Sonoma Mesh is a neighbor-to-neighbor guide for setting up MeshCore — a free, license-free, off-grid radio network — across Sonoma County. Built for wildfire season, PSPS outages, and the dead zones between our hills and vineyards.
Cell service and internet fail exactly when we need them most.
PG&E's Public Safety Power Shutoffs and wildfire evacuations regularly knock out cell towers and internet across the county, right when neighbors most need to check on each other.
West County, the Mayacamas and back-road ranches sit in cell coverage gaps every day of the year — disaster or not.
MeshCore complements Sonoma County's existing ham radio, GMRS and Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) networks — more radios in more pockets means a more resilient county.
Background: Sonoma County has invested in a 14-repeater GMRS network (Sonoma County, 2024). Free, license-free tools like MeshCore help fill the gaps in between.
An open-source, off-grid text messaging network built on long-range LoRa radios — no cell towers, no subscriptions, no license exam.
LoRa radios reach for miles hill-to-hill on tiny amounts of power, and can run on a battery or a small solar panel for weeks.
Every device can relay messages for its neighbors, so coverage grows organically as more people in Sonoma County join in.
Messages are encrypted, the firmware is open source (MIT licensed), and there's no ad-tech, crypto, or subscription behind it — built by meshcore.io.
Bay Area MeshCore volunteers are actively extending coverage from San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay toward Sonoma, Petaluma and Point Reyes — see the r/sonomacounty announcement. Joining now helps close the gap faster.
It takes about 15 minutes and roughly $25–$50 in hardware to join the network — no license, no test, no monthly fee.