Also, here’s meshmap of my extended area

And here’s the node map, btw, I’m in Albuquerque so there’s a lot more there because of that

Get on top of a nearby hill and hang out there for an hour or so. The t1000e has a pretty damn impressive antenna for what it is, but it can’t beat height. If you can see it with your eyes, you should be able to hit it with your node. The trouble is if there’s stuff in the way.

There’s three things that can happen with any radio signal, it goes through something, bounces off something, or is absorbed by something. The more obstructions, the lower your signal. So if you think about a node three blocks away, how many walls does your signal need to go through? In my area that could be 20 houses with 3-4 plaster and cinder block walls it needs to penetrate. If you are on a hill and can see the roof of the house with the other node, that reduces it to maybe 5 walls mine and their signal needs to go through.

There’s someone on the other side of town that has direct line of sight of the entire city and has a great antenna that can hit my node wherever I am, but I can’t reach there’s from inside anywhere. So I have a node I can stick on my car and another in my roof that can relay my messages to them and hit everyone in town by that route. My roof node in turn acts as a relay for anyone in my surrounding neighborhoods who don’t have that height.