About Meshmap

This website displays a map of The Villages, FL with colored pins representing the different roles and last known locations of the meshtastic radios owned by village residents.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the map is to provide a tool for network topology management. For a meshtastic mesh network to operate successfully, the location of routers, MQTT gateways and clients is crucial; and in order to manage that changing topology, visual information is helpful.

How It Works

We assume that village residents use the radio settings defined at https://handsontechorg.weebly.com/meshtastic.html. The required settings are detailed below. We intercept MQTT packets that are published to the topic msh/US/FL/thevillages, decode the packets and save the time and location data in a persistent database. A html program reads data from the database and displays it on a background map. Currently, only routers, gateways and clients are displayed on the map. CLIENT_MUTE nodes are not displayed.

Required Radio Settings

In order for a radio to consistently appear on the map, all of the following criteria must be met:
Settings > LoRa > OK to MQTT Enabled
Settings > MQTT > Root Topic > msh/US/FL/thvillages
Settings > Allow Location publication
Settings > Location Accuracy > not precise (equal to or greater than 364 m)

Known Issues

When the map is displayed for the very first time (or browser data storage is initialized), a world map is displayed rather than a map of The Villages, FL. Be patient; this can take a minute. You must then click and zoom to your preferred map presentation of The Villages. Your browser will reposition to this presentation on subsequent calls.

Panning to other parts of the world is allowed. But since only routers, gateways and clients are displayed on the map, the node icons for other roles outside The Villages may not be correct.

FAQ

How do I remove my radio from the map?

The fastest way to remove a radio from the map is to set your radio's role to 'Client Mute' in the Device settings.

Can I add additional node information to the map?

Not yet.

Why is it necessary to disable precise location settings?

In August, 2024 Meshtastic made a change to their MQTT server: only LongFast position packets with imprecise location information [10-16 bits] are published to a topic, ensuring that sensitive data is not exposed. The most accurate resolution that conforms to this specification is 364 meters/1194 feet. You can read about the details at https://meshtastic.org/blog/recent-public-mqtt-broker-changes.

Doesn't https://meshmap.net do the same thing as https://thevillages.duckdns.org/meshmap?

The goal of meshmap.net is to display the current location of all active meshtastic devices in the world in almost realtime. The goal of thevillages.duckdns.org/meshmap is to display the last known location of all meshtastic devices, both active and inactive, in The Villages, FL.