Meshtastic Range Simulator (Site Planner)

Meshtastic Range Simulator (Site Planner) compared with Radio Mobile and CloudRF
Meshtastic Range Simulator (Site Planner)	Radio Mobile	CloudRF
Purpose and field of use: The planner predicts coverage for Meshtastic LoRa nodes. It suits mesh deployment, emergency communication and IoT range checks. Several sites can be added to one scenario.	Purpose and field of use: Radio Mobile simulates RF propagation for radio planning. It handles general radio links and networks, with voice net and data net topologies, and is not limited to LoRa.	Purpose and field of use: CloudRF is a commercial service for radio planning with a web interface and an API. It is used well beyond LoRa, and offers 10 propagation models.
Propagation model and terrain data: The page metadata names the ITM (Longley-Rice) model. Terrain comes from NASA SRTM at about 90 m accuracy, and buildings and trees are ignored unless a clutter height is entered.	Propagation model and terrain data: It uses the ITS Irregular Terrain Model (Longley-Rice) over 20 to 20,000 MHz. Elevation sources include SRTM 1 and 3, DTED 0 to 2, GTOPO30, GLOBE and BIL files.	Propagation model and terrain data: Models listed include COST, ITU-R and ITM, with reliability, context and diffraction options. Clutter items can be stored per plan.
Inputs and outputs: Inputs are site name, coordinates, antenna height, power, frequency and gain, plus receiver sensitivity (-130 dBm for LongFast). The output is a colour-coded RSSI coverage map.	Inputs and outputs: Inputs are network parameters such as transmit power, line loss, antenna gain, propagation loss and receiver sensitivity for each unit. Link parameters are set in detail for each unit.	Inputs and outputs: Requests can be sent through an OpenAPI 3.0 REST API. Resolution and radius depend on the plan, from 1.0 MP and 10 km up to 6.0 MP.
Openness and cost: Free and open source, with the code on GitHub. Calculation runs in the browser on your device, so no site data leaves the machine.	Openness and cost: Free for the amateur radio community according to the author page. The software is by Roger Coudé, VE2DBE, and a separate companion site is kept by PE1MEW.	Openness and cost: Paid. Plans come in three tiers, with a sandbox limited to Ibiza and credits for occasional use.
When to choose it: Choose it for a quick, free check of Meshtastic node placement. Validate the result with field tests, since clutter is only approximated.	When to choose it: Choose Radio Mobile for multi-link networks and detailed link budgets, where you accept a classic desktop tool and manual set-up.	When to choose it: Choose CloudRF when planning must be automated through an API, or when you need more models and larger areas than the free tools offer.

Meshtastic Range Simulator (Site Planner) compared with Radio Mobile and CloudRF

Meshtastic Range Simulator (Site Planner)

Radio Mobile

CloudRF

Purpose and field of use: The planner predicts coverage for Meshtastic LoRa nodes. It suits mesh deployment, emergency communication and IoT range checks. Several sites can be added to one scenario.

Purpose and field of use: Radio Mobile simulates RF propagation for radio planning. It handles general radio links and networks, with voice net and data net topologies, and is not limited to LoRa.

Purpose and field of use: CloudRF is a commercial service for radio planning with a web interface and an API. It is used well beyond LoRa, and offers 10 propagation models.

Propagation model and terrain data: The page metadata names the ITM (Longley-Rice) model. Terrain comes from NASA SRTM at about 90 m accuracy, and buildings and trees are ignored unless a clutter height is entered.

Propagation model and terrain data: It uses the ITS Irregular Terrain Model (Longley-Rice) over 20 to 20,000 MHz. Elevation sources include SRTM 1 and 3, DTED 0 to 2, GTOPO30, GLOBE and BIL files.

Propagation model and terrain data: Models listed include COST, ITU-R and ITM, with reliability, context and diffraction options. Clutter items can be stored per plan.

Inputs and outputs: Inputs are site name, coordinates, antenna height, power, frequency and gain, plus receiver sensitivity (-130 dBm for LongFast). The output is a colour-coded RSSI coverage map.

Inputs and outputs: Inputs are network parameters such as transmit power, line loss, antenna gain, propagation loss and receiver sensitivity for each unit. Link parameters are set in detail for each unit.

Inputs and outputs: Requests can be sent through an OpenAPI 3.0 REST API. Resolution and radius depend on the plan, from 1.0 MP and 10 km up to 6.0 MP.

Openness and cost: Free and open source, with the code on GitHub. Calculation runs in the browser on your device, so no site data leaves the machine.

Openness and cost: Free for the amateur radio community according to the author page. The software is by Roger Coudé, VE2DBE, and a separate companion site is kept by PE1MEW.

Openness and cost: Paid. Plans come in three tiers, with a sandbox limited to Ibiza and credits for occasional use.

When to choose it: Choose it for a quick, free check of Meshtastic node placement. Validate the result with field tests, since clutter is only approximated.

When to choose it: Choose Radio Mobile for multi-link networks and detailed link budgets, where you accept a classic desktop tool and manual set-up.

When to choose it: Choose CloudRF when planning must be automated through an API, or when you need more models and larger areas than the free tools offer.