私人网络，运营没多久就发现，我们所有人依然高度依赖中心化的服务商。互联网理论上是网状结构，但真正的核心玩家数量极少，很容易被施压进行内容审查或者其他损害用户权益的操作。哪怕我已经实现了直接BGP对等互联，这些资源的使用权依然绑定着ARIN的年费，所谓互联网“不动产”的IP地址，根本不存在真正的所有权。

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The tragedy of modern computing is that the devices we own in our offices, homes and pockets are extremely powerful, but Big Tech deliberately avoids leveraging this capability. Why are we all forced to buy access from large corporations when our own devices have enough computing power to do so much more? Mesh networking, which transmits data packets through directly interconnected peers instead of central data centers, promises to free us from reliance on central service providers, and that's why I've been so obsessed with this field lately.

现代计算的一大悲剧是，我们办公室、家里、口袋里的设备性能已经非常强悍，但科技巨头却故意不利用这个优势。我们的设备明明有能力完成更多任务，为什么所有人都只能从大公司手里购买网络接入服务？网状网络不需要经过中央数据中心，而是通过大量直接互联的节点转发数据包，它有望让我们摆脱对中心化服务商的依赖，这也是我最近对这个领域特别着迷的原因。

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The most well-known consumer solution right now is Meshtastic, which has gained popularity because it's a ready-to-use product focused on mobile messaging and device tracking, perfect for small groups like hikers or event attendees. But its design limits its scalability for large public meshes. MeshCore, another emerging option, adds a proper routing system that reduces network congestion significantly, but it divides devices into companion and repeater categories, requiring more coordination and centralization. Worse, its official clients are proprietary and have paywalled features, which goes against the core goal of off-grid networks: total user control.

目前最知名的消费级方案是Meshtastic，它之所以流行，是因为它是针对移动消息和设备追踪的现成产品，很适合徒步爱好者、活动参与者这类小群体使用，但它的设计限制了在大型公共网状网络中的扩展性。另一个新兴方案MeshCore加入了 proper 的路由系统，大幅降低了网络拥塞，但它把设备分为终端和中继两类，需要更多的协调和中心化规划，更糟的是它的官方客户端是闭源的，还有付费功能墙，这和离网网络“用户完全自主可控”的核心目标是相悖的。

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The solution that impresses me most is Reticulum, a networking stack that supports strongly encrypted routing over almost any physical transport, including LoRa, Wi-Fi, microwave, fiber, even the Internet or Tor. It works out of the box for small private networks like Meshtastic, but also scales to planetary size like MeshCore without its limitations. Nodes can automatically merge networks when they connect to each other, and the protocol automatically selects the best path based on available bandwidth. This heterogeneous connectivity means you can build a local LoRa network for a neighborhood, connect it to other cities via point-to-point microwave, and fall back to local operation automatically if wide-area connections are disrupted, offering a level of resilience that other solutions simply can't match.

最让我惊艳的方案是Reticulum，这是一个支持几乎所有物理传输介质的网络协议栈，包括LoRa、Wi-Fi、微波、光纤，甚至互联网、Tor网络都可以作为传输层。它既可以像Meshtastic一样开箱即用，适合小型私人网络，又能像MeshCore一样扩展到全球规模，还没有MeshCore的架构限制。不同的Reticulum网络只要有节点互联就能自动合并，协议会根据可用带宽自动选择最优路径。这种异构连接能力意味着你可以给社区搭建低成本的LoRa本地网络，通过点对点微波和其他城市的网络互联，一旦广域连接中断也能自动 fallback 到本地运行，韧性是其他方案完全比不了的。

原文来源：https://www.jonaharagon.com/posts/im-getting-into-mesh-networks-meshtastic-meshcore-and-reticulum/