MeshCore 1.18.0.1 - USA Cascade

Stable release. Meshtext chat, simpler ESP32 administration and new repeater controls. Changes below are relative to 1.17.1.9.

See all features beyond mainline MeshCore | Choose your firmware | Update instructions

New

Meshtext chat on supported Full Companions, including T1000-E. Use channels such as #mt-longfast; see Meshtext setup.
WiFi repeater bridge: connect up to eight peers by IP on an existing network. WiFi setup. ESP-NOW and RS232 also gain status, counters and link tests.
One ESP32 admin password for device setup, browser administration and WiFi firmware uploads. Router WiFi passwords and Bluetooth PINs stay separate. Password details
Telemetry choices: turn individual packet types on or off. All types are selected by default; sending telemetry still requires enabling it. Telemetry controls
Low-battery forwarding limits: optionally stop repeating below 10% and flooding below 20%, or set your own thresholds. Both limits default off. Battery controls
Radio2 setup warns about overlapping channels and suggests a clearer center frequency. Channel spacing. Supported boards also gain faster switching and saved tuning controls.
T114 automatic screen detection: one image for boards with or without the supported display.
Optional nRF52 bootloader update included in supported Repeater and Room Server images. These carry the exact board's OTAFIX 2.4.12 bootloader. Installation requirements

Fixed

G3 startup and radio pin/slot handling.
XIAO nRF52 external-flash startup, storage alignment and Bluetooth handling.
V4 USB logging idle/reopen failures and ESP32 Bluetooth/power-saving recovery.

Features beyond mainline MeshCore

Included in 1.18.0.1 compared with mainline MeshCore 1.18.0, checked 24 October 2026. This includes earlier Cascade additions and extensions to existing mainline features. Availability depends on the board and firmware role; some features require compatible clients or default off.

