Onboarding a New Region

MeshMapper is designed to be scalable, allowing new geographic regions to be added to the network. This guide outlines the process for community members to request a new map zone for their local mesh.

Prerequisites

Before requesting a new region, you must ensure the local infrastructure is ready to support it.

• Active Mesh Community: There should be an active group of users in the area.
• MQTT Observers: You need at least one (preferably 2-3) nodes configured as MQTT Clients connected to the letsmesh.net broker.
  • These nodes act as the "ears" of the map, reporting traffic to MeshMapper.

The Onboarding Form

To start the process, navigate to the Region Onboarding form (accessed via the About page).

The form collects the following critical information:

Field	Description
IATA Code	The 3-letter code that will identify your region in the database and URL (e.g., yow.meshmapper.net).
Region Name	The display name for the map (e.g., "Ottawa, CA", "London, UK").
Region Radius	A rough estimate (in km) of the area you intend to cover.
Contact Info	Your Discord username or Email address. This is required for administrators to contact you during the setup process.
Public Channels	A list of public channels used in your mesh (e.g., Chat, Emergency). This helps the wardriving app correctly identify valid traffic.
Observer IDs	The Public ID (e.g., 12345678XXXXXX...) of the nodes acting as MQTT gateways.

Defining the Boundary

One of the most important steps is defining the geographic boundary of your region.

• The Map Tool: The form includes an interactive map with drawing tools.
• Draw Polygon: You must use the Polygon Tool (pentagon icon) to draw a precise shape around your coverage area.
• Purpose: This polygon is used to:
  • Filter out stray pings from outside the region.
  • Determine if a user is "In Zone" for authentication purposes.
  • Render the region border on the global map.

Note: Keep the boundary reasonable. You can always request an expansion later as your network grows.

Submission & Approval

Once you submit the form:

• 1. Notification: A webhook immediately notifies the MeshMapper administrators of the new request.
• 1. Review: Admins will verify the Observer IDs and ensure they are successfully transmitting data to the MQTT broker.
• 1. Activation: Once verified, the region is approved. A new subdomain (e.g., new.meshmapper.net) is provisioned, and the database structures are automatically generated.

You will be contacted via the provided method (Discord/Email) once the map is live or if further configuration is needed.