Map Layers & Filters¶
The MeshMapper map interface offers various layers and filtering options to customize how data is visualized. This allows users to switch between different map styles, toggle specific data types, and drill down into the data based on time, power, or equipment.
Base Layers¶
You can switch between different underlying map styles using the Layer Control (stack icon) in the top-right corner of the map.
- Standard: The default view. Best for general navigation and street names.
- Topographic: Displays terrain features, elevation lines, and hill shading. Extremely useful for understanding line-of-sight (LOS) obstructions between repeaters.
- Dark Mode: A high-contrast dark theme. Ideal for low-light viewing or when you want the colored data points to stand out clearly.
- Satellite: Aerial imagery. Useful for verifying physical locations, tree cover, and landmarks.
Note: Your selected base layer is saved in your browser and will be remembered the next time you visit.
Settings & Preferences¶
The Settings menu (gear icon in the navigation bar) provides global options for the interface:
- Theme: Toggle between Light Mode and Dark Mode.
- Note: Switching to Dark Mode will automatically change the Base Layer to the "Dark Mode" map style.
- Units: Switch between Metric (m/km) and Imperial (ft/mi). This setting applies to:
- Distance measurements on connection lines.
- Maximum range calculation.
- Leaderboard statistics.
- Advanced Search distance filters.
- Grid Size labels.
- Grid Mode: Switch between Detailed and Simplified modes. Detailed mode disables repeater clustering and expands each ping into neighboring grid cells for smoother coverage. Simplified mode clusters repeaters at wide zoom levels and loads faster.
- Grid Size: Select the physical size of coverage grid squares. Options range from 50m to 2km, with the default being 300m (Simplified) or 100m (Detailed). Click to open a dropdown and select the desired size. Changing this setting reloads the map. Labels adjust automatically when switching between Metric and Imperial units.
- Info Panel: Switch between Sidebar and Popup mode for viewing ping details.
- Hide Data from Missing Repeaters: When enabled, hides coverage grid squares that reference repeaters no longer present on the map, reducing visual noise from outdated or removed infrastructure.
Effective Coverage¶
- Color Spectrum: Toggle between Red → Green (default) and Red → Blue (full spectrum) for the Effective Coverage layer.
- Min Sample Size: Set the minimum number of pings required in a grid square before it is displayed on the map (default: 1). Increasing this value filters out grid squares with limited data, giving a cleaner view of well-sampled areas.
Grid Transparency¶
- Normal Opacity: Adjust the fill opacity of coverage grid squares (default: 60%).
- Faded Opacity: Adjust the opacity of grid squares that are faded into the background, such as when the Repeater Neighbours layer is active (default: 15%).
Overlay Layers¶
These layers display the actual mesh network data. You can toggle them on or off individually to reduce clutter.
| Layer Name | Description |
|---|---|
| BIDIR | Green grid squares showing confirmed two-way coverage. |
| TX | Orange grid squares where packets were sent but no confirmation was received. |
| RX | Purple grid squares where packets were heard but no transmission occurred. |
| DISC / TRACE | Cyan grid squares showing Node Discovery and Trace packets. |
| DEAD | Grey grid squares where a repeater heard the ping, but it didn't route further. |
| DROP | Red grid squares showing failed pings (no route, no repeats). |
| Repeaters | The icons representing repeater nodes. |
| Repeater Coverage | When a repeater is clicked, this layer draws dashed blue lines to all locations where that repeater was heard. Useful for visualizing the effective footprint of a specific repeater. |
| Adv. Repeater Coverage | Similar to standard Repeater Coverage, but color-codes the lines and grid squares based on the connection type (Green=BIDIR, Orange=TX, etc.) instead of using a uniform blue. Lines are labelled as In or Out to indicate whether the ping originated inside or outside the region boundary. |
| Repeater Neighbours | Draws lines between repeaters that have heard each other directly. When enabled, coverage pings fade into the background to make the neighbour lines easier to trace. - Green Dashed: Heard recently (< 2 weeks). - Orange Dashed: Heard 2-4 weeks ago. - Red Solid: Stale link (> 4 weeks). |
| Effective Coverage | Filters the map to show only locations with confirmed reliable connectivity, removing noise and edge-case pings for a cleaner view of where the mesh truly delivers. Each ping type is given a numerical value (BIDIR being the highest and DROP being the lowest) and these values are averaged across each grid square. |
| Signal Strength | Color-codes coverage grid squares by signal strength (SNR), making it easy to identify strong and weak zones across the map at a glance. ≤ -1 dB displays in red and ≥ 5 dB in green, with everything else in between. |
| Noise Heatmap | A visual heatmap representing the RF noise environment. Red areas indicate high interference, while Blue areas are quieter. See Noise Heatmap below for details. |
| Neighbor Zones | Small pins showing the location of nearby MeshMapper regions. Clicking them will take you to that map. |
| Neighbour Zone Boundaries | Draws a dashed outline showing the official boundary (polygon or radius) of each neighbouring region. Requires Neighbor Zones to be enabled — it will be automatically turned off when Neighbor Zones is disabled, and restored when it is re-enabled. |
| Region Boundary | A black outline showing the official area covered by the current map zone. |
Noise Heatmap¶
The Noise Heatmap is an optional overlay that visualizes the RF noise environment across the map. It helps identify areas with high interference versus quiet areas with clean signal conditions.
