Welcome to the Central Oregon Mesh Network Monitor

This site highlights the public mesh activity across Central Oregon. Together we are building a resilient, community-owned communications layer that keeps working when traditional infrastructure does not.

🤝 Contribute to the Mesh

Configure your node so the entire community benefits from its data.

Step 1 — LoRa Settings

• Meshtastic → Settings → Radio Configuration → LoRa
• Enable OK to MQTT (the single most important toggle)
• Keep Region set to US
• Set Hop Limit to 5
• Role tips:
• CLIENT_MUTE → personal / paired devices that mostly chat with each other
• CLIENT_BASE → permanently mounted home/roof units with steady power and decent antennas
• Avoid selecting ROUTER or ROUTER_LATE

Step 2 — Enable Helpful Modules

• Neighbor Info – Settings → Module Configuration → Neighbor Info → enable and set Update Interval to 900 s (15 min) so we can chart link quality.
• MQTT Module – Settings → Network → MQTT
• MQTT Enabled: On
• Address: mqtt.centraloregonmesh.com
• Username: co-mesh
• Password: highdesert
• Root Topic: msh/US/OR/Central
• TLS: Disabled
• Encrypted: Off
• JSON: Disabled
• Channel Uplink – Settings → Channel → Default Channel (LongFast) → enable Uplink Enabled so your node forwards traffic to MQTT.

Step 3 — Share Location & Status

• Position Sharing – Settings → Position → enable GPS Enabled or set a Fixed Position, broadcast every ≥ 900 s, and choose a precision that balances privacy (1.8 mi is a solid default).
• Reporting cadence – Stationary nodes every 24 h; mobile nodes every 1–3 h. Not sharing location? Your MQTT telemetry is still valuable.
• Privacy – Only metadata (location, telemetry, neighbor info) is forwarded. co-mesh is publish-only and cannot read other nodes.

📡 Other Dashboards to Explore

• PDX Mesh Monitor – https://dash.pdxlocs.fun/
• Sagebrush Mesh (Central/Eastern WA) – https://509.cx/

We drew inspiration from the clean presentation on 509.cx—worth a visit if you want more visualization ideas.

🚀 New to Meshtastic?

Explore these quick-start resources:

• Official Documentation
• Getting Started Guide
• Meshtastic Discord
• Central Oregon Meshtastic Discord

Network Presets

• Region: US
• Hop Limit: 5
• Roles:
• CLIENT_MUTE → personal / paired devices (keeps shared channels quiet)
• CLIENT_BASE → permanently mounted home / roof nodes that contribute coverage
• Avoid selecting ROUTER or ROUTER_LATE

📊 About This Monitor

We run Malla:

• Logs MQTT packets into SQLite for historical insight
• Visualizes network health, coverage gaps, and trends
• Surfaces node activity, signal quality, and routing paths

Privacy Note
Only data that nodes broadcast publicly is displayed. Need your node hidden? Reach out to the admins and we will exclude it.

🛠️ Expanding Network Coverage

When you deploy or reposition a node, consider:

• Elevation: Higher is better for line-of-sight
• Power: Solar or stable mains keeps routers online
• Antennas: Quality antennas dramatically improve range
• Placement: Aim for gaps you see on the live coverage map

✉️ Questions or want to get involved? Join the Central Oregon Meshtastic Discord and say hello!