🎉 painlessMesh v1.8.6 Released!

We're excited to announce painlessMesh v1.8.6 - a patch release that fixes a critical bridge failover issue.

🔧 What's Fixed

Bridge Auto-Election - Meshes now automatically elect a bridge when all nodes start without a designated initial bridge. Previously, the network would remain bridgeless indefinitely in this scenario.

The Problem

--- Bridge Status ---
I am bridge: NO
Internet available: NO  
Known bridges: 0
No primary bridge available! ❌

The Solution

After a 60-second startup grace period, the mesh automatically detects the absence of a bridge and triggers an election. The node with the best WiFi signal (RSSI) becomes the bridge. ✅

🚀 Key Features

• Automatic Recovery - No manual intervention needed
• Smart Timing - 60s grace period for network stabilization
• Randomized Delays - Prevents election conflicts
• Fully Backward Compatible - Existing setups work unchanged

📦 Installation

# PlatformIO
pio pkg update alteriom/AlteriomPainlessMesh@^1.8.6

# NPM
npm update @alteriom/painlessmesh

# Arduino Library Manager
Search for "AlteriomPainlessMesh" and update

🎯 Perfect For

✅ Dynamic mesh networks with changing topologies
✅ IoT deployments requiring automatic bridge recovery
✅ Development environments without pre-configured bridges
✅ Fault-tolerant systems needing zero-touch setup

🙏 Thanks

Special thanks to @woodlist for reporting the issue and providing detailed logs!

📚 Learn More

• 📖 Full Release Notes
• 🔗 GitHub Release
• 📝 Changelog
• 💻 Bridge Failover Example

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Upgrade today and enjoy seamless bridge failover! 🎊

#painlessMesh #ESP32 #ESP8266 #IoT #MeshNetwork #Arduino #Alteriom