Full Companion images combine supported USB, Bluetooth and network connections in one image.
USB console/app switching between a text terminal and the Companion protocol without reflashing.
Full/Reduced sensor choices with LoRa updates on supported nRF52 infrastructure builds.
Two LoRa profiles with per-contact/channel and application transmission choices, plus optional crossover.
Scheduled radio changes and temporary profiles that automatically return to normal.
Radio switching controls with saved speed settings, overlap warnings and preamble advice.
Meshtext chat on compatible Meshtastic text channels, with optional text rebroadcasting.
Scheduled text beacons for MeshCore Public and supported Meshtext public channels.
Advanced forwarding rules by sender, channel, content, path and packet type.
Automatic advert-abuse limits to reduce excessive forwarded advertisements.
Smarter retries with configurable flood retries, heard-repeat cancellation and adaptive direct retries.
Private fleet management with signed commands for selected nodes, regions or geographic areas.
Additional route tools including saved return routes, alternate paths and extended tracing controls.
Private-message introductions when only the sender knows the recipient, using compatible Companion firmware.
Larger offline inboxes on supported boards, up to 512 pending frames in RAM.
Custom notification rules for contacts, rooms and channels using sound, vibration, LEDs or supported outputs.
Timed GPIO controls for explicitly exposed, supported hardware outputs.
Bluetooth privacy controls including saved address choices and paired-client stealth.
Bluetooth reconnect and refresh recovery to help paired clients reconnect and complete contact sync on supported boards.
Browser and TCP command terminals for supported Full Companions, alongside USB.
USB host-service access over LoRa for authenticated requests to an attached host service.
Integrated MQTT observation with multiple broker settings and runtime controls on supported ESP32 builds.
SNMP monitoring for radio, MQTT, memory and network status on supported ESP32 Observer builds.
Shared ESP32 admin password for device setup, browser administration and WiFi firmware uploads.
Combined bridge controls for supported MQTT, ESP-NOW, RS232 and WiFi UDP services in one image.
Bridge diagnostics with status, counters and link tests for ESP-NOW and RS232. RS232 guide.
WiFi UDP repeater bridge for up to eight peers on an existing WiFi network.
Host Ethernet over LoRa on supported ESP32 Full Companions; host software supplies TCP or SSH.
LoRa firmware updates with resumable transfers, smaller delta updates and update sharing.
Bundled nRF52 bootloader updates matched to the exact board on supported Repeater and Room images.
Signed bootloader updates over LoRa on supported bootloaders and storage layouts.
ESP32 partition migration packages for supported update routes that need larger application slots.
Room mailboxes with delivery receipts and support for sleeping clients.
Saved room chat and information boards plus topics, per-user limits and additional moderation.
Local WiFi room chat and browser administration on supported ESP32 Room Servers.
Retained telemetry history for temperature, battery/external voltage, GPS and radio noise.
Selectable telemetry reports for temperature, battery, external voltage and each radio profile's noise.
Management reports with firmware/bootloader versions, update support, uptime and historical readings.
Mesh-based clock correction using agreement from fresh network observations.
Expanded power-saving controls for the processor, LoRa receiver, WiFi and GPS, with sleep diagnostics.
Processor speed selection on supported ESP32 boards.
Saved DC-DC/LDO selections with fallback after qualifying repeated crashes.
Low-battery forwarding limits and configurable battery alerts.
Battery calibration and profiles plus supported low-voltage and charger-voltage controls.
SolarXiao carrier detection and MPPT controls on compatible carriers.
On-device message history with saved inbox views on supported displays; messages remain in RAM.
MeshPocket message board and offline map with channel history, coastlines and contact locations.
Separate display power settings for battery and external power, including timeouts.
RAK OLED controller selection with automatic SSD1306/SH1106 detection and a saved override.
Spoken button confirmations on supported screenless nRF52 Full Companions.
Optional RAK4631 SD update archive for serving peer updates; hardware qualification is incomplete.
Automatic optional-screen detection and saved display rotation on supported boards.
Morse and carrier tools for manual Morse transmission, receive capture and timed RF tests; decoding can produce false letters.
USB logging recovery with configurable recovery behavior and saved fault diagnostics.
Experimental tracker mode with scheduled GPS check-ins and faster reporting when marked lost.
Owner lost-status replies for compatible Companions asking whether they are lost.
Browser setup tools for notification rules, forwarding filters, telemetry decoding and radio-test presets.

Includes integrations from Observer and IoTThinks PowerSaving. See each linked guide for setup and limitations.

Choose a download

Use the firmware picker to match your exact board and role. The GitHub pages below contain the same version, split to fit GitHub's download limits.

What you run	Download page
A radio connected to your phone or computer	Companion
An ESP32 Repeater, Room Server or Sensor	ESP32 infrastructure
An nRF52 Repeater, Room Server or Sensor	Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 - use the picker to find your board
A partition migration or separate bootloader update	Update utilities

Full Companion combines supported connections and features in one image. Full / Reduced sensors selects optional sensor drivers on nRF52 infrastructure. With bootloader includes the matched bootloader update.

Before updating

Match the exact board and storage layout. ESP32 USB installs use a merged image; WiFi updates use an app-only image and a compatible partition layout. Update guide
An included nRF52 bootloader checks for a compatible older version after 70 seconds. It is not a recovery tool for an unrecognized bootloader. Bootloader guide
Fresh USA Cascade radio defaults: 910.525 MHz / BW62.5 / SF7 / CR5. Existing saved radio settings take precedence.

Tested and limitations

The complete release passed build, memory and package checks, and release-source CI. Hardware reports cover USB, Bluetooth, contact sync, LoRa and updates at the revisions recorded. The final build has not been physically tested on every board.

T1000-E: Bluetooth pauses while connected to a USB data host and resumes after unplugging if enabled. Bluetooth works on battery or a charge-only supply.
Radio2: two profiles share one radio; simultaneous reception is not guaranteed.
Morse receive: noise can still produce false letters.

Firmware source: 03214a16.