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Network Monitoring

Guide to monitor the status and operation of the mesh network.

Monitoring Tools​

1. Meshtastic App​

The easiest way to see network status.

2. Gateway Web UI​

Access at: http://192.168.68.127

3. Node-RED Dashboard​

Access at: http://192.168.100.10:1880

4. Command Line (SSH)​

For administrators with SSH access.

Monitoring from Meshtastic App​

View Connected Nodes​

  1. Open Meshtastic app
  2. Go to "Nodes" tab
  3. View list of nodes in network

Information shown:

  • Node name
  • Last seen
  • Distance (if GPS available)
  • Signal (SNR/RSSI)

Signal Quality​

SNRQualityDescription
Above 0ExcellentVery strong signal
-5 to 0GoodStable connection
-10 to -5FairMay have losses
Below -10PoorDifficult communication

View Messages​

  • "Messages" tab
  • Shows all channel messages
  • Including Claude responses

Monitoring via SSH​

Connect to Raspberry Pi​

ssh pi@192.168.68.127

View Meshtastic Nodes​

meshtastic --nodes

Example output:

╒════════════════════╤════════════════╤════════╤═══════════╕
│ User               │ ID             │ SNR    │ Last Seen │
╞════════════════════╪════════════════╪════════╪═══════════╡
│ Main-Gateway       │ !69d01ebc      │ -      │ now       │
│ Garcia Family      │ !aabbccdd      │ 7.5    │ 2min ago  │
│ North School       │ !11223344      │ 3.2    │ 5min ago  │
╘════════════════════╧════════════════╧════════╧═══════════╛

View Real-Time Messages​

meshtastic --listen

View MQTT Traffic​

mosquitto_sub -h localhost -t "meshtastic/#" -v

Node-RED Monitoring​

Access the Editor​

  1. Open: http://192.168.100.10:1880
  2. View active flows
  3. Check debug panel

Debug Panel​

  1. Click bug icon (debug) on the right
  2. View processed messages
  3. Verify data flow

Verify MQTT Connection​

In Node-RED:

  1. View MQTT In node
  2. Below it should say "connected"
  3. If it says "disconnected", there's a problem

Important Metrics​

Network Health​

MetricNormal ValueAction if Abnormal
Nodes seenMore than 1Verify trackers
Messages/hourVariableNormal to fluctuate
Claude latencyUnder 30sVerify internet
MQTT connectedYesRestart services

Verify Services​

On Raspberry Pi:

# Meshtastic status
sudo systemctl status meshtastic

# MQTT status
sudo systemctl status mosquitto

On reComputer:

# Node-RED status
sudo systemctl status nodered

# WiFi AP status
sudo systemctl status hostapd

System Logs​

Raspberry Pi - Meshtastic​

journalctl -u meshtastic -f

Raspberry Pi - MQTT​

sudo tail -f /var/log/mosquitto/mosquitto.log

reComputer - Node-RED​

journalctl -u nodered -f

Daily Health Checklist​

Quick Verification​

  • Meshtastic gateway responding
  • Node-RED connected to MQTT
  • Internet (Starlink) working
  • At least 1 tracker visible
  • @claude test successful

Quick Commands​

# From laptop on network

# 1. Ping gateway
ping 192.168.68.127

# 2. Ping reComputer
ping 192.168.68.130

# 3. View nodes
ssh pi@192.168.68.127 "meshtastic --nodes"

# 4. Test MQTT
mosquitto_sub -h 192.168.68.127 -t "meshtastic/#" -C 1

Troubleshooting​

Not Seeing Nodes​

  1. Verify tracker is powered on
  2. Verify channel/PSK configuration
  3. Verify region
  4. Restart tracker

MQTT Disconnected​

  1. Verify mosquitto service: 
    sudo systemctl status mosquitto
  2. Restart if needed: 
    sudo systemctl restart mosquitto

Node-RED Not Responding​

  1. Verify service: 
    sudo systemctl status nodered
  2. View logs: 
    journalctl -u nodered -n 50
  3. Restart: 
    sudo systemctl restart nodered