What It Shows¶
Every companion reports a noise floor reading (in dBm) with each ping it submits. The noise floor represents the level of background RF interference the radio is experiencing at that location. A reading closer to 0 dBm is "loud" (lots of interference), while a very negative value like -120 dBm is "quiet."
Because different radios and antennas report different absolute noise values, MeshMapper doesn't display the raw readings directly. Instead, it calculates a noise delta — how much louder or quieter a location is compared to that user's personal baseline.
How Calibration Works¶
MeshMapper automatically calibrates each companion's baseline:
- After enough data has been collected (at least 5 readings), MeshMapper calculates the companions's 10th percentile noise floor — essentially the quietest conditions that companion typically experiences.
- This becomes the companions's personal baseline.
- Every data point is then scored as a delta (difference) from that baseline.
- Every day a new calibration is done to update that companions noise delta.
For example, if your companion's baseline is -110 dBm and you submit a reading of -90 dBm, the delta is +20 — meaning that location is 20 dB noisier than your typical quiet conditions.
This per-companion calibration ensures that readings from different hardware/setups are comparable on the same map. All readings for a single location are averaged and displayed accordingly.
Reading the Colors¶
The heatmap uses a gradient from cool to warm colors:
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue | Quiet — at or near the companions's baseline noise level. |
| Green / Lime | Moderate — some elevated noise above baseline. |
| Red | Loud — significantly above baseline, indicating high interference. |
Tip
The Noise Heatmap is off by default. Enable it from the Layer Control (stack icon) in the top-right corner of the map. It works best when zoomed in to a neighborhood or specific area of interest.
Note
For privacy, heatmap coordinates are rounded to approximately 100-meter precision, so the heatmap shows general area trends rather than exact locations.
Legacy Data Layer¶
Regions with imported historical data will have a Legacy layer available. This layer displays data points uploaded via CSV but does not show connection lines or contribute to repeater statistics due to the lack of verifiable repeater association. See Data Upload for more details.
Search & Filters¶
The search functionality combines quick lookups with powerful filtering options.
Advanced Search¶
Clicking the Options button (tune icon) next to the search bar opens the Advanced Search panel.
- Quick Time: Filter data by age (Last 30 Days, 90 Days, 1 Year, or All Time).
- Tx Power: Filter by transmit power (0.3W, 0.6W, 1.0W).
- Ext. Ant.: Toggle to show only data points collected with an external antenna.
- User: Filter pings by the username of the wardriver (if enabled for the region).
- Repeater Name / ID: Search for specific repeaters by name or the first 2 characters of its Public ID.
- Ping contains repeater name or ID: Find pings that routed through or were heard from a specific repeater by its name or ID. This filter automatically excludes pings associated with duplicate repeater IDs or known collisions and displays a warning message when this occurs.
- SNR Range: Filter pings based on Signal-to-Noise Ratio (Min/Max).
- Distance Range: Filter pings based on distance from the heard repeater (Min/Max meters).
- Date Range: Specify a custom start and end date for the data.
Coverage Only Mode¶
For users on older hardware, mobile devices with limited resources, or slow internet connections, MeshMapper offers a Coverage Only Mode.
- How it works: Instead of loading thousands of individual data points and rendering them in the browser (which can be CPU intensive), this mode loads pre-rendered image tiles from the server.
- Performance: This significantly reduces memory usage and load times, making the map usable on almost any device regardless of processing power.
- Limitations:
- No interactivity: You cannot click on grid squares to see pings or repeater paths.
- No filtering: Advanced filters (Time, Power, User) are disabled.
- Simplified View: Only the coverage grid is shown; repeaters and lines are hidden.
- How to access:
- A "Switch to Coverage Only" button will appear on the loading screen.
Private Repeaters¶
Operators can opt-out of location sharing by appending the "no entry" emoji (🚫) to the end of their repeater's name.
- Map: The Name, Location, and ID are removed from the map and the Repeaters layer.
- Pings: Coverage pings are kept and visible in the grid layers, but the repeater details are masked.
- Leaderboards: The name is replaced with "(private repeater)", but stats are still calculated.