RAKwireless WisBlock Mini Meshtastic Starter Kit US915 (Mini Starter Kit with RAK19003 Base)

Great little low-power Meshtastic node. Had it up and running in an hour after flashing firmware and installing in an enclosure. Running off solar is a breeze with the integrated charging circuit. The Antenna is the standard lower-quality mini one included with many nodes, so would upgrade that to get any real distance, but 5km seems fine in a suburban area.

I bought two of these, one had a blue light on constantly when flashed as a Meshcore repeater, this isn't how it should be. The second was fine. A reflash in both meshcore or meshtastic didn't solve it. I got a refund fine. I have ordered five more. Very impressed with the lower power consumption compared to Heltec V4. Will continue to buy despite one duff one.

Meshtastic

I loaded it up with meshcore and the antenna output failed to work. everything else work but couldn't get it to seem my network with meshore. returned it. I'll maybe try buying another one later.

Just received this today, so not a lot of use yet. I've spent the last few weeks playing with Meshtastic on Heltec (V3, T190, E213) nodes. This one joined my mesh and has been perfectly behaved for the last few hours. This is my first node without a screen. So there is no place to display the BLE PIN. The Meshtastic Android app suggested 4 digit PINs do not work but "123456" does. As noted in the product discription the software version is often behind. Mine shipped with firmware 2.5.5, and I've been flashing 2.5.15. Old software version sound like a gripe, but I think it's great they ship with Meshtastic (Heltec does not). Each of my Heltec MCUs came with a battery lead. I purchased batteries for the connector that Heltec uses. This MCU carrier board takes different sized battery connector. So I'll need to: by the connector, or new batteries, or a converter. A battery connector would have saved me some of that trouble. Because the USB A to C cable wasn't pictured, I was surprised to get one. The description clearly states the kit comes with one. For some people this could be "the thing" they needed. For me it's just another USB data cable, and I could really use a "battery connector". The rubber antenna is different that the Heltec OEM and any of the after market ones I've purchased. There is also a second LoRa circuit board antenna. It was nice they provided two. The BLE circuit board antenna has double sided tape on the back, the LoRa circuit board does not. A nice touch if you building out a self contained case. Both circuit board antennas have stickers indicating LoRa and BLE. It would be nicer if the PCB silkscreens had less RAK advertising and had "LoRa 915" and "BLE" silk screened on them prominently. I really like ESP32-S3 hardware, but the power draw and capabilities of this RAK unit compelled me to make the jump to this MCU. Assuming it is what everyone says, it is the best choice for my hill top solar node. Planning to utilize the $15 Lowes solar spotlight (as seen on the Meshtastic website) as my hilltop case. I like to test things, so I'll run this guy through testing before I deploy it. It'll be nice to see what I does with various antennas. If it meets the hype I'll certainly buy more of these.