Picking the right device role

IntermediateMeshtasticAbout 10 minutes

You'll need

A Meshtastic radio

The role tells your radio how to behave on the mesh: whether it relays for others and what it sends. The right role keeps a mesh fast; the wrong one can slow it down for everyone.

Quick picker

Your radio	Role
In your pocket, pack or car	`CLIENT_MUTE`
Sitting at home or on your desk	`CLIENT`
Home base that should always relay for your family’s radios	`CLIENT_BASE` (favorite your family’s nodes)
GPS tracker on a pet, bike or kid’s backpack	`TRACKER`
Weather or tank sensor	`SENSOR`
A lost-device beacon	`LOST_AND_FOUND`
High, permanent site with great line of sight, agreed with your local group	`ROUTER` or `ROUTER_LATE`

Why not just use ROUTER?

ROUTER always rebroadcasts. On a high hilltop that helps. In a house or a car, it adds extra transmissions that crowd the airwaves and can send traffic down poor paths. Local groups, including Arizona’s, ask people to keep router roles for well-placed fixed sites.

ROUTER_LATE waits until other nodes have had their turn, so it fills dead spots without competing.
ROUTER turns on power saving on ESP32 boards, and that can’t be turned off.
To update a router over Bluetooth, the docs suggest temporarily switching roles through remote admin, then switching back.

Sources

Checked on October 18, 2026.