wireless.org.au
🛰 Est. 2000 · Revived 2025

Australia's Community Wireless
Network Hub

Connecting Meshtastic mesh nodes, LoRaWAN gateways, and amateur radio operators across Australia. No subscriptions. No telcos. Just community.

Find Your Local Group Get Started with Meshtastic

Technologies

Pick your network

Three paths into community wireless networking — each with different trade-offs for range, speed, and licensing requirements.

📡

Meshtastic

LoRa-based off-grid mesh messaging. No internet required. Works when everything else fails. Growing fast across Australia.

Learn Meshtastic
🌐

LoRaWAN

Long-range IoT networking via The Things Network. Community gateways provide free coverage for sensors and devices nationwide.

Explore LoRaWAN
🔭

AREDN Ham Mesh

High-speed data mesh for licensed amateur radio operators. Built for emergency communications and community resilience.

Explore AREDN

Background

What is a community wireless network?

A community wireless network is built and operated by volunteers — not telcos. The goal is simple: connect people using unlicensed radio spectrum, open hardware, and shared infrastructure.

Australia has been a part of this movement since the early 2000s, when groups like Melbourne Wireless, Sydney Wireless, and Air-Stream (Adelaide) were building city-wide mesh networks using modified 802.11b equipment long before the NBN existed.

Today the tools have changed — LoRa radios cost $30, range has extended to tens of kilometres, and the software is polished enough for anyone to run a node. But the ethos is the same: community-owned, community-operated, free to use.

View the groups directory

Why it matters

Network resilience starts at home

🌪

Disaster resilience

Mesh networks keep working when towers and backhaul are down.

🔒

Privacy first

Meshtastic uses AES-256. No carrier knows who you're talking to.

💸

Zero cost to use

No SIM card. No data plan. Once you have the hardware, it's free forever.

🤝

Community owned

No shareholders. Infrastructure built by the people who use it.

Getting started

New to community wireless?

Most people start with Meshtastic — it's cheap, no licence needed, and there's already a node near you in most Australian cities.

  1. Buy a Meshtastic device

    A Heltec V3 or LILYGO T-Beam costs $30–60 from AliExpress. It arrives pre-flashed or takes 5 minutes to set up.

  2. Set your region to ANZ

    Open the Meshtastic app, connect via Bluetooth, and set the region to ANZ (915 MHz, ACMA-compliant).

  3. Find your local mesh

    Check the Meshtastic mesh map to see nodes near you. Join the community directory to find local groups.

  4. Get involved

    Help extend coverage by placing a solar node, joining the Discord, or listing your node in our directory.

Full Meshtastic guide LoRaWAN instead?