Use advert position if we don't have a from-repeater-stats lat/lon

frontend/src/components/RepeaterDashboard.tsx

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { RepeaterLogin } from './RepeaterLogin';
 import { useRepeaterDashboard } from '../hooks/useRepeaterDashboard';
 import { isFavorite } from '../utils/favorites';
 import { handleKeyboardActivate } from '../utils/a11y';
+import { isValidLocation } from '../utils/pathUtils';
 import { ContactStatusInfo } from './ContactStatusInfo';
 import type { Contact, Conversation, Favorite, PathDiscoveryResponse } from '../types';
 import { TelemetryPane } from './repeater/RepeaterTelemetryPane';
@@ -60,6 +61,8 @@ export function RepeaterDashboard({
   onDeleteContact,
 }: RepeaterDashboardProps) {
   const [pathDiscoveryOpen, setPathDiscoveryOpen] = useState(false);
+  const contact = contacts.find((c) => c.public_key === conversation.id) ?? null;
+  const hasAdvertLocation = isValidLocation(contact?.lat ?? null, contact?.lon ?? null);
   const {
     loggedIn,
     loginLoading,
@@ -77,9 +80,8 @@ export function RepeaterDashboard({
     sendFloodAdvert,
     rebootRepeater,
     syncClock,
-  } = useRepeaterDashboard(conversation);
+  } = useRepeaterDashboard(conversation, { hasAdvertLocation });
 
-  const contact = contacts.find((c) => c.public_key === conversation.id);
   const isFav = isFavorite(favorites, 'contact', conversation.id);
 
   // Loading all panes indicator
@@ -261,6 +263,7 @@ export function RepeaterDashboard({
                   state={paneStates.neighbors}
                   onRefresh={() => refreshPane('neighbors')}
                   disabled={anyLoading}
+                  repeaterContact={contact}
                   contacts={contacts}
                   nodeInfo={paneData.nodeInfo}
                   nodeInfoState={paneStates.nodeInfo}

frontend/src/components/repeater/RepeaterNeighborsPane.tsx

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
   state,
   onRefresh,
   disabled,
+  repeaterContact,
   contacts,
   nodeInfo,
   nodeInfoState,
@@ -28,11 +29,15 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
   state: PaneState;
   onRefresh: () => void;
   disabled?: boolean;
+  repeaterContact: Contact | null;
   contacts: Contact[];
   nodeInfo: RepeaterNodeInfoResponse | null;
   nodeInfoState: PaneState;
   repeaterName: string | null;
 }) {
+  const advertLat = repeaterContact?.lat ?? null;
+  const advertLon = repeaterContact?.lon ?? null;
+
   const radioLat = useMemo(() => {
     const parsed = nodeInfo?.lat != null ? parseFloat(nodeInfo.lat) : null;
     return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? parsed : null;
@@ -43,11 +48,26 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
     return Number.isFinite(parsed) ? parsed : null;
   }, [nodeInfo?.lon]);
 
-  const radioName = nodeInfo?.name || repeaterName;
-  const hasValidRepeaterGps = isValidLocation(radioLat, radioLon);
-  const showGpsUnavailableMessage =
-    !hasValidRepeaterGps &&
-    (nodeInfoState.error !== null || nodeInfoState.fetched_at != null || nodeInfo !== null);
+  const positionSource = useMemo(() => {
+    if (isValidLocation(radioLat, radioLon)) {
+      return { lat: radioLat, lon: radioLon, source: 'reported' as const };
+    }
+    if (isValidLocation(advertLat, advertLon)) {
+      return { lat: advertLat, lon: advertLon, source: 'advert' as const };
+    }
+    return { lat: null, lon: null, source: null };
+  }, [advertLat, advertLon, radioLat, radioLon]);
+
+  const radioName = nodeInfo?.name || repeaterContact?.name || repeaterName;
+  const hasValidRepeaterGps = positionSource.source !== null;
+  const headerNote =
+    positionSource.source === 'reported'
+      ? 'Using repeater-reported position'
+      : positionSource.source === 'advert'
+        ? 'Using advert position'
+        : nodeInfoState.loading
+          ? 'Waiting for repeater position'
+          : 'No repeater position available';
 
