ESP32 Forum

I would like to have a mesh network without using a router.
The idea is that a network tries to interconnect as many nodes as possible, but each node may "come and go", so it is impossible to manually assign a SINGLE root node.
How would it be possible to elect one node as a root and, if two such networks meet, merge them together?


Documentation says:
"The networks of the multiple root nodes will be combined into a single network with a single root node. However, root node conflicts where two or more root nodes have the same router SSID but different router BSSID are not handled."

I tried setting all nodes to root in a hope that they will end up resolving into a connected mesh, but neither of them changed their role.

In menuconfig was able to find an option "allow multiple root nodes in a network", but could not find any documentation regarding this feature and toggling it did not affect the end result.

Looking forward to Your recomendations!

Documentation says:
"The networks of the multiple root nodes will be combined into a single network with a single root node. However, root node conflicts where two or more root nodes have the same router SSID but different router BSSID are not handled."

This mechanism only works when multiple root nodes are connected to the same router. It doesn't work on no-router network.

If you want to build a network without using a router, you need to set one root.

Thank You for response!

Just a couple more follow-up questions:

Is it possible to change manual root/not-root node configuration during runtime?

If yes is there a way to fake the router by manually setting SSID and RSSI?

Or if two routerless networks clash, is it possible for either of them to detect that an adjacent network is present?