The Channels config options are: Index, Roles, and Settings. Channel config uses an admin message sending a `Channel` protobuf which also consists of a `ChannelSettings` protobuf.
:::info
**Channel Settings** (as described on this page) should not be confused with [LoRa Radio Settings](/docs/settings/config/lora)
[LoRa Radio Settings](/docs/settings/config/lora) contain the modem configuration (frequency settings, spreading factor, bandwidth, and error correction) used for the radio. These settings are identical accross all channels and can *not* be unique. These settings are directly applied to the Primary channel from which all Secondary channels derive their settings.
**Channel Settings** contain information for segregating conversations, configuring encryption, and enabling or disabling messaging over internet gateways. These settings are unique per channel.
The full globally unique ID will be `name.id` where ID is base36 encoded. Assuming that the number of Meshtastic users is below 20K (true for a long time) the chance of this 64 bit random number colliding with anyone else is super low. The penalty for collision is low as well.
### Name
A short identifier (< 12 bytes) for the channel.
Empty `""` by default for all channels.
If this is left an empty string it is assumed that this channel is the `default` channel.
Must be either 0 bytes (no crypto), 16 bytes (AES128), or 32 bytes (AES256).
### Downlink Enabled
If enabled, messages captured from a **public** internet gateway will be forwarded to the local mesh.
Set to `false` by default for all channels.
### Uplink Enabled
If enabled, messages from the mesh will be sent to the **public** internet through any node's configured gateway.
Set to `false` by default for all channels.
<Tabs
groupId="settings"
defaultValue="cli"
values={[
{label: 'Android', value: 'android'},
{label: 'Apple', value: 'apple'},
{label: 'CLI', value: 'cli'},
{label: 'Flasher', value: 'flasher'},
{label: 'Web', value: 'web'},
]}>
<TabItem value="android">
:::info
All Channel config options are available on Android.
:::
</TabItem>
<TabItem value="apple">
:::info
All Channel config options are available on iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
:::
</TabItem>
<TabItem value="cli">
All Channel config options are available in the python CLI. Example commands are below:
**Id**
```shell title="Set the PRIMARY channel ID"
meshtastic --ch-set id 1234 --ch-index 0
```
**Name**
```shell title="Set channel name for the PRIMARY channel"
meshtastic --ch-set name MyChannel --ch-index 0
```
```shell title="Set channel name for the PRIMARY channel with spaces"
meshtastic --ch-set name "My Channel" --ch-index 0
```
**PSK**
If you use Meshtastic for exchanging messages you don't want other people to see, `random` is the setting you should use. Selecting a `default` or any of the `simple` values from the following table will use publicly known encryption keys. They're shipped with Meshtastic source code and thus, anyone can listen to messages encrypted by them. They're great for testing and public channels.
