Bridges

Bridges provide a mechanism to copy traffic to and from the Crow AREDN network to other networks. They allow AREDN nodes to appear on these network as if they were native nodes, and enable communication between these platforms.

Crow does not bridge traffic between bridges; that is, it does not copy traffic between Meshtastic and MeshCore. Crow can talk to Meshtastic or MeshCore, but it does not allow Meshtastic to talk to MeshCore.

Supported Bridges

We current support two bridges:

• Meshtastic
• MeshCore

It is only necessary to add one bridge of each type to an AREDN network to enable all Crow nodes to talk to those networks. One per Crow instance is not required.

Encryption

AREDN, as an amateur radio network, is an unencrypted network, and Crow only passed unencrypted traffic over it. Meshtastic and MeshCore are encrypted networks. So when traffic moves from these network to AREDN its must be unencrypted. Similarly, when AREDN traffic passes to Meshtastic of MeshCore, the traffic must be encrypted. These transformations happen in the Bridges.

It is important to remember that, while Crow might given the illusion of encrypted and secure traffic when view from a Meshtastic of MeshCore device, messages on the AREDN network are always in the clear.