rns.recipes

i have tested alot of different softwares: nomadnet, sideband, meshchat, colomba, ratspeak, meshchatX... both on PC and Cellphones. there are always problems from quirks to straight up game breaking. things are going better and better with new programers entering the field and coming up with new and fresh implementations. ive been looking at Reticulum since the very start, what is missing is the user level software. no consoles and streamlined options. my goal is to build a resilent on and off-grid comms network all around where i live. emergency chat between people and message storage for AFK clients.

my questions:
1- is there an easy way to have chatrooms? 3user+ in the same window talking/sharing
2- do you know of a working way to file transfer using RNodes?
3- is slow switching time normal? for example RNode to UDP take a few minutes?

also please you are welcome to namedrop your favorite software.
the best i found yet are Ratspeak for PC and Colomba for Android

Glad you're enjoying Columba! For a group chat, you can try any client for Reticulum Relay Chat (RRC). Nomadnet gas it built in now, and I made a small android client called Eridanus you can find on my github. There are probably other clients by now too.

Re: file transfers over RNode, the real question is just file transfers over Reticulum in general. LXMF supports file attachments, and Columba follows this spec. Regardless of client, it doesn't care whether you are connected via RNode or fiber.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "switching time?"

for example both clients are communicating with each other via internet UDP servers. they each already have a RNode running and ready in parallel with the internet. i then disconect the internet from one of the client and try to continue to communicate in between the two. it take a while for the communication to start again and there is alot of failed messages. despite the RNode being set up for a while and the two node already seeing each other. i notice also there is alot of glitching and strange down time using 2clients via RNodes (RF). when doing "Ping...Pong" testing each in between the two nodes it works for a minute, then stop working, then works only one way. basically there is alot of strange glitches and bugs using RNodes. i have tried many different clients and nothing is reliable yet.

on the same note when i try to transfer small files it work OK via the internet, but when relying on RNodes it is totally unreliable and seems to freeze the communication in a one-way manner. strangely for short periods of times it work instantaniously. we are here talking about <10kilobytes files.

Thank you i will check out the RRC thing!

also i am not a programer and maybe it is not the right place. i just dont know where to talk about this to other people and try to find help. the programs have gone a long way, but there are still troubles for normal people to use them.

also i forgot to list my specs so maybe people understand the situation better:

RNodes = Heltec V3 flashed using the unsigned.io website
PC= Linux with Ratspeak
Smartphone= Colomba

everything is using the latest firmware/software as of yesterday. the RNodes are in the same room as each other. by Ping Pong testing i mean sending "Ping" from one client, then responding with "Pong" as soon as i receive the message on the other client. so i can constantly send Ping Pong Ping Pong between the two nodes and see when the communication cut off and is unstable.

Looking back through the RNS code and if I'm interpreting things correctly, the utilized path (via a link) would take a good while to go stale. Are your rnode interfaces set with mode = roaming? If not already, it should help as it is designed for physically mobile nodes (per the RNS docs).

schnitzel wrote:

Looking back through the RNS code and if I'm interpreting things correctly, the utilized path (via a link) would take a good while to go stale. Are your rnode interfaces set with mode = roaming? If not already, it should help as it is designed for physically mobile nodes (per the RNS docs).

i saw this type of option go by when i was using another program, but it is not available to me right now. this setting isnt listed even in the advanced tab of Ratspeak. ill have to check on Colomba later. i guess some clients are using ??? as the default. i can choose the frequency and coding rate, but not the role.

also i just found out by testing that when the two client send at the same time that the messages are both lost. this is the main problem i think while using RNodes and those clients? firmware? version in particular. i see both nodes are sending like crazy, but the messages arent coming in. if i wait and only send on one side at a time it works OK. i think it is the source of most of the instability and lost packets. i just dont know if its a reticulum problem or a client thing.

Jambonet wrote:

also i just found out by testing that when the two client send at the same time that the messages are both lost. this is the main problem i think while using RNodes and those clients? firmware? version in particular. i see both nodes are sending like crazy, but the messages arent coming in. if i wait and only send on one side at a time it works OK. i think it is the source of most of the instability and lost packets. i just dont know if its a reticulum problem or a client thing.

LoRa is half-duplex, so transmitting devices can't receive at the same time (if you've used off-the-shelf walkie-talkies, they're the same way. Pressing the talk button deafens the speaker). If both nodes are trying to send messages without any breaks, they won't have "listening" time to hear other nodes. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the rnode firmware (it likely has some handling to prevent trampling), but if you are using markqvist/RNode_Firmware, try liberatedsystems/RNode_Firmware_CE and see if performance improves.

ill try. i was a big user of Meshtastic in the past so it is why i was surprised by this. normally the nodes are programed to shut-up and listen when receiving a packet. i just dont understand how the communication is so bad right now even under the best conditions.

Jambonet wrote:

schnitzel wrote:

Looking back through the RNS code and if I'm interpreting things correctly, the utilized path (via a link) would take a good while to go stale. Are your rnode interfaces set with mode = roaming? If not already, it should help as it is designed for physically mobile nodes (per the RNS docs).

i saw this type of option go by when i was using another program, but it is not available to me right now. this setting isnt listed even in the advanced tab of Ratspeak. ill have to check on Colomba later. i guess some clients are using ??? as the default. i can choose the frequency and coding rate, but not the role.

also i just found out by testing that when the two client send at the same time that the messages are both lost. this is the main problem i think while using RNodes and those clients? firmware? version in particular. i see both nodes are sending like crazy, but the messages arent coming in. if i wait and only send on one side at a time it works OK. i think it is the source of most of the instability and lost packets. i just dont know if its a reticulum problem or a client thing.

RE: Ratspeak, it's available if you enable developer mode in the settings, and then add the RNode - you can specify the interface mode. This has been available a while, but the issue is that the UX for what's gated behind developer mode relative to what users actually need isn't really optimal.

That said, if your focus is stability and debugging issues/concerns, you should use probably only use Sideband or NomadNet before venturing out - a lot of other clients are heavily beta and shouldn't be considered a source of truth for what is or isn't working.

i wish i could find a better client. Sideband has horrible GUI and NomadNet is only installed thru commandline (and started).

also i think its caused by AI slop, but most clients are eating RAM like crazy. my Ratspeak hits 1.5gb right now.

Jambonet wrote:

i wish i could find a better client. Sideband has horrible GUI and NomadNet is only installed thru commandline (and started).

also i think its caused by AI slop, but most clients are eating RAM like crazy. my Ratspeak hits 1.5gb right now.

Have you tried MeshChatX?

yes. it cannot setup anything.
i get "failed to load local interface" "failed to enable discovery"... basically everything is a error message. i cannot setup anything with the startup procedure. the program cannot even fetch the list of serial devices on the computer so i cannot use a RNode. its a .Appimage and the permission is set to allow to run as program. it is all on Linux Mint. i havent tried it on Android yet. all the other programs i have tried on the same PC have no apparent problem with this initial step.

i also tried to search around on my files and delete the .reticulum folder and such as to start anew. no changes.

MeshchatX is about 2-3x larger at runtime in general conditions than Ratspeak (just to speak on the memory issue), your issue with Ratspeak could be related to attachments and how they're loaded in memory, which will be fixed soon. Talking between 3+ people is available with channels in the latest pre-release version as well.

If you were using the v1.0.25 main release, the latest pre-release has a load of changes that address a ton of reliability issues as well.

That said, Sideband/NomadNet may not be the best UI/UX, but they are the most stable and reliable in terms of function.

I added sandboxing among other security improvements to MeshChatX so broke a couple of things but it will be fixed in next release.