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  "path": "/t/tracking-tags-airtag-chipolo-etc/14376?page=2#post_26",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-26T18:02:38.000Z",
  "site": "https://discuss.privacyguides.net",
  "textContent": "Late to the conversation but I have been investigating Meshtastic.\n\nWhile it has its use cases those are largely different than the use case for something like an AirTag. If your goal is to privately keep track of your luggage while on a trip I think you will be disappointed.\n\nThe LoRa radios can have reasonable range but not in a built up environment nor within a metal airline luggage container. Upon check in you are likely to lose signal from your tag when it disappears into the luggage handling system. It is exceedingly unlikely that, even in the passenger compartment directly over the container that holds your luggage, you will be able to detect it and be assured your luggage was loaded.\n\nFlight rules where I am and I believe world wide do not allow rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries in checked luggage. All the prefabricated LoRa tags I am aware of violate that rule.\n\nThe legal frequency bands for LoRa differ around the world. If your flight is international then you are very likely to have your devices on an illegal frequency band on either your departure or your arrival. Even if you are not worried about the legality, it does mean that there will be no compatible mesh to assist propagation of your luggage tag’s location: You probably won’t detect your luggage tag’s location until you can see it in the pick up area.\n\nUsing the default setup means your tag will only give approximate location. You will need to setup a private channel to get accurate location. The by default the controls are interrelated: Setting the channel name sets a frequency step or bin. By setting the primary (0) channel to a custom one means you will not be on the local mesh. You will need to know what frequency step the local mesh typically uses and specifically set than. If you do that incorrectly then you will not have your tag’s location propagated by the mesh.\n\nAs far as privacy goes, the encryption on a private channel is not all that robust. I am not an encryption expert but Meshtastic lacks perfect forward security and is susceptible to replay attacks. I think what they do is good for their use case but would not rely on it for anything where I am worried about security and privacy.\n\nMention was made earlier that you can specify whether or not you are willing to have your data packets forwarded through the Internet via a MQTT gateway. Turns out that is simply a couple of flags in the header. There is no guarantee than a gateway device will honor those flags.\n\nThe Meshtastic/LoRa setup can be good for tracking an off leash pet around an open space where you have good line of sight or where there is a well placed repeater/router. And it is good for chatting and maintaining contact between individuals in a hiking or hunting group. And the default public channel setup it could be good in emergency situations where the normal communications infrastructure is down. But it is not well suited for the same application as an AirTag (or equivalent).",
  "title": "Tracking Tags (AirTag, Chipolo, etc)"
}