New LoRA modem presets

[kallisti5]

The LoRA modem presets within Columba reflect the Meshtastic presets. Given the differing use-case of Meshtastic (short, text messages) vs Reticulum (more data-driven, Nomad network, etc), it might be a good idea to define a smaller set of more use-case optimized settings.

Many people in the Meshtastic space have communicated that the "Long Fast" setting doesn't make sense as it's the slowest actual link speed.

Maybe instead of the nebulous naming Meshtastic uses, Reticulum needs some better modem presets focused on speed?

The below is written with a US focus. Assumed default 914.875Mhz. SX1262

• (Short Range / 6.25 Kbps)

  • SF8 / 250kHz 4/5
  • Link Budget: 145.5 dB
  • Range Best Case: ??? km

• (Medium Range / 3.52 Kbps)

  • SF9 / 250kHz 4/5
  • Link Budget: 148.0 dB
  • Range Best Case: ?? km

• (Long Range / 1.07 Kbps)

  • SF11 250kHz 4/5
  • Link Budget: 153.0 dB
  • Range Best Case: ?? km

Ref: https://www.semtech.com/design-support/lora-calculator
Ref: https://meshtastic.org/docs/overview/radio-settings/#data-rates
Ref: https://meshtastic.org/blog/why-your-mesh-should-switch-from-longfast/#understanding-lora-presets
Ref: https://buffalora.org/2026/03/27/rangetest/

We could leverage Meshtastic as it stands today to collect data real-world speed data on the Reticulum frequencies using the rangetest feature.

FYI: I'm not a ham, having a ham's input here would be helpful 😆

[torlando-tech]

I have been told this many times but had never seen a convincing alternative until this. I like your suggestion of short medium long with actual theoretical speeds. I am also not a ham so my knowledge here is pretty limited, hence my naively copying the meshtastic settings.

Filling in that best range would be great too.

I'll poke around the community and see if anyone can help refine this. Thank you!

[kallisti5]

One thing to watch out for is making sure Reticulum doesn't collide with all of the Meshtastic / Meshcore traffic. I can't speak for other regions, however here are the default frequencies in the US:

• Meshtastic Default Long Range / Fast (US)
  • 906.875 Mhz - SF11 / 250 kHz / 4/5
• Meshcore Default (US)
  • 910.525 Mhz - SF 7 / 62.5kHz / 4/5

My understanding is the bandwidth is how much frequency space is used "around" the listed center frequency.

So:

• Meshtastic: 906.875 Mhz + 250 kHz = ~ 906.750 - 907.00 Mhz
• Meshcore: 910.525 Mhz + 62.5 kHz = ~ 910.212 - 910.838 Mhz

The frequency default of 914.875 Mhz everyone uses in the US for Reticulum leaves plenty of distance from Meshtastic. (also, higher frequency == better speeds / slightly less range). We could theoretically use more bandwidth for faster speeds... i'm just not sure how that's going to impact range 😆

[Andrew-a-g]

In the UK these settings I have been experimenting with these settings - they work nicely... They would also be legal across EU bands.

• name: "Europe 868 MHz - Medium Range / Faster 3.3Kbps (Default - 869.431 MHz, BW125, SF8, CR5)"
  frequency: 869431000
  bandwidth: 125000
  spreading_factor: 8
  coding_rate: 5
  notes: "Europe 868 band. 869.4-869.65 MHz, up to 500mW ERP, 10% duty cycle."

• name: "Europe 868 MHz - Narrow - Medium Range / Slower 1.1Kbps (869.431 MHz, BW62.5, SF8, CR7)"
  frequency: 869431000
  bandwidth: 62500
  spreading_factor: 8
  coding_rate: 7
  notes: "Europe: Narrower bandwidth for overcoming noise / longer range in urban environments."

• name: "Europe 868 MHz - Narrow - Long Range / Slowest 0.879Kbps (869.431 MHz, BW62.5, SF8, CR5)"
  frequency: 869431000
  bandwidth: 62500
  spreading_factor: 9
  coding_rate: 5
  notes: "Europe: Narrower bandwidth and slower spread for overcoming noise / longer range in urban environments."