Meshtastic Range Testing Guide

Overview

Systematic range testing goes beyond "does it connect?" - it quantifies signal quality, identifies path bottlenecks, and produces evidence you can use to justify infrastructure decisions. This guide covers the four primary tools available in Meshtastic and a recommended workflow for comprehensive coverage analysis.

Understanding Signal Quality Metrics

Metric	Excellent	Good	Marginal	Likely Failure
SNR	> +10 dB	+5 to +10 dB	0 to +5 dB	< −5 dB
RSSI	> −90 dBm	−90 to −110 dBm	−110 to −120 dBm	< −125 dBm

Key point: SNR matters more than RSSI. LoRa can decode signals well below the noise floor - a weak signal in a quiet RF environment (high SNR) will decode reliably even at very low RSSI. Focus on SNR first.

Tool 1 - Built-In Range Test Module

The range test module sends periodic test packets and logs which nodes receive them, along with signal metrics. It is the most systematic way to characterize coverage from a fixed location.

CLI Setup

meshtastic --set range_test.enabled true
meshtastic --set range_test.sender 30

The second command sets sender interval to 30 seconds. The node will transmit a test packet every 30 seconds.

App Setup

1. Settings > Modules > Range Test
2. Enable the module
3. Set sender interval
4. Activate Sender mode on the mobile node

Procedure

1. Configure one node as the receiver (range_test enabled, sender off) at a fixed location - typically a repeater or infrastructure node.
2. Configure a second node as the sender (range_test enabled, sender on) carried by a person or vehicle.
3. Walk or drive away from the receiver. The receiver logs each packet with SNR and RSSI.
4. Export logs to CSV for analysis.

Tool 2 - Trace Route

Trace Route reveals the actual path packets take through the mesh and reports per-hop signal quality. Use it to identify which routers packets are traversing and where bottlenecks are.

CLI

meshtastic --traceroute !nodeId

App

Long-press a node in the node list → select Trace Route.

Output

Trace Route shows each hop in the path, with SNR and RSSI for each segment. Use this to:

• Confirm which repeaters are actually routing your traffic
• Identify weak links in multi-hop paths
• Verify that a new repeater is being used as expected

Tool 3 - Signal Metrics in Node List

The node list provides a quick snapshot of signal quality for all recently heard nodes - useful for baseline assessment without active testing.

CLI

meshtastic --nodes

Shows

• SNR and RSSI for the last received packet from each node
• Hop count
• Time since last activity
• GPS distance (if both nodes have GPS)
• Battery percentage

Tool 4 - MeshMapper Wardriving

MeshMapper is an Android app that combines GPS-tagged signal data into a visual coverage heatmap - ideal for documenting coverage of an entire neighborhood, event venue, or service area.

Setup

1. Install MeshMapper on an Android device.
2. Connect a Meshtastic device via Bluetooth.
3. Drive, walk, or cycle through the area you want to map.
4. MeshMapper logs GPS coordinates with signal strength for each received packet.
5. Upload to generate a coverage heatmap.

Heatmap Colors

Color	Meaning
Green	Strong signal
Yellow	Marginal signal
Red	Weak signal
Blank	No coverage detected

Recommended Testing Workflow

1. Baseline: Check node list (Tool 3) for current signal quality across known nodes.
2. Path analysis: Run trace routes (Tool 2) to all infrastructure nodes - confirm expected routing, identify weak hops.
3. Coverage measurement: Deploy range test module (Tool 1) for systematic point-to-area coverage data from each infrastructure node.
4. Area mapping: Conduct MeshMapper wardriving (Tool 4) for a comprehensive geographic coverage picture.
5. Ongoing monitoring: Establish MQTT monitoring to continuously log SNR/RSSI from infrastructure nodes - enables detection of degraded links before users report problems.