[Feature Request]: Native Direct-Link Ping Functionality

[FFAMax]

Platform

Cross-Platform

Description

This request proposes adding a native mechanism for initiating a direct ping to a remote device, either from the device’s local menu or via a CLI command.

The only firmware-side requirement is the ability to recognize a ping request and provide a structured response that includes the SNR and RSSI values measured for the received packet. On the client side, the expected behavior is to display both the remote device’s reported SNR/RSSI and the local device’s SNR/RSSI for the corresponding reply.

This functionality is intended strictly for single-hop, line-of-sight operation. Multi-hop behavior should remain disabled unless explicitly enabled through configuration. The purpose is diagnostic evaluation of direct RF performance, not network-level path testing, unless explicitly configured otherwise.

The request concerns only the base functionality of transmitting a direct ping frame without mesh nodes routing influence. Avoiding mesh routing ensures that measurements are not distorted by intermediate relays. In practice, mesh-assisted delivery can introduce conditions where both a relay node and the line-of-sight node respond concurrently or with differing delays, as commonly observed in traceroute-like scenarios. This feature aims to isolate the physical-layer characteristics between two devices under direct radio visibility.

The proposed feature must operate independently of any NodeDB records. Ping request handling and response generation should not rely on the presence, absence, or state of NodeDB entries. (No ENC)

[statico]

Please, this. +10000

[phaseloop]

Can this be done adapting traceroute with hop limit 1 instead of new feature?

Also I don't know how would you like to ping a host if it's not in NodeDB to choose from? There is also NeighbourInfo - which gathers similar data I think.

[garthvh]

You can easily set the hop limit for your node to 0.