Store and Forward not working. Am I missing something

Support
1

New here and to Meshtastic. I have a few T-Beams and a couple T-Echos. Everything set up just fine, messaging works great out to 5 miles fairly line of site. I have one T-Beam configured as Router/Client with Store and forward enabled, but I cannot get the forward part to work.
I connected the serial debug and captured some events a associated with S&F that make me think it is storing the records, just not forwarding them.

DEBUG | 02:09:03 964 [Router] handleReceived(REMOTE) (id=0xd2645017 fr=0x82 to=0x08, WantAck=1, HopLim=3 Ch=0x0 Portnum=1 rxtime=1706753343 rxSNR=6.25 rxRSSI=-33)
DEBUG | 02:09:03 964 [Router] Module ‘StoreForward’ wantsPacket=1
INFO | 02:09:03 964 [Router] *** S&F stored. Message history contains 2 records now.
DEBUG | 02:09:03 964 [Router] Module ‘StoreForward’ considered
INFO | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] *** Sending heartbeat
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] Update DB node 0xe0f62c5c, rx_time=1706753582
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] handleReceived(LOCAL) (id=0x3dd498c1 fr=0x5c to=0xff, WantAck=0, HopLim=3 Ch=0x0 Portnum=65 rxtime=1706753582 priority=1)
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] No modules interested in portnum=65, src=LOCAL
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] localSend to channel 0
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] Add packet record (id=0x3dd498c1 fr=0x5c to=0xff, WantAck=0, HopLim=3 Ch=0x0 Portnum=65 rxtime=1706753582 priority=1)
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] Using AES128 key!
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] ESP32 crypt fr=e0f62c5c, num=3dd498c1, numBytes=11!
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] enqueuing for send (id=0x3dd498c1 fr=0x5c to=0xff, WantAck=0, HopLim=3 Ch=0x77 encrypted rxtime=1706753582 priority=1)
DEBUG | 02:13:02 1202 [StoreForwardModule] txGood=28,rxGood=38,rxBad=0
WARN | 02:13:02 1202 [RadioIf] Can not send yet, busyRx

I would expect that when I power on the node that was targeted with the message it would receive it after the Router Node gets an update from that node.
My radio config:
0 Private encrypted channel
1 admin
All set to client except one as Router/Client, Local Only, with S&F

Any help here would be appreciated.

TX

1 Like
2

You need a supported client, currently only implemented on iOS

1 Like
3

Interesting. I am using the Meshtastic app on both iPhone and mini iPad connected via bluetooth.
Curious if powering on the device, rather than re-establishing contact normally has something to do with it.
Or am I way off base and there is another client or client setup that I missed?

Thanks,

4

Do you have store and forward enabled on both client devices?

5

@garth
Yes, I have tried multiple ways. I have tried enabling store and forward with enable heartbeat, just enabling store and forward, and then just enable heartbeat alone. From the debug output it did look like the router was getting and storing the record and possibly trying to send it, but not sure if I am reading the debugs correctly.
I tried the above, because I wasn’t exactly sure how to set up. Does S&F need to be enabled on all devices wishing to use it? Initially I thought it was only the router that needed that.
You mentioned that it only works with iPhone (apple) app. Does that only have to do with the ability to enable S&F on the device? Seems strange a module would rely on the app to work.

Really would be nice to get this to work, I plan to use this network in a very remote mountainous area and there will be temporary terrain blockages. Even with a couple routers/repeaters on mountain tops.

Thanks

6

Needs to be enabled on all devices, one router on a tbeam with a heartbeat (try an hour)on the router

7

OK, I have tried every which way I can set this up to no avail.

I am running .19 firmware
Lora set to Medium-Slow
Messaging works just fine
Router-Client is T-Beam with both S&F enabled, heartbeat enabled, has private encrypted channel and admin channel. Configured to route local only.

Clients - Both T-Beam and T-Echo configured for 1 Private encrypted channel, and admin channel only.
Tried with:
No S&F enabled
Just S&F enabled
S&F Enabled, Heartbeat enabled

Router output through terminal seems to show router trying to send but stored records just seem to go up, like the client does not receive it.

Unless someone has more a more specific setup to try, I guess I will just have to wait on this feature.

TX

8

Update on my progress.
Thanks to the recent updates I have this partially working. The T-Beam router is set up as a S&F with the heartbeat.
I am using the apple app and with the client T-Echos that I have, the router node shows it is set up for S&F and I can request messages by long pressing the node. This works!
The odd thing is that my other client T-Beams never show the router set up as S&F. Rebooting the router, or clients don’t seem to help. I tried sending SF (Android Method) to the router to see if it would kick the message loose, but it didn’t seem to work either.

We are getting there, keep up the good work.

9

T-Beam clients not working
Store and Forward is working well with the T-Echo clients that I have and can request messages from my router. However, for some reason, the T-Beams set up as clients do not work, the Apple client never shows the router set up for Store and Forward and I also cannot request messages with SF sent to the Router (works with T-Echo). I am pretty sure this is an issue with the T-Beam firmware since sending SF directly to the router should kick messages loose, but not 100%.

10

Thank you, Ive been struggeling to get my T-beam to work. I have the same issues, all is set up correctly, but it will not show up in ios as a SaF router, or return messages after “SF” in android.
Is it only T-echo and T-Beams that have PsRam or are there other alternatives?
What about units that have sd card slots? How much programming would that take to use them?

11

Which firmware version are you using and what role does the S&F server have?

T-Echo doesn’t have PSRAM, but you can use it to request messages.
As far as I know the only other with PSRAM is the T-LoRa T3S3.

12

@GUVWAF
I have a working router set up with S&F and it works great with my T-Echo clients. Where there is a problem is with my other T-Beams that are set up as clients. They don’t seem to register themselves as clients on the router. I use the apple client and the router also does not show up as a Store and Forward node in the App like it does with the T-Echo. Have also tried requesting directly with “SF” which does not work.

Hope this helps with understanding the issue.

13

Which firmware are the T-Beams running? There was a fix for this issue in 2.3.6.

14

Both the T-Beam client and T-Beam router-client are at 2.3.10.
Now that I have retrieved the router, I am about to update the role to just Router based on the latest firmware where router-client is deprecated.

Thanks

15

Good news, I updated to alpha 2.4.0 and the T-Beam client is now showing the router as Store and Forward.

Thanks for all the great work on this