Node Roles
A role tells your node what job to do on the mesh. Most people never need to think about it - Smart Auto picks the best job moment to moment. But if you're placing a node deliberately, choosing a role lets you shape the network.
You can see and change a node's role on its settings screen in the app, and browse the full set on the Roles page.
The roles at a glance
- Smart Auto - the node measures how busy the airwaves are and how many neighbours it hears, then picks the most useful job itself. Recommended for most people.
- Companion - a normal everyday handheld: your messages and position, low power, out of the way.
- Trailblazer - beacons a little more often so you stay visible while walking or hiking, and surfaces safety tools.
- Home Base / Base Station - an always-on anchor in a fixed spot that helps hold the mesh together and pass messages for others.
- Relay - listens hard and rebroadcasts other people's traffic to extend coverage. Best on mains power in a fixed, elevated position.
- Repeater - a pure range extender: forwarding only, no messaging of its own. The lightest way to bridge a gap, and great on solar at a high site.
- Gateway - connects the mesh to a Mode-X server over the internet.
- Skybridge - links separate mesh areas together over the internet so distant groups behave as one network.
- Mailbox - holds messages for nodes that are temporarily out of range and delivers them later.
- Sensor Post / Weather Watch - shares readings from attached sensors across the mesh.
- Tracker / Vehicle - movement-optimised position reporting for people, pets and assets.
- Guardian - prioritises welfare and emergency traffic and stays reachable.
- Checkpoint / Noticeboard - fixed points for events: logging who passed, or publishing a small community bulletin.
- Silent - receives everything but never transmits. Invisible to the mesh; for monitoring or radio-quiet zones.
Nodes look after themselves
Infrastructure roles like Relay, Repeater, Gateway and Skybridge are demanding - they only help the network if the node can actually sustain them. Mode-X Mesh checks continuously, so a node only does a heavy job when it's fit to.
If conditions change - the battery runs low and it isn't charging, the node starts moving, the airwaves get congested, or its links to neighbours weaken - the node steps back to Companion automatically and the app tells you why with a quiet notification. When things recover and stay steady, it promotes itself back.
Your requested role is remembered the whole time. The app always shows both what you asked for and what the node is currently doing, so there are never any surprises.
Placing a relay or repeater? Height and power are everything. A modest node on a rooftop or hilltop with a clear view will do more for the network than a powerful one indoors. Solar works beautifully for repeaters in remote spots.