If you dont use the default LongFast meshtastic is really empty. I switched my node to MediumSlow, since it’s like 86% faster than LongFast. I knew there would not be any in my area, so I subscribed to the msh/US MQTT topic and theres still nobody else. I’m going to leave it like that for a while and see if I hear anything during any kind of band openings or catch any other MQTT nodes trying out that topic. And yes, both uplink and downlink are enabled. I do know that there are some nodes in the Bay Area on msh/US/mqtt-bayme-sh, but I am not near their.
Depends where you are, I guess. Where I live, we use MediumFast, though first I had to find this information, in order to switch from LongFast. Maybe there are some meshtastic groups in your area? (like in Matrix/Reddit/Facebook groups)
I used MeshMap.net to figure out what people were using in my area. Although for now it’s still long fast.
I know for a fact there’s quite a few nodes on long fast around here. But I don’t know if nodes are on any other presets or not.