diff --git a/gui/daemon.js b/gui/daemon.js
index 23d04534..77c2cec4 100644
--- a/gui/daemon.js
+++ b/gui/daemon.js
@@ -227,7 +227,8 @@ exports.startTNC = function (
   auto_tune,
   tx_delay,
   tci_ip,
-  tci_port
+  tci_port,
+  enable_mesh
 ) {
   var json_command = JSON.stringify({
     type: "set",
@@ -264,6 +265,7 @@ exports.startTNC = function (
         tx_delay: tx_delay,
         tci_ip: tci_ip,
         tci_port: tci_port,
+        enable_mesh: enable_mesh
       },
     ],
   });
diff --git a/gui/freedata.js b/gui/freedata.js
index 6b02a8d2..51b67459 100644
--- a/gui/freedata.js
+++ b/gui/freedata.js
@@ -35,3 +35,8 @@ exports.atob_FD = function (data) {
 exports.atob = function (data) {
   return window.btoa(Buffer.from(data, "base64").toString("utf8"));
 };
+//**Global mesh setting, to enable mesh return true, otherwise false.  Set to false for release builds */
+exports.enable_mesh = function () {
+  return true;
+  //return false;
+};
diff --git a/gui/main.js b/gui/main.js
index cb647953..d998aacc 100644
--- a/gui/main.js
+++ b/gui/main.js
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ for (key in parsedConfig) {
   }
 }
 sysInfo.info("------------------------------------------  ");
-
+config.enable_mesh_features = FD.enable_mesh();
 /*
 var chatDB = path.join(configFolder, 'chatDB.json')
 // create chat database file if not exists
diff --git a/gui/preload-chat.js b/gui/preload-chat.js
index f437f5cd..2939f0af 100644
--- a/gui/preload-chat.js
+++ b/gui/preload-chat.js
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ var appDataFolder =
 var configFolder = path.join(appDataFolder, "FreeDATA");
 var configPath = path.join(configFolder, "config.json");
 var config = require(configPath);
+config.enable_mesh_features = FD.enable_mesh();
 // set date format
 const dateFormat = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(navigator.language, {
   timeStyle: "long",
diff --git a/gui/preload-main.js b/gui/preload-main.js
index bf94e2fd..b0231032 100644
--- a/gui/preload-main.js
+++ b/gui/preload-main.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ var appDataFolder =
 var configFolder = path.join(appDataFolder, "FreeDATA");
 var configPath = path.join(configFolder, "config.json");
 var config = require(configPath);
+config.enable_mesh_features = FD.enable_mesh();
 const contrib = [
   "DK5SM",
   "DL4IAZ",
@@ -1429,7 +1430,10 @@ window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
     var stop_bits = document.getElementById("hamlib_stop_bits").value;
     var handshake = document.getElementById("hamlib_handshake").value;
     var tx_delay = document.getElementById("tx_delay").value;
-
+    var enable_mesh = "False"
+    if (config.enable_mesh_features == true) {
+      enable_mesh = "True";
+    }
     if (document.getElementById("scatterSwitch").checked == true) {
       var enable_scatter = "True";
     } else {
@@ -1593,7 +1597,8 @@ window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
       auto_tune,
       tx_delay,
       tci_ip,
-      tci_port
+      tci_port,
+      enable_mesh
     );
   });
 
@@ -1761,10 +1766,6 @@ window.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => {
 
   autostart_rigctld();
 
-  //Enable mesh features by setting to 1, should be changed for releases
-  config.enable_mesh_features =1;
-  //config.enable_mesh_features =0;
-  
   if (! config.enable_mesh_features == 1) {
     document.getElementById("liMeshTable").style.visibility = "hidden";
     document.getElementById("liMeshTable").style.display = "none";
diff --git a/gui/src/mesh-module.html b/gui/src/mesh-module.html
index ffea72d9..bf7acbe5 100644
--- a/gui/src/mesh-module.html
+++ b/gui/src/mesh-module.html
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
           class="btn-check"
           id="enable_mesh"
           autocomplete="off"
-
+          checked="true"
         />
         <label class="btn btn-outline-info" for="enable_mesh"
           >Enable / Disable Mesh</label