   // Resolve contact data for each neighbor in a single pass — used for
   // coords (mini-map), distances (table column), and sorted display order.
@@ -71,7 +91,7 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
 
       let dist: string | null = null;
       if (hasValidRepeaterGps && isValidLocation(nLat, nLon)) {
-        const distKm = calculateDistance(radioLat, radioLon, nLat, nLon);
+        const distKm = calculateDistance(positionSource.lat, positionSource.lon, nLat, nLon);
         if (distKm != null) {
           dist = formatDistance(distKm);
           anyDist = true;
@@ -91,11 +111,12 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
       sorted: enriched,
       hasDistances: anyDist,
     };
-  }, [contacts, data, hasValidRepeaterGps, radioLat, radioLon]);
+  }, [contacts, data, hasValidRepeaterGps, positionSource.lat, positionSource.lon]);
 
   return (
     <RepeaterPane
       title="Neighbors"
+      headerNote={headerNote}
       state={state}
       onRefresh={onRefresh}
       disabled={disabled}
@@ -153,18 +174,17 @@ export function NeighborsPane({
               <NeighborsMiniMap
                 key={neighborsWithCoords.map((n) => n.pubkey_prefix).join(',')}
                 neighbors={neighborsWithCoords}
-                radioLat={radioLat}
-                radioLon={radioLon}
+                radioLat={positionSource.lat}
+                radioLon={positionSource.lon}
                 radioName={radioName}
               />
             </Suspense>
-          ) : showGpsUnavailableMessage ? (
+          ) : (
             <div className="rounded border border-border/70 bg-muted/20 px-3 py-2 text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-              GPS info failed to fetch; map and distance data not available. This may be due to
-              missing or zero-zero GPS data on the repeater, or due to transient fetch failure. Try
-              refreshing.
+              Map and distance data are unavailable until this repeater has a valid position from
+              either its advert or a Node Info fetch.
             </div>
-          ) : null}
+          )}
         </div>
       )}
     </RepeaterPane>

frontend/src/components/repeater/repeaterPaneShared.tsx

@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ function formatFetchedTime(fetchedAt: number): string {
 
 export function RepeaterPane({
   title,
+  headerNote,
   state,
   onRefresh,
   disabled,
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@ export function RepeaterPane({
   contentClassName,
 }: {
   title: string;
+  headerNote?: ReactNode;
   state: PaneState;
   onRefresh?: () => void;
   disabled?: boolean;
@@ -131,6 +133,7 @@ export function RepeaterPane({
       <div className="flex items-center justify-between px-3 py-2 bg-muted/50 border-b border-border">
         <div className="min-w-0">
           <h3 className="text-sm font-medium">{title}</h3>
+          {headerNote && <p className="text-[11px] text-muted-foreground">{headerNote}</p>}
           {fetchedAt && (
             <p
               className="text-[11px] text-muted-foreground"

frontend/src/hooks/useRepeaterDashboard.ts

@@ -188,8 +188,13 @@ export interface UseRepeaterDashboardResult {
   syncClock: () => Promise<void>;
 }
 
+interface UseRepeaterDashboardOptions {
+  hasAdvertLocation?: boolean;
+}
+
 export function useRepeaterDashboard(
-  activeConversation: Conversation | null
+  activeConversation: Conversation | null,
+  options: UseRepeaterDashboardOptions = {}
 ): UseRepeaterDashboardResult {
   const conversationId =
     activeConversation && activeConversation.type === 'contact' ? activeConversation.id : null;
@@ -301,7 +306,7 @@ export function useRepeaterDashboard(
       if (!publicKey) return;
       const conversationId = publicKey;
 
