6-7 hops, what's the point?

[Haflinger73]

Why can 6 + 7 hops be selected in the LoRa settings at all, when Meshtasic itself says: 3 hops are ideal, 4-5 is OK, 6-7 is only destructive for the mesh. (Statement by Thomas Göttgens/caveman99 at FOSDEM February 2024)
Due to the many valleys and mountains in Switzerland, several routers are required. However, many of them constantly run at the 5% limit.
A lot of traffic is generated by excessively high hop settings. Why do we need 6,7 hops?
Best regards, Haflinger73

[NekoCWD]

In St. Petersburg, we often fail to deliver due to the low hop limit (even 7 is not enough :D)

[Magalex2x14]

Perhaps there are other reasons for this?

[NekoCWD]

There are lot of nodes placed in bad locations (1-5 floors in 9+ floor buildings)

[Magalex2x14]

May be you right. Or not ) I'm just looking for answers to the same questions ) I'm trying to figure it out. The solution of increasing the hop limit seems obvious, but considering the principles of routing, it creates many problems. None of the online sources I've seen recommend increasing the limit, but solving the issues in other ways. This includes large cities (I've seen discussions on Reddit).

[Magalex2x14]

@Haflinger73 Can you tell more about that caveman99 statement? Maybe you have a link to a video or article?

[Haflinger73]

https://ftp.fau.de/fosdem/2025/ub2147/fosdem-2025-4375-meshtastic-off-grid-communication-for-everyone.av1.webm?fbclid=IwY2xjawNrHcdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETBBdk90ZzllOFB0TjZuOE04AR6dSX-OPqE0QiShDLwQEtClxRfl_zzqhWRSNGPlo6Z0GRVGJs68ynbSNbySMA_aem_ocndDRhN5UMliEzCrc_NfA

Hops 05:16

[Magalex2x14]

Thank you very much!

[mecworks]

With new next-hop routing, I think the limit should be raised or eliminated for packets that travel a next-hop route and enforced for managed-flood packets.

[moolight-seashell]

But from what I understand, next hop routing is for direct messages.

For channels, we are still extremely limited by this hop limit.

And with 7 hops, I find it hard to believe that this isn't just a toy.
Especially since such a limit somewhat undermines the concept of a mesh network.

Couldn't we take inspiration from Meshcore, adding a form of automatic role assignment (client, client_mute, relay), to have a true long-range mesh network capable of connecting an entire country?