Ask most hams to name a DMR network and you'll hear BrandMeister, then TGIF, and then silence. But the amateur DMR world is much wider than its two famous names. There's a whole second tier of networks — some older than BrandMeister itself, some barely two years old — each with its own servers, its own talkgroup directory, and its own culture. This page is a tour of eleven of them. (New to DMR networking? Start with How a DMR Network Works. For the two big names themselves, see BrandMeister and TGIF: Two DMR Networks Compared.)
The original amateur DMR network, born in Europe alongside the first ham-band Hytera and Motorola repeaters — before BrandMeister existed. Today it runs on a constellation of IPSC2 master servers around the world, interlinked by a backbone called bMaster+. DMR+ is structured and reflector-oriented: rather than free-form keying, talkgroups and reflectors are configured through an options string in your hotspot or repeater setup (TS1_1=, TS2_1=, and so on). It interconnects with the DMR-MARC system, remains very strong in Europe and the UK, and has regional IPSC2 servers in North America. Stability and structure are its calling cards.
The granddaddy of them all. DMR-MARC (the Motorola Amateur Radio Club worldwide network) was built on Motorola repeaters tied together with commercial c-Bridge infrastructure, and it established the worldwide talkgroup model that every later network inherited. It is repeater-centric and tightly managed — not a hotspot self-service network. Most users reach its talkgroups today through interconnects with DMR+ and c-Bridge-affiliated regional systems. DMR-MARC no longer registers users directly; DMR IDs now come from RadioID.net, a job DMR-MARC's registration system once performed for the whole hobby.
The experimenter's network. FreeDMR is open-source and decentralized, built on an HBlink-derived server package (G7RZU's fork), and anyone can stand up a server and join the worldwide lattice. It pioneered conveniences hotspot users love: single-timeslot operation for simplex hotspots, dial-a-talkgroup linking, and Open Bridge Protocol (OBP) peering between servers. FreeDMR is strong in the UK, where a number of repeaters call it home, and has a growing North American footprint. If you like networks where the software is on GitHub and the policy is "go build something," this is your place.
The newest network on this page. ADN Systems (Amateur Digital Network) launched April 21, 2024, founded by an international group of twenty hams. Technically it's a FreeDMR fork, but its defining idea is architecture as philosophy: a mesh of servers interlinked entirely by Open Bridge Protocol, with deliberately no central hierarchy. Every keeper of a repeater, hotspot, bridge, or server has full autonomy over their own equipment. It has grown quickly — dozens of servers worldwide, a talkgroup catalog in the hundreds, and a particularly strong following in Latin America and Europe.
FreeSTAR is a multi-mode franchise more than a pure DMR network — DMR is one door into a much bigger house. Its DMR side runs two ways: IPSC2-FreeSTAR, a dedicated DMR+ master tied into the bMaster+ worldwide system, and the SystemX network described below. Everything lands on FreeSTAR's central AllStar hubs and is bridged onward to YSF, D-Star, EchoLink, and its own VoIP service. The draw is cross-mode reach: key up on DMR and you're talking to people on analog repeaters, Fusion hotspots, and phones, with servers in the UK, US, Europe, and New Zealand.
An independent global DMR network running open-source RYSEN Master+ server software, operated by trusted independent franchises together with the FreeSTAR organization. Multiple master servers are placed in strategic locations around the world for low-latency connections. SystemX wears two hats: it's a user-facing DMR network you can point a hotspot at, and it's the bridging backbone that stitches FreeSTAR's cross-mode connections together.
A US-based DMR and C4FM network built "by hams, for hams that want to be treated fairly." AmComm operates a string of regional US servers — pick the one nearest you — each with a self-service dashboard, and it famously offers toll-free phone support. The architecture is HBlink-family and thoroughly hotspot-friendly: linking to any talkgroup is as simple as setting that number as the TX Contact on a channel and keying up. AmComm is bridged into several multi-mode systems in the southeastern US, so its talkgroups often carry traffic from YSF, D-Star, and AllStar as well.
A US network in the same family of systems as AmComm — HBlink-style, hotspot-friendly, dial-up talkgroup access — billing itself as the "Ham United DMR Network and More." It carries bridges into the southeastern US multi-mode clusters, and it's gaining ground: some repeater systems in that region have announced plans to drop BrandMeister and make HAM United their full-time network.
A smaller US network with the same open philosophy: connect a hotspot, set any talkgroup as your TX Contact, and go. Despite the tongue-in-cheek name (QRM is the Q-signal for man-made interference), it's a friendly community network, carrying bridges into the SouthEast Link multi-mode system alongside AmComm, HAM United, and TGIF.
HBLink isn't one network — it's the open-source server software behind countless small private and club systems, and the ancestor of several networks above. Anyone can run an HBLink master on a Raspberry Pi or a $5 VPS; authentication is the same standard MMDVM homebrew handshake every hotspot already speaks. The result is a long tail of invisible networks: club servers, bridge servers, family systems, and experimental setups that never appear on any list. If you've ever wanted a DMR network with exactly one talkgroup and exactly your friends on it, HBLink is how it's done.
XLX reflectors are best known as D-Star infrastructure, but every XLX server is also a DMR master: point a hotspot at it directly, and each reflector module appears as a talkgroup (module A is TG 4001, B is 4002, and so on). On an XLX with AMBE transcoding, that makes the reflector a small cross-mode DMR network in its own right — your DMR radio talking with D-Star and Fusion users on the same module. This is how most D-Star/DMR cross-mode rooms are actually reached.
Every network keeps its own directory
A talkgroup number only means something on the network where it lives. TG 31075 on FreeDMR, TG 31075 on AmComm, and TG 31075 on TGIF are three unrelated rooms unless someone has deliberately bridged them. When you share a talkgroup with a friend, always say which network it's on.
One hotspot, many networks
You don't have to choose. Every network here accepts the standard MMDVM hotspot connection, and each one gets its own two-digit ESSID suffix on your DMR ID. Hotspot software with DMRGateway support goes further still, connecting to several networks at once and routing your traffic by talkgroup prefix — one radio, one hotspot, the whole DMR world.
| Network | Type | Character |
|---|---|---|
| DMR+ (IPSC2) | Worldwide, bMaster+ backbone | The structured original; options-string configuration; strong in Europe |
| DMR-MARC | Worldwide, c-Bridge | The granddaddy; repeater-centric; reached via interconnects |
| FreeDMR | Worldwide, open-source lattice | The experimenter's network; anyone can host a server |
| ADN Systems | Worldwide OBP mesh | Newest (2024); no central hierarchy; fast-growing |
| FreeSTAR | Multi-mode franchise | DMR as a door into AllStar, YSF, D-Star, and VoIP |
| SystemX | Worldwide, RYSEN masters | User network and FreeSTAR's bridging backbone |
| AmComm | US regional servers | Self-service, dial-any-TG, phone support, multi-mode bridges |
| HAM United | US network | AmComm-family; some repeaters adopting it full time |
| QRM Network | US network | Small, open, friendly; SouthEast Link bridges |
| HBLink | Software, not a network | The engine behind countless private and club systems |
| XLX via DMR | Reflector as DMR master | Modules as talkgroups; cross-mode rooms with D-Star and Fusion |
Because each one is somebody's home. The big networks are where the world is; these networks are where particular communities are — a club's repeaters on DMR+, a builder's circle on FreeDMR, a Friday crowd on AmComm, a Spanish-speaking mesh on ADN. Your radio and your hotspot already speak the language of every network on this page. All it costs to visit is an ESSID.
A noncommercial hobby reference compiled by N6JET, gathered from public sources and shared freely for anyone interested in amateur digital voice.