How do I power LoRa meter nodes out in the field?

The nodes are low-power. Run them from mains where there is an outlet, or from solar or battery where there is not.

Application · Multi-site metering

“I have power and water meters spread all over the farm. How do I collect them all in one place?”

Q: How many nodes can one LoRa mesh handle?

A single Meshtastic mesh comfortably handles tens of nodes, with a practical ceiling around 100 (the node database on this hardware caps at 100). For a larger site you run more than one mesh, each with its own gateway, all feeding one dashboard — it scales by segmenting rather than endlessly growing a single mesh.

Mesh is built for exactly this. Each meter gets a node; the nodes self-organise into one mesh across the whole site, each also relaying for the others; every reading lands at one collection point. Coverage grows as you add nodes — no trenching, no per-point SIM, no internet required.

Self-healing mesh Whole-site coverage Works with no internet

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Diagram: meters across a farm collected over a self-healing LoRa mesh

The situation

A farm — say a pig farm — has meters scattered across the site: power at each barn, pumps and blowers, a water meter at the well, feed silos. The owner wants every reading in one dashboard to see consumption and spot problems. Trenching signal cable across a working farm is absurd; a cellular SIM at every point is expensive and flaky; and the site's internet, if any, is patchy.

Why people assume it can't be done

The fear: “The points are too far apart and too spread out. Wiring is impossible, and I'm not paying for a SIM and a subscription on every single meter.”
Part 1 — the range: Sub-GHz LoRa reaches far in the open — often hundreds of metres per hop — which already covers most of a site directly.
Part 2 — the mesh does the spreading: This is the point. Every node also relays, so the network spreads itself across barns, sheds and metal roofs. A far corner isn't a problem — you drop a node in between (it only needs power) and coverage extends itself, with nothing to configure.

How Siliqs solves it

A node per meter, one mesh across the site, one place to read it.

A node at each meter

Each node reads its meter over RS485 / Modbus — power, water, whatever the meter exposes — and reports on a schedule you set.

One mesh across the site

The nodes form a single self-healing mesh, each relaying for the others. Coverage grows as you add nodes — no link to engineer, no map to draw.

One collection point

A gateway at the office collects everything and feeds a dashboard, MQTT, or a local log. Internet is optional — it can log on-site with no connection at all.

What about the far corner of the site?

You drop in a node — and that's the whole answer.

Mesh is the default: Every Siliqs node joins the same mesh out of the box — you never design or switch on a network.
Extend by adding nodes: A barn beyond reach? Put a node on a shed or pole in between. It only needs power, and the mesh routes the far meters in through it — up to 7 hops, the Meshtastic maximum. Past that, add another gateway to start a fresh segment.
Zero configuration: New nodes relay automatically — no pairing, no addressing, no re-planning the network.
It self-heals: A node down, a vehicle in the way, a wet day — the mesh re-routes on its own. No single link is a point of failure.

What you actually need

Meters: Any power, water or other meter with an RS485 / Modbus interface.
Cabling: None across the site — only the short RS485 run at each meter.
Infrastructure: No per-point SIM, no LoRaWAN gateway, no internet required. Internet is optional for cloud dashboards.
Devices: One node per meter + one gateway at the office. Add relay nodes only where you need to reach a far corner.
Power: Nodes are low-power — run them from mains at each point, or solar/battery where there's no outlet.
The node: SQC485Iv2 — LoRa RS485 industrial node.

Questions people ask

How do I collect many meters spread across a farm without trenching cable?

Put a node at each meter. The nodes form one self-healing LoRa mesh across the site and report to a single gateway — no cabling between points, and each node relays for the others.

How far can the mesh cover?

Each hop reaches hundreds of metres in the open, and a message can travel up to 7 hops — the Meshtastic maximum — which crosses most sites. To reach a far corner you add a node in between; if a site is larger than 7 hops across, you place another gateway to start a fresh segment rather than chaining endlessly.

Do I need internet at the farm?

No. The gateway can log everything locally with no connection. Internet is optional if you also want a cloud dashboard.

Can it read water and feed meters too, not just power?

Yes. Any meter with an RS485 / Modbus interface works — power, water, and others all join the same mesh.

How do I power the nodes out in the field?

They're low-power. Run them from mains where there's an outlet, or from solar/battery where there isn't.

How many nodes can one mesh handle?

A single mesh comfortably handles tens of nodes, with a practical ceiling around 100 (the Meshtastic node database on this hardware caps at 100). For a larger site you run more than one mesh, each with its own gateway, all feeding one dashboard — it scales by segmenting, not by endlessly growing a single mesh.