Smart Mesh Routing

Goal: Give every user a clear, predictable, and delightful experience even when the LoRa mesh is slow, lossy, or duty-cycle limited.

The mesh:// URL scheme

Prefix any URL with mesh:// to instantly switch into mesh-optimized mode.

Normal internet:     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshtastic
Mesh-optimized:      mesh://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meshtastic

• http:// = best-effort (normal rules may still apply)
• mesh:// = aggressive optimization: text-only, stripped media, heavy compression, smart caching

This gives users explicit intent and removes all guesswork.

Quick Cheat Sheet

Note: this list only includes other registered instances in which federation is enabled. Users are free to create and customize their own instances and are not required to federate with the wider network nor register.

• deadmesh

• deadlight.boo

• mobile.deadlight

• thatch pad

• threat level midnight

Node Gateway Device

Meshtastic Lillygo T-Deck ESP32 x 2

• Only using standard firmware, latest stable, no proxy integration

meshtastic-deadlight LoRa Internet Gateway, an origin story

How a proxy project evolved into something I didn't expect

The Problem

There are places where people have devices and apps but no Internet access:

1. Rural areas - Too far from infrastructure
2. Disaster zones - Towers down for weeks
3. Network shutdowns - Deliberate censorship

Existing solutions all have tradeoffs:

Satellite Internet (Starlink, etc.)

• Works well, but $100+/month plus $500+ hardware
• Detectable and can be remotely disabled or geofenced

Mesh messaging apps (Firechat, Briar)

• Work without infrastructure
• Require everyone to install the same app
• Can't use existing services (Gmail, maps, websites)

LoRa projects

• Long range (10km+ per hop), ultra low power
• Mostly sensor data or basic text messaging
• No practical Internet bridging

The gap: People want to use their existing apps in places with no connectivity, ideally on hardware that's affordable and can run on solar power.

I built something to explore this problem.

Deadlight Meshtastic Proxy

Internet-over-LoRa: A practical bridge between Meshtastic mesh networks and the Internet

Overview

Deadlight Meshtastic Proxy transforms LoRa mesh networks into practical Internet gateways. Built on the Deadlight Proxy foundation, it adds transparent mesh networking capabilities that let any device on a Meshtastic mesh access standard Internet protocols—HTTP/HTTPS, email, DNS, and more—as if they had normal connectivity.

Prerequisites

Software:

• Linux system (Raspberry Pi, x86 server, or ESP32-S3 with adequate RAM)
• GLib 2.0+, OpenSSL 1.1+
• GCC or Clang

Hardware (see Hardware section for details):

• Meshtastic-compatible LoRa radio (ESP32-based recommended)
• Gateway node: Raspberry Pi or...

RTL-SDR Remote Setup Log

Phase 1: Windows Client (SDR#)

1. Drivers: Used Zadig to replace default Windows driver with WinUSB on Interface 0.
2. Software: Installed SDR# (Airspy version).
3. Audio: Ensured output device matches system speakers and "Unity Gain" is unchecked.

Phase 2: Kali Pi...

Official Meshtastic.org documentation

Example Usage

...

Deadmesh project site and demo(coming soon) is being migrated from the current deadlight.boo subdomain to a dedicated domain.

User registration has been disabled here with the deadmesh.boo site and registration now live.