How many hops does OpenThread support?

Question

As a mesh, a signal can propagate across devices. Naturally there must be a hop limit. How many node hops does OpenThread support?

Answer 1

The maximum path cost amount Thread Routers allowed by Thread is 16. Usable link costs between Routers may range from 1 to 4, with 1 being the best. As a result, the maximum number of hops between Routers with good links is 16. Considering that links to end devices are not included in the route cost, it is possible to add another hop at each end of the Router path, making the actual hard limit 18 hops. Any paths that have one or more link costs greater than 1 will reduce the maximum hop count.