It is strongly recommended to keep your [ROLE](/docs/configuration/radio/device#roles) set to `CLIENT`. Only change this if you have a specific, well-understood reason to do so.
- Decreased effective network range due to unnecessary hop consumption.
These roles are for very specific applications. Before changing from `CLIENT`, carefully [review the documentation](/docs/configuration/radio/device#roles) to understand the implications. Additionally, coordinating this with your local community to ensure its impact is a positive one rather than a negative one.
Remember: A network of `CLIENT` nodes with a small number of well-placed `ROUTERS` is usually the most efficient and stable configuration.
Telemetry is shared over your [PRIMARY channel](/docs/configuration/radio/channels#role). This means that if your node has acquired GPS coordinates from an integrated GPS chip, or from your mobile device, your coordinates will be sent to the mesh over this channel, using its defined encryption (if any).
By default the PRIMARY channel's name is LongFast with the encryption key "AQ==" (Base64 equivalent of Hex 0x01). If this is left unchanged, your location will be shared with all nodes in range that are also using the default channel.
Meshtastic now supports the ability to control the precision of location data sent over a particular channel.
The `position_precision` setting allows control of the level of precision for location data that is sent over a particular channel. This can be useful for privacy reasons, where obfuscating the exact location may be desired when sending position data over certain channels.
For detailed information on position precision settings and how to configure them, please refer to the [Position Precision documentation](/docs/configuration/radio/channels/#position-precision).
Alternatively, if you wish to only share your location with trusted parties, you may create a private PRIMARY channel and use the defaults for a SECONDARY channel.
4. If your LoRa frequency slot is set to the default (`0`), the radio's transmit frequency will be automatically changed based on your PRIMARY channel's name. In this case, you will have to manually set it back to your region's default (in LoRa settings) in order to interface with users on the default slot:
To quickly test this configuration, find and scan your region's QR from [this repository](https://github.com/meshtastic/meshtastic/tree/master/static/img/configuration/qr-private-primary-example/). Remember to generate a new PSK for your private channel before sharing with your trusted nodes.
Meshtastic nodes will rebroadcast all packets if they share [LoRa modem settings](/docs/configuration/radio/lora#lora-config-values), regardless of encryption (unless [Rebroadcast mode](/docs/configuration/radio/device#rebroadcast-mode) is set to `LOCAL_ONLY`).
If you would like your nodes to include/expand the "public" mesh, you must use the default [modem preset](/docs/configuration/radio/lora#modem-preset) `LONG_FAST`. If you change your PRIMARY channel name, you must manually set the LoRa channel to the default for your region (see above).
It is **strongly** recommended to leave your [MAX HOPS](/docs/configuration/radio/lora#max-hops) set to 3 unless you're sure you need more (or less) to reach your destination node. Unnecessarily high hop counts often lead to network issues.
Previously, Meshtastic used the word "channels" to define two different configuration properties: Messaging Channels & LoRa Channel Numbers. However, this could lead to confusion since "channels" was being used to refer to two distinct concepts. To clarify the distinction, the decision was made to change "LoRa Channel Number" to "LoRa Frequency Slot".
These configure "message groups" and include your PRIMARY and SECONDARY channels. All SECONDARY channels use the same LoRa modem config as your PRIMARY channel (including LoRa frequency slot).
There are 8 total messaging channels. Channel 0 is your PRIMARY channel, with channels 1-7 available for private group messaging and/or special channels such as [`admin`](/docs/configuration/remote-admin).
This property, formerly known as "LoRa Channel Number", configures the frequency the radio is set to. Check out the [frequency calculator](/docs/overview/radio-settings#frequency-slot-calculator) to view the relationship between "frequency slot" and radio frequency.
- Connecting a node to the [public MQTT server](/docs/configuration/module/mqtt#connect-to-the-default-public-server) may publish the locations of all nodes in your mesh to the internet.
