This is a community-driven project. Following these guidelines ensures the best experience for everyone as we continue to grow. NTX Mesh runs both firmwares, so settings are noted per protocol.

MQTT

TL;DR: Please only use MQTT for mapping with tools like Meshmapper or letsmesh.net.

The vast majority of us have chosen not to use MQTT with Meshtastic, in the spirit of building a stronger RF-based mesh instead of relying on the internet to patch coverage gaps. We recommend setting your nodes to ignore MQTT traffic.

For MeshCore, a busy MQTT server/topic can quickly overwhelm your node and flood the entire network, rendering local communications difficult. MQTT can also give a false sense of how robust our local RF network really is, making it harder to optimize, diagnose, and plan future expansion. Our goal is a robust, reliable off-grid network the community can rely on during internet or power outages.

Device Roles

Meshtastic: It may be tempting to use client/router or another infrastructure mode, but our extensive testing shows the best results — for both the end user and the network — come from the client role. Meshtastic has no intelligent routing; nodes rebroadcast messages they haven't already heard at a random interval. Infrastructure roles shorten that interval to rebroadcast first, which can inadvertently create dead ends and close off redundant routing paths. Start with client even for well-placed nodes. For device-connected nodes that aren't contributing to the network (e.g. a node in your home that relays through a roof node), use client mute to reduce airtime.

MeshCore: The two main roles are Companion and Repeater. The Companion is the node you carry to connect to the network; Repeaters are the backbone of the mesh itself.

Hop Count

Meshtastic: Start with a hop count of 3, always using the minimum number of hops needed. If you run a device-connected node at home plus a relay node your client always goes through, 4 hops is advised. On the edge of the network, 5 hops may help — but first make sure you've optimized your node hardware and placement, or extra hops won't add distance and will degrade the wider network.

MeshCore: Hop count is a built-in feature and doesn't need to be set. Messages can hop up to 64 repeaters in 1-byte configuration or 32 repeats in 2-byte mode. See the guide for an explanation of the bytes.

Broadcast Intervals

To reduce overall channel utilization and ensure messages are delivered, we recommend these settings for everyday use unless you have a specific use case or test that requires more frequent updates.

• Device / Node Info: 3 hours
• Position: 1 hour broadcast, Smart Position enabled, minimum interval 1 minute, minimum distance 100, and disable any position flags not explicitly needed.
• Telemetry: Device metrics 3 hours, sensor metrics 1 hour.