Local and Regional Channels

Every Mode-X Mesh node has the General channel. Nodes that share their location also get local channels for their area, so nearby people can talk without the noise of the whole network.

The channel ladder

When a node with location sharing enrols with the server, it receives up to three local channels alongside General, from widest to narrowest, for example:

• General - every node, everywhere. No location needed.
• South West - the region.
• Gloucestershire - the county.
• Gloucester - the town.

Your node keeps these up to date automatically as you move (you can freeze them in the app if you prefer fixed channels).

How delivery works

All channel messages travel by radio only. A message you send on Gloucester hops across the mesh from node to node; any node whose Gloucester channel matches yours shows it, and nodes elsewhere silently ignore it because local channels are secured with keys made from the channel's own name. General messages are open to everyone by design.

Messages relay through intermediate nodes, so two nodes do not need to hear each other directly. If there is a genuine radio path between Gloucester and Glasgow through relays and Skybridges, a General message can make that whole journey. Local channels travel the same way but are only readable where the channel matches.

The internet is not used to carry channel messages between people. The only internet messaging is MX-Bot: when you send it a query or a test ping, the reply comes back over your own node's connection and is visible only to you.

Direct messages

Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted between the two nodes involved and are relayed by radio like everything else. Intermediate nodes pass them on but cannot read them.

A node with no location

A node that does not share location simply has General (and any channels you set by hand). It still relays local channel messages for others; it just cannot read them.