Repeater settings

These are the settings we ask every IdahoMesh repeater to run. They keep the network reliable as it grows.

Apply them from the repeater's console. Use the MeshCore flasher over USB, or log in remotely in the MeshCore app with your admin password.

Firmware

Run MeshCore firmware 1.14.0 or newer. That is our suggested minimum, because it's the first version with 2-byte paths. Newer is better.

Update with the flasher. Don't use Erase when you update. It wipes the repeater's identity.

Radio preset

Use USA/Canada (Recommended): 910.525 MHz, 62.5 kHz bandwidth, SF7, CR 4/5.

Path hash size

Use 2-byte path hashes. Everyone on IdahoMesh should use 2-byte path hashes, on repeaters and personal radios alike.

set path.hash.mode 1
reboot

The change takes effect after the reboot. On your own radio, set the path hash size to 2 in the MeshCore app.

Adverts

Send a flood advert every 47 hours. That is the default on current firmware. Turn zero-hop adverts off.

set flood.advert.interval 47
set advert.interval 0

Please don't advertise more often. Frequent adverts use airtime the network needs for messages.

Regions

Every repeater in Idaho, or covering part of it, should carry two regions: west and id. Those are the only statewide regions.

Region setup builds the exact commands for where your repeater is, including any local regions. For the statewide pair alone, the commands are:

region put west
region put id west
region allowf west
region allowf id
region allowf *
region save

These work on firmware 1.12.0 and newer. On 1.14 the allowf lines are required, because new regions start out blocked. On 1.15 and newer, they're harmless. region allowf * keeps your repeater forwarding messages that have no region. Please leave it on for now.

After a reboot, send region to check that your regions are still there and make sure to sync the repeater time.

West

The west region scope should be on every repeater in the western US and allows messaging across city, state, and multi-state region boundaries.

PNW, INW, IMW?

Between the west region and the id region lies disputed territory; seriously... These multi-state regions, well, I've seen so much arguing about them and have gotten a bunch of obnoxious comments from people arguing for their preferred multi-state mesh region scope. People seem to forget that geographic regions are fuzzy and overlap. So, at this point, frankly, I just don't care. If you're in North Idaho, you probably want to run inw and probably pnw if you're in East Idaho, you probably want to add imw. Southwest Idaho, I'd suggest pnw and maybe imw.

But west and id are the ones I personally push.

Location and passwords

• Set a remote admin password, and keep it somewhere safe.
• Set the repeater's location. A nearby park or landmark is fine for privacy. Keep it close, please, so repeater maps show real coverage.

Check your repeater

Find your repeater on the Repeaters page or search for it, then open its page. The health card shows how it's doing and lists any settings that still need fixing.

Questions? Ask us on Discord or Signal.