MeshCore Regions for Switzerland

Our mesh network now extends far beyond Switzerland. This incredible success brings new challenges. On this page you will find the current recommendations for using MeshCore Regions in Switzerland.

To understand Regions, you first need to understand the underlying problem. Most messages on MeshCore are sent via Channels using "Flood Routing". This means messages do not follow a specific path but are repeated by every repeater that hears them.

So when we chat locally in channels like #bern or #wallis, these messages are repeated by all repeaters across Europe, as far as the mesh reaches – even though nobody in Germany, Italy, France or Austria may be interested. The same applies in reverse: local chats like #muenchen or #freiburg are also received and forwarded by repeaters here in Switzerland.

In the long run this will lead to problems because we waste a lot of airtime on messages that nobody wants to hear. MeshCore's solution to this problem is Regions. Simply put, when sending you can choose which region a message should go to; only repeaters assigned to that same region will then repeat the message.

Swiss Regions

An overview of the MeshCore Regions used in Switzerland.

Main Regions Switzerland

We have agreed on a relatively simple solution for Switzerland in the Swiss MeshCore Community. Based on this discussion, we recommend using these regions in Switzerland:

IMPORTANT: It is essential to configure the regions correctly on your companion node as well as on your repeaters. Most repeaters no longer forward messages without a region!

Other Regions

  • Depending on where you live and your personal preferences, it may make sense to configure additional regions from neighbouring countries on your repeaters.
  • For longer distances within Europe, there is the region "europe".
  • In Italy and the border regions to Italy, the regions "it" (Italy), "it-lo" (Lombardy) and "it-li" (Liguria) are also used.
  • In the Lake Constance region, the region "dach" is additionally used.
  • More information on regions in Austria can be found here.

Companion Regions

Details on using Regions with MeshCore Companion Nodes.

Default Region Scope

For the companion node, we recommend setting the Default Region Scope to "ch". You can find this setting under Experimental Settings in the MeshCore app — it only takes a moment.

By default, everything the companion node sends now uses the region "ch". All repeaters that also have the region "ch" configured will then repeat these packets.

If you want to use a different region when sending messages, you don't need to change the Default Region Scope — you can set it individually for each channel:

Region Scope for Channel

In the MeshCore app, open the channel, then simply tap briefly on the channel name at the top. A menu will open where you can set the Region Scope for that channel:

More Regions

If you don't see all the regions you want there yet, simply tap "Set Region Scope" in the same menu to go to the screen where you can add them, then save new regions with the + in the top right.

Current Setting

When a region is set for the channel, it is displayed in the top center of the MeshCore app.

Repeater Regions

Details on region settings for MeshCore Repeaters.

Basic Information

For MeshCore Regions to work properly, it is important that we configure our repeaters correctly. This is not complicated either:
  • The repeater itself should run at least MeshCore v1.15.0 or newer.
  • The Companion Node should also run at least MeshCore v1.15.0 or newer.
  • You should use at least the MeshCore app v1.44.0 or newer.
  • Multiple regions can be configured; you don't have to choose just one.
  • All repeaters in Switzerland should have at least the region "ch" configured. Additionally, we recommend the language region matching the repeater's location, e.g. "ch-fr" if it is in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
  • In border regions, we recommend configuring all relevant regions. For example in Biel: ch, ch-de, ch-fr and europe.
  • For cross-border MeshCore connections we additionally recommend configuring the region "europe".

Configure Regions

  1. Configuring the regions can be done conveniently via Remote Management directly from the MeshCore app. To do this, log in to the repeater and go to "Manage Regions" under "Settings".
  1. Then you can add the desired regions with the + button in the top right.
  1. Now you need to "Allow Flood" for each region by clicking the three dots.
  1. For the region *, flood routing must be disabled:
  1. Finally, save the settings permanently with the ✓ symbol in the top right.

Here is a screenshot of a correctly configured repeater in Biel. Since it is located near the French-speaking region, both ch-de and ch-fr regions are configured:

Configure Default Region Scope

Since we now configure repeaters so that they no longer forward packets that are not assigned to a region, they also no longer forward repeater adverts. That's why it's important to set the Default Region Scope to "ch" as well.

To do this, go to Settings, open the three dots in the top right in the "Region Management" menu and select "Default Region Scope".

Then enter "ch" there and save with the ✓ in the top right.