-      if (pane === 'neighbors') {
+      if (pane === 'neighbors' && !options.hasAdvertLocation) {
         const nodeInfoState = paneStatesRef.current.nodeInfo;
         const nodeInfoData = paneDataRef.current.nodeInfo;
         const needsNodeInfoPrefetch =
@@ -385,7 +390,7 @@ export function useRepeaterDashboard(
         }
       }
     },
-    [getPublicKey]
+    [getPublicKey, options.hasAdvertLocation]
   );
 
   const loadAll = useCallback(async () => {

frontend/src/test/repeaterDashboard.test.tsx

@@ -265,13 +265,14 @@ describe('RepeaterDashboard', () => {
 
     expect(
       screen.getByText(
-        'GPS info failed to fetch; map and distance data not available. This may be due to missing or zero-zero GPS data on the repeater, or due to transient fetch failure. Try refreshing.'
+        'Map and distance data are unavailable until this repeater has a valid position from either its advert or a Node Info fetch.'
       )
     ).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('No repeater position available')).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.queryByText('Dist')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
-  it('shows neighbor distance when repeater radio settings include valid coords', () => {
+  it('shows neighbor distance when repeater node info includes valid coords', () => {
     mockHook.loggedIn = true;
     mockHook.paneData.neighbors = {
       neighbors: [
@@ -324,13 +325,69 @@ describe('RepeaterDashboard', () => {
     render(<RepeaterDashboard {...defaultProps} contacts={contactsWithNeighbor} />);
 
     expect(screen.getByText('Dist')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Using repeater-reported position')).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(
       screen.queryByText(
-        'GPS info failed to fetch; map and distance data not available. This may be due to missing or zero-zero GPS data on the repeater, or due to transient fetch failure. Try refreshing.'
+        'Map and distance data are unavailable until this repeater has a valid position from either its advert or a Node Info fetch.'
       )
     ).not.toBeInTheDocument();
   });
 
+  it('uses advert coords for neighbor distance when node info is unavailable', () => {
+    mockHook.loggedIn = true;
+    mockHook.paneData.neighbors = {
+      neighbors: [
+        { pubkey_prefix: 'bbbbbbbbbbbb', name: 'Neighbor', snr: 7.2, last_heard_seconds: 9 },
+      ],
+    };
+    mockHook.paneData.nodeInfo = null;
+    mockHook.paneStates.neighbors = {
+      loading: false,
+      attempt: 1,
+      error: null,
+      fetched_at: Date.now(),
+    };
+    mockHook.paneStates.nodeInfo = {
+      loading: false,
+      attempt: 0,
+      error: null,
+      fetched_at: null,
+    };
+
+    const contactsWithAdvertAndNeighbor = [
+      {
+        ...contacts[0],
+        lat: -31.95,
+        lon: 115.86,
+      },
+      {
+        public_key: 'bbbbbbbbbbbb0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000',
+        name: 'Neighbor',
+        type: 1,
+        flags: 0,
+        last_path: null,
+        last_path_len: 0,
+        out_path_hash_mode: 0,
+        route_override_path: null,
+        route_override_len: null,
+        route_override_hash_mode: null,
+        last_advert: null,
+        lat: -31.94,
+        lon: 115.87,
+        last_seen: null,
+        on_radio: false,
+        last_contacted: null,
+        last_read_at: null,
+        first_seen: null,
+      },
+    ];
+
+    render(<RepeaterDashboard {...defaultProps} contacts={contactsWithAdvertAndNeighbor} />);
+
+    expect(screen.getByText('Dist')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Using advert position')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
   it('shows fetching state with attempt counter', () => {
     mockHook.loggedIn = true;
     mockHook.paneStates.status = { loading: true, attempt: 2, error: null };

frontend/src/test/useRepeaterDashboard.test.ts

@@ -408,6 +408,22 @@ describe('useRepeaterDashboard', () => {
     expect(mockApi.repeaterNeighbors).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
   });
 
+  it('refreshing neighbors skips node info prefetch when advert location already exists', async () => {
+    mockApi.repeaterNeighbors.mockResolvedValueOnce({ neighbors: [] });
+
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useRepeaterDashboard(repeaterConversation, { hasAdvertLocation: true })
+    );
+
+    await act(async () => {
+      await result.current.refreshPane('neighbors');
+    });
+
+    expect(mockApi.repeaterNodeInfo).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(mockApi.repeaterNeighbors).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(result.current.paneData.neighbors).toEqual({ neighbors: [] });
+  });
+
   it('restores dashboard state when navigating away and back to the same repeater', async () => {
     const statusData = { battery_volts: 4.2 };
     mockApi.repeaterLogin.mockResolvedValueOnce({