Start at zero.
Never touched a LoRa radio or a dashboard? Start here: three first projects, every term in plain language, and straight answers.
Pick a project.
Each path takes an afternoon. Follow the steps in order.
Your first mesh
Your first sensor
Every term, plainly.
31 words you'll meet in radio settings, docs and our guides.
- Airtime
- How long one packet occupies the radio channel. Longer range settings mean longer airtime and fewer messages per hour. Try it →
- AES encryption
- The cipher used to encrypt mesh traffic so only radios with the channel key can read it.
- Bandwidth (BW)
- The width of the radio channel, usually 125, 250 or 500 kHz. Narrower bandwidth reaches further but sends slower.
- Cargo
- In Data, the readings a device sends: temperature, voltage, anything you measure.
- Coding rate (CR)
- Extra error-correction bits added to each packet, written 4/5 to 4/8. Higher values survive noise better but take more airtime.
- Companion radio
- A LoRa radio paired to your phone over Bluetooth. The app does the thinking; the radio does the talking.
- dBi
- Antenna gain compared to a perfect sphere. A 3 dBi antenna focuses energy toward the horizon.
- dBm
- Power on a log scale relative to one milliwatt. 20 dBm is 100 mW; −120 dBm is a very faint signal.
- Duty cycle
- The share of time a radio may transmit. In much of Europe the 868 MHz band limits you to 1% or 10%, depending on the sub-band. Try it →
- Fresnel zone
- The football-shaped space around the line between two antennas. Trees or roofs in it weaken the link even when you can see the other end.
- Geofence
- An area on the map that triggers an alert when someone enters or leaves it.
- Harbor
- In Data, a secure collection point for one project's devices and readings.
- Hop limit
- How many times a mesh message may be repeated by other radios before it is dropped. Keeps the network from flooding.
- ISM band
- Licence-free radio frequencies such as 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz (Americas) that LoRa uses. Try it →
- Lighthouse
- The open-source Data agent. One command on Linux, macOS or Windows sends system metrics and service health.
- Line of sight
- A clear view between two antennas. LoRa range depends far more on height and obstacles than on power. Try it →
- Link budget
- Transmit power plus antenna gains minus receiver sensitivity. The bigger it is, the more path loss a link can survive. Try it →
- LoRa
- A long-range, low-power radio modulation. Small packets, kilometres of range, days of battery.
- LoRaWAN
- A network standard built on LoRa where devices talk to gateways, not to each other. Common for sensors.
- Mesh network
- Radios that pass messages for each other, so a message can reach someone out of direct range.
- MeshCore
- Open-source mesh firmware for LoRa radios that routes messages through fixed repeaters. Supported in Maps.
- Meshtastic
- The most popular open-source LoRa mesh firmware. Every node can relay. Supported in Maps.
- MQTT
- A lightweight publish-subscribe protocol often used to bridge mesh radios to the internet. Relay Bridge replaces it in Maps.
- Node
- Any radio on the mesh: a tracker, a phone companion, a solar repeater.
- Relay Bridge
- Maps' way of carrying mesh traffic to the internet and back when any one member has signal.
- Retention
- How long stored data is kept. Data keeps 180 days.
- RSSI
- Received signal strength in dBm. Closer to zero is stronger; around −120 dBm is the edge.
- Ship
- In Data, one device that sends cargo to a harbor.
- SNR
- Signal-to-noise ratio in dB. LoRa can decode below zero: down to about −20 dB at SF12.
- Spreading factor (SF)
- How long each LoRa symbol lasts, SF7 to SF12. Each step up roughly doubles airtime and adds range.
- Telemetry
- Measurements sent automatically from a device: position, battery, temperature, anything.
Do I need a radio to use Maps?
No. Maps works over the internet on iOS, Android, desktop and web. Add a LoRa radio when you need it to keep working without signal.
Which radio should I buy first?
For one person on the move, a small tracker like the RAK WisMesh Tag. For a fixed relay on a roof or hill, a solar node. The radios page compares them.
Is Maps free?
Yes. Groups, chat, live location and offline mesh are free forever. Flare Pro adds weather, unlimited groups, organizations and more for $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year.
Is Flows included?
Flows has its own free tier. One Flare Pro subscription unlocks the Pro features in both Maps and Flows.
How much does Data cost?
There's a free forever tier with no card. When you grow, it's a flat $9 a month.
Can I host Data myself?
Yes. The stack is open source and there's a self-hosting guide in the docs.
Are the Media reviews sponsored?
Some devices are sent by makers. Every review is hands-on and says what works and what doesn't. Makers can reach us through the collaborate page.
What is Labs?
Where we test what comes next: our own radio, open-source tools and AI features. Join the list to try them early.