AetherMesh

AetherMesh is a LoRa mesh networking project with custom node firmware, an Android companion app, and a browser-based firmware flasher. A phone connects to a nearby node over Bluetooth LE, then that node relays messages and telemetry across the long-range LoRa mesh.

Android app <-> BLE <-> AetherMesh node <-> LoRa mesh <-> AetherMesh nodes Current Highlights Peer-to-peer LoRa mesh with broadcast, direct messages, route discovery, and expiring packet deduplication, congestion-aware forwarding, and bounded reliable delivery retries. Live two-way traceroute with per-hop RSSI/SNR and route learning from the observed forward and return paths. Android app with Chats, Nodes, Map, Settings, diagnostics, firmware updates, channel controls, and background BLE service support. Encrypted chat secrets stored outside the SQLite database, salted PBKDF2 key derivation for new encrypted messages, and authenticated AES-GCM payloads. Shared protobuf wire format across Android, BLE, and LoRa packets. BLE configuration for radio settings, GPS/position behavior, node naming, security keys, and device preferences. Firmware update flows from the app: ESP32-S3 boards use chunked BLE OTA .bin updates, while RAK boards can enter Nordic DFU for .zip updates. Browser flasher for first-time setup and recovery, published through GitHub Pages and bundled by GitHub Actions with artifact size and SHA-256 checks. Color T-Deck interface with hardware keyboard input and multiple full-screen status pages. Initial Elecrow CrowPanel 3.5 TFT target with SX1262 LoRa, BLE, OTA, and centered color dashboard output. Supported Hardware Board Platform Notes Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V4 ESP32-S3 Default firmware target; OLED UI, GPS support, BLE OTA, USB/web flashing Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3 ESP32-S3 Firmware target with OLED UI and USB/web flashing LILYGO T-Deck ESP32-S3 Color screen UI, keyboard input, SX1262 LoRa, USB/web flashing Elecrow CrowPanel Advance 3.5 TFT ESP32-S3 Initial CrowPanel firmware target with ILI9488 color UI and SX1262 LoRa RAK WisBlock RAK4631 nRF52840 SX1262 LoRa, WisBlock GPS support, Nordic DFU update path RAK3401 1W nRF52840 High-power RAK variant using the RAK4631 target base RAK19026 nRF52840 WisBlock display and power-management target with UF2 web flashing LILYGO T-Echo nRF52840 T-Echo firmware target and web flasher UF2 flow