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Connecting Your Meshtastic Device

Before you can use an off-grid group, you need to pair your Meshtastic device with Flaresat over Bluetooth.

Prerequisites​

  1. A Meshtastic device — any supported hardware
  2. Meshtastic firmware flashed on the device
  3. Bluetooth enabled on your phone

If you haven't set up your device yet, follow the Meshtastic getting started guide first — it covers flashing firmware and basic configuration.

Connect from Flaresat​

  1. Open any off-grid group (or create one first — see Create an Off-Grid Group)
  2. Tap the Meshtastic icon in the map header (looks like a radio/signal wave)
  3. The Device Controls panel opens — tap Scan for devices
  4. Make sure your Meshtastic device is powered on and in range
  5. Your device appears in the list — tap it to connect
  6. If prompted, confirm the Bluetooth pairing

Once connected, you'll see the device name and firmware version in the controls panel, along with a green connected indicator.

Connection status​

IndicatorMeaning
Green dotConnected and ready
Yellow dotConnecting...
Red dot / no dotNot connected

Troubleshooting​

Device doesn't appear in scan:

  • Make sure Bluetooth is on your phone
  • Power cycle the Meshtastic device
  • Grant Flaresat Bluetooth and Nearby Devices permissions in your device settings
  • Move closer to the device (BLE range is typically 10–30 meters)

Connection drops:

  • Keep your phone within ~10 meters of the device for reliable BLE
  • Some devices go into deep sleep — check your Meshtastic firmware settings and disable aggressive sleep if needed

Wrong device connecting:

  • Multiple Meshtastic devices in range? The list shows all discovered devices. Make sure you tap the correct one (device name is set in Meshtastic config).

Disconnect​

To disconnect from a device:

  1. Open the Device Controls panel
  2. Tap Disconnect

You can reconnect at any time. Switching between devices is also supported — just disconnect and scan again.

Bluetooth permissions​

Flaresat requires Bluetooth permissions to communicate with your device. If you previously denied permission:

iOS: Settings → Flaresat → Enable Bluetooth

Android: Settings → Apps → Flaresat → Permissions → Enable Nearby devices (or Bluetooth)