CoreScope — Network Analyzer
CoreScope is an open-source MeshCore mesh network analyzer that provides real-time packet visualization, node tracking, route analysis, and deep network analytics. The Inland NW Mesh runs its own instance at scope.inwmesh.org.
Contents
- What CoreScope Does
- How It Works
- Live Map
- VCR Replay Controls
- Packet Browser
- Node Directory
- Analytics
- Channel Decryption
- Repeater Contacts Download
What CoreScope Does
CoreScope listens to all MeshCore traffic observed by a dedicated observer node and presents it in a web dashboard. It gives network operators and curious users a window into how the mesh is actually behaving — which nodes are active, how packets are routing, signal quality between nodes, and historical network activity.
Key features:
- Live Map — real-time animated packet visualization with route overlays, contrails, radar pings, and role-based icons
- VCR Controls — pause, rewind, replay, and scrub through up to 24 hours of mesh activity
- Packet Browser — filterable live packet stream with byte-level breakdown and route visualization
- Node Directory — health cards for all observed nodes with signal stats, last-seen times, and QR codes
- Analytics — RF signal analysis, topology and hop patterns, channel stats, and route pattern mining
- Channel Decryption — view messages from hashtag channels if you have the channel key
How It Works
CoreScope requires a dedicated observer node — a MeshCore device flashed with special observer firmware that logs all packets it hears to an MQTT broker. The observer is connected to a VPS running CoreScope, which ingests the packets, stores them in a SQLite database, and serves the web dashboard.
The observer node is passive — it only listens and logs, it does not transmit or participate in the mesh.
Our observer node is located in Spokane and feeds scope.inwmesh.org with live mesh traffic.
Live Map
The live map shows real-time packet activity across the mesh:
- Animated lines show packets traveling between nodes
- Icons represent different node types — clients, repeaters, and room servers
- Zoom clustering groups nearby nodes at lower zoom levels
- Click any node to see its health card, signal stats, and recent activity
- Click any route line to inspect the path and see candidate nodes for each hop
VCR Replay Controls
Use the VCR controls at the bottom of the map to step back through mesh history:
- Pause the live feed and scrub backward through the timeline
- Replay the last 24 hours of activity at up to 4x speed
- Rewind to any specific point in time to review network events
This is especially useful for reviewing what happened during an event, outage, or new repeater deployment.
Packet Browser
The packet browser shows a live stream of all packets observed on the mesh:
- Filter by node name, packet type, or route
- Toggle between grouped and flat view
- Click any packet for a full byte-level breakdown and route visualization
- Use the "My Nodes" toggle to filter to packets involving specific nodes
Node Directory
The node directory lists all nodes observed on the mesh with:
- Last seen timestamp and firmware version
- Signal stats (SNR, RSSI)
- Hop count and route information
- QR code for easy contact import into the MeshCore app
- Sortable and filterable list
Analytics
The analytics section provides deeper insight into network health and behavior:
- RF Signal Analysis — SNR and RSSI distributions across the network
- Topology — hop count patterns and mesh connectivity
- Channel Stats — activity levels per channel
- Route Pattern Mining — which paths packets are actually taking
- Hash Collision Matrix — identify nodes sharing hash prefixes
Channel Decryption
If you have the key for a hashtag channel (e.g. #inland-nw), CoreScope can decrypt and display messages from that channel. The public channel uses a pre-shared key — ask in our Discord for access.
Repeater Contacts Download
CoreScope also powers our weekly repeater contacts export. Download the file below to import the 250 closest repeaters and rooms to Spokane directly into your MeshCore app:
Download repeater-contacts.json
Updated every Sunday at 2 AM. Also available on the Wiki downloads section.
View our live instance at scope.inwmesh.org.