Mesh network relay

A system for relaying data in a mesh network, comprising:

• one or more memories;
• and
• at least one processor each coupled to at least one of the one or more memories and configured to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, by a server and from one of a plurality of nodes that comprise the mesh network, characteristics for each of the plurality of nodes;
• determining, by the server and based on the characteristics, a relay path for providing data from a source node from the plurality of nodes to a destination node from the plurality of nodes, the relay path comprising the source node, the destination node and at least one relay node from the plurality of nodes, wherein:
• the at least one relay node is configured to transmit and receive the data via a Wi-Fi-based communication protocol using unassociated media access control (MAC) frames that utilize locally administered MAC addresses, and
• a MAC address field of the unassociated MAC frames comprises a group identifier corresponding to a group of the nodes without specifying a base service set identifier (BSS-ID);
• and
• providing, by the server, an indication of the relay path to at least one of the source node, the destination node, or the at least one relay node.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, cause the at least one computing device to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by a server and from one of a plurality of nodes that comprise a mesh network, characteristics for each of the plurality of nodes;
• determining, by the server and based on the characteristics, a relay path for providing data from a source node from the plurality of nodes to a destination node from the plurality of nodes, the relay path comprising the source node, the destination node and at least one relay node from the plurality of nodes, wherein:
• the at least one relay node is configured to transmit and receive the data via a Wi-Fi-based communication protocol using unassociated media access control (MAC) frames that utilize locally administered MAC addresses, and
• a MAC address field of the unassociated MAC frames comprises a group identifier corresponding to a group of the nodes without specifying a base service set identifier (BSS-ID);
• and
• providing, by the server, an indication of the relay path to at least one of the source node, the destination node, or the at least one relay node.