Meshtastic

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Seriously, what's the deal with Traceroute? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz

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I've been trying to use it in my area to get a better idea of what path my packets are taking through the local mesh from different locations, seeing what links are weak and where another repeater might be useful.
But I swear it NEVER works. If there is more than a single hop in between me and my target node (whether it's one I own or not), I never ever get a response. Nodes will be sending me power/environment information actively, and I get it A-OK, but when I try to traceroute-nada.
Once, i mean ONCE, I got a 2-hop response. And I run all my nodes at 7hop TTL since it's very low traffic around here, so it's not that.

My local mesh is not super dense or all that reliable, but messages still go through about 80-90% of the time, so why is the Traceroute module so bad? Is it just that much worse at handling packet failures compared to the message routine?

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[–] CCRhode@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Only when direct line of sight have I been successful.

I've logged a couple of traceroutes that crossed state lines:

2026-06-23 20:50

Ἀργώ 5749 (Sheboygan, WI) »  26.0 db»
Skiðblaðnir 8ef9 (Sheboygan, WI) » -69.0 db»
W8ZHO Clubhouse Node (Muskegon, MI) »  15.0 db»
Downtown Mkg Router (Muskegon, MI) » -42.0 db»
3rd Ward Repeater (Milwaukee, WI)

3rd Ward Repeater (Milwaukee, WI) » -26.0 db»
W8ZHO Clubhouse Node (Muskegon, MI) » -43.0 db»
Skiðblaðnir 8ef9 (Sheboygan, WI) »  24.0 db»
Ἀργώ 5749 (Sheboygan, WI)@

2026-06-24 03:28

Ἀργώ 5749 (Sheboygan, WI) »  25.0 db»
Skiðblaðnir 8ef9 (Sheboygan, WI) » -63.0 db»
Downtown Mkg Router (Muskegon, MI) » -50.0 db»
MorgMobile (No location) »  -1.0 db»
NED3 Repeater (Milwaukee, WI)

NED3 Repeater (Milwaukee, WI) »   5.0 db»
Downtown Mkg Router (Muskegon, MI) »  -7.0 db»
Skiðblaðnir 8ef9 (Sheboygan, WI) »  23.0 db»
Ἀργώ 5749 (Sheboygan, WI)@

Skiðblaðnir (CLIENT_BASE) and Ἀργώ (CLIENT_MUTE) are collocated so positive SNR is expected. Likewise the positive SNRs within the greater Muskegon area are explicable. Technically, though, Sheboygan, Muskegon, and Milwaukee are each over the horizon from one another so any signal at all (even with greatly negative SNR) is remarkable. Getting a round-trip twice within 24 hours is outstanding. I believe (and I am unanimous in this) that the high temperature gradient over the cool waters of Lake Michigan causes refraction of the radio waves. Thus, the apparent horizon is much farther out than supposed.

Of course, these conditions are exceptional and successful traceroutes even under such conditions are rare.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

Thats awesome! We have done 7 hops to get to the bay area from central CA. But like you said its VERY rare to get it successful. Ive seen meshcore do better, but its more setup for that sort of thing.

The issue is consistency. Since these devices run at max 1W, a "loud" device like an AC, refrigerator, or some lights can cause issues with the LoRa spectrum. Even sometimes in the same room, I see meshtastic stop working 1/10 times. and it goes to 9/10 if its over 500 ft with trees and such in the way. Just some observations.