built 1 min verified 503cd17 (2026-09-13)

Connect to the Wi-Fi

Lightning Mesh is a network of ordinary routers that talk to each other directly. You join it like any Wi-Fi network. No account and no password.

Status: built.

Step 1: Find the network

Do: open your Wi-Fi settings and look for the network your host named.

Expect: the network shows as open (no lock icon).

If not: the host added a password. Ask them for it. Networks named mjolnir-mesh are the routers' own link to each other; phones can't join those.

Step 2: Join

Do: tap the network name.

Expect: you connect within a few seconds. A sign-in sheet may pop up ("You're on Lightning Mesh"). That's the next page, so leave it open.

Joining the Wi-Fi doesn't make you a member of anything or create an account. It just gets you on the network.

Step 3: Confirm you're on the mesh

Do: look at your connection details (on a phone: tap the network name; on a laptop: ipconfig getifaddr en0 on a Mac, ip -4 addr on Linux).

Expect: an address that starts with 10.42., for example 10.42.61.23, with a router address ending in .1, for example 10.42.61.1. That router address tells you which router you're connected to.

If not: you're on a different network. Check the name in step 1.

Good to know

• You land on whichever router is closest by radio. Each router has its own address range, so your address can differ from a friend's in the same room.
• Moving around: walking to another router may briefly interrupt connections, and you may get a new address. Seamless roaming is being built but hasn't been field-tested, so don't count on long calls surviving a walk across the building.
• Internet: you get internet if any router in the mesh has a working uplink. Everything on the mesh itself (hello.mesh, .mesh names, people nearby) works with no internet at all.
• Some phones hide .mesh names. If your phone uses "Private DNS" or your browser uses "secure DNS", turn it off for this network. See Troubleshooting.

Next: Say hello.