v1.0.0released 15 May 2026MIT licence
Sensor data from places with no mobile coverage
LoRaMesher is an open-source LoRa® mesh network born at the UPC. Each node passes its neighbour's reading along until it reaches one point with internet, and the data lands on your own server.
- Permanent deployment at the UPC and in Barcelona
- 16 nodes
- Longest link, without line of sight
- 3.5 km
- Publications with the UPC research group
- 6
- Open source, free to use in your product
- MIT
Measured with release v1.0.0. Results and their conditions are in what exists today.
Where it fits
Built for one kind of job
Sensors spread over kilometres, behind hills or under trees, with no tower in reach.
Readings sent on a schedule.
Median delivery time: 15 to 67 seconds.
Measured, paper under reviewp50 on the 13-node campus cluster, one 40-byte reading per node every 40 to 308 s, SF7 to SF12, release v1.0.0. p95 up to 128 s.
Alarms that need an answer within seconds need another system.
If one LoRaWAN® gateway on a pole already covers your area, LoRaWAN is the simpler choice, and I will tell you so.
How it works
How a reading travels
The numbers match the diagram at the top of the page.
- 1
A sensor wired to a node takes a reading.
- 2
The node waits for its time slot and sends the reading to a neighbour.
- 3
Neighbours pass it on, hop by hop, around hills and trees.
- 4
One gateway node with internet hands it to your own server (MQTT), where Grafana shows it.
The network carries sensor data to your server. Phones and laptops in the field need their own connection.
Deployments
Where LoRaMesher runs
A permanent network at the university, a deployment with an environmental partner and a new field network on the way.
UPC campus and Barcelona
A permanent deployment of 16 nodes at the UPC: 13 on the campus and 3 in another district of Barcelona, joined by a link of about 3.5 km without line of sight.
Directional antennas on the long link, T-Beam boards, results measured in 2026 with release v1.0.0.
Ebro Delta, with Hacking Ecology
LoRaMesher ran on Hacking Ecology's Nayad environmental stations in the Ebro Delta.
A new field deployment
10 nodes are being prepared, with a 7-day enclosure and power test before they go to the field. Installation planned from 19 October 2026.
Evidence
What exists today
Results on the UPC deployment
99.7% of packets delivered on the 13-node cluster at SF7, and about 80% with all 16 nodes and the long link.
Runs of tens of minutes, 40-byte payloads, release v1.0.0. The 16-node figure comes from SF9 and SF12 runs. No SF7 run formed a network across the long link.
Median delivery time: 15 to 67 seconds.
p50 on the 13-node campus cluster, one 40-byte reading per node every 40 to 308 s, SF7 to SF12, release v1.0.0. p95 up to 128 s.
Paid work
Three paid engineering engagements for a European agri-robotics manufacturer.
Six publications with the UPC research group.
Joan Miquel Solé is an author of five of them.
- Finalist, Premis Fundació Caixa Enginyers Isabel P. Trabal 2026
- Presented at the Demo Day of De la Ciència al Mercat, 7th edition (Barcelona, December 2025)
Not done yet: link encryption is planned, and firmware updates over Wi-Fi are in development. No battery-life figures are published.
Questions
Questions people ask first
Why not LoRaWAN?
If one gateway on a pole covers your site, LoRaWAN is the simpler choice. LoRaMesher is for distance, hills and trees with no infrastructure.
What about Meshtastic® and MeshCore?
Both are great for messaging between people. LoRaMesher gives each node its own time slot, which suits sensors that report on a schedule.
Does the network use encryption?
Not yet. Version 1.x has no link-layer encryption or authentication. Encryption with AES-128 on every frame is planned and is the next security milestone. Until it ships, use LoRaMesher only where that is acceptable and treat any network as a test network.
The project
Who is behind it
I'm Joan Miquel Solé. I started LoRaMesher at the UPC in 2021 as my final degree project and have worked on it since with the university's research group. I answer every message myself.
Next step
How to work with LoRaMesher
Collaborate or run a pilot
For research groups, companies and public bodies that want to try LoRaMesher on a real site.
Get in touchTell me where your sensors are
Get in touchGet in touch
Questions about the library, research or collaboration? Replies come within two working days.