diff --git a/info/xdrv_57_tasmesh.md b/info/xdrv_57_tasmesh.md
index 47dc918ed..b3a6018c5 100644
--- a/info/xdrv_57_tasmesh.md
+++ b/info/xdrv_57_tasmesh.md
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ Add ``#define USE_TASMESH`` to your file ``user_config_override.h`` before compi
 
 ## Commands
 
+**WARNING:  The MAC address used for ESP-NOW is the *Soft AP MAC*, not the WiFi MAC.**
+
+*NOTE:  The colons in the mac addresses of the commands are optional.*
+
 ``MeshBroker``                  - starts the broker on the ESP32, printing out the MAC and used WiFi-channel to the log. Must be called after WiFi is initialized!! Example 'Rule1 on system#boot do meshbroker endon'
 
 ``MeshChannel 1..13``           - changes the WiFi-channel (on the node) to n (1-13) according to the channel of the (ESP32-)broker.
@@ -36,16 +40,24 @@ Add ``#define USE_TASMESH`` to your file ``user_config_override.h`` before compi
 
 Rules examples:
 
-- The broker must be started after wifi is up!!</br>``rule1 on system#boot do meshbroker endon``
-- The node may be started as soon as possible. Once started wifi and webserver are disabled by design</br>``rule1 on system#init do meshnode 98:F4:AB:6D:2D:B5 endon``
-- Add a known peer (another node in the mesh) after the node has initialized</br>``rule3 on mesh#node=1 do meshpeer 2cf4323cdb33 endon``
+- The broker must be started after wifi is up!!
+  - To start as ESP32 as broker after wifi and mqtt connection, use</br>``rule1 on system#boot do meshbroker endon``
+- The node may be started as soon as possible. Once started wifi and webserver are disabled by design.
+  - To start the node immediately use</br>``rule1 on system#init do meshnode FA:KE:AD:DR:ES:S1 endon``
+    - To use mesh in combination with deep sleep, you must set a rule to re-initialize the mesh on wake-up.
+The mesh status and parameters are **NOT** (yet) saved to flash and the mesh is not restarted automatically.
+    - **WARNING**:  In case of a system-wide power outage, nodes will be unable to reconnect until after the broker is ready!
+If all devices power up at the same time, a broker starting after `system#boot` will likely not be ready until *after* a node attempting to join at `system#init`.
+This will cause the node to fail to mesh and *no retrying is implemented at this time*.
+To account for this, instead of (or in addition to) using a rule on the nodes, assign all nodes to a common group topic (`GroupTopic2 tasnodes`) and have the broker send a command on that topic after it is ready:</br>`rule2 on mesh#broker=1 do publish cmnd/tasnodes/meshnode FA:KE:AD:DR:ES:S1`
+- Add a known peer (another node in the mesh) after the node has initialized</br>``rule3 on mesh#node=1 do meshpeer FA:KE:AD:DR:ES:S1 endon``
 
 ## Limitations
 
 The following limitations apply:
 - An ESP32 is only supported as a broker
 - An ESP8266 is only supported as a node
-- No command persistence is implemented so use rules to start a broker or a node
+- No command persistence is implemented so use rules to start a broker or a node after start up or deep sleep
 - Although node send queues are implemented there is no node receive queue so MQTT commands send to the node need to be as small as possible limited to a maximum of around 160 characters including the topic
 - Although broker receive queues are implemented there is no broker send queue so MQTT commands send to the node need to be as small as possible limited to a maximum of around 160 characters including the topic
 - As there is no direct connection from the node to the MQTT broker it will signal the node as LWT Offline
diff --git a/tasmota/support_command.ino b/tasmota/support_command.ino
index 2ef127935..6d607413f 100644
--- a/tasmota/support_command.ino
+++ b/tasmota/support_command.ino
@@ -649,6 +649,9 @@ void CmndStatus(void)
                           (uint32_t)WiFi.localIP(), Settings->ipv4_address[1], Settings->ipv4_address[2],
                           Settings->ipv4_address[3], Settings->ipv4_address[4],
                           WiFi.macAddress().c_str());
+#if defined USE_TASMESH
+    ResponseAppend_P(PSTR(",\"Soft AP Mac\":\"%s\""), WiFi.softAPmacAddress().c_str());
+#endif  // USE_TASMESH
 #if defined(ESP32) && CONFIG_IDF_TARGET_ESP32 && defined(USE_ETHERNET)
     ResponseAppend_P(PSTR(",\"Ethernet\":{\"" D_CMND_HOSTNAME "\":\"%s\",\""
                           D_CMND_IPADDRESS "\":\"%_I\",\"" D_JSON_GATEWAY "\":\"%_I\",\"" D_JSON_SUBNETMASK "\":\"%_I\",\""
diff --git a/tasmota/xdrv_57_9_tasmesh.ino b/tasmota/xdrv_57_9_tasmesh.ino
index f0b18f765..223abe266 100644
--- a/tasmota/xdrv_57_9_tasmesh.ino
+++ b/tasmota/xdrv_57_9_tasmesh.ino
@@ -385,8 +385,9 @@ void MESHstartNode(int32_t _channel, uint8_t _role){ //we need a running broker
   wifi_promiscuous_enable(0);
   WiFi.disconnect();
   MESHsetWifi(0);
-  if (esp_now_init() != 0) {
-    AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_INFO, PSTR("MSH: Node init failed"));
+  esp_err_t init_result = esp_now_init();
+  if (esp_err_t() != ESP_OK) {
+    AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_INFO, PSTR("MSH: Node init failed with error: %d"), init_result);
     // try to re-launch wifi
     MESH.role = ROLE_NONE;
     MESHsetWifi(1);
@@ -421,8 +422,9 @@ void MESHstartBroker(void) {       // Must be called after WiFi is initialized!!
   WiFi.softAPmacAddress(MESH.broker); //set MESH.broker to the needed MAC
   uint32_t _channel = WiFi.channel();
 
-  if (esp_now_init() != 0) {
-    AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_INFO, PSTR("MSH: Broker init failed"));
+  esp_err_t init_result = esp_now_init();
+  if (esp_err_t() != ESP_OK) {
+    AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_INFO, PSTR("MSH: Broker init failed with error: %d"), init_result);
     return;
   }
 
@@ -773,9 +775,16 @@ void CmndMeshPeer(void) {
     char _peerMAC[18];
     ToHex_P(_MAC, 6, _peerMAC, 18, ':');
     AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG,PSTR("MSH: MAC-string %s (%s)"), XdrvMailbox.data, _peerMAC);
-    MESHaddPeer(_MAC);
-    MESHcountPeers();
-    ResponseCmndChar(_peerMAC);
+    if (MESHcheckPeerList((const uint8_t *)_MAC) == false) {
+      MESHaddPeer(_MAC);
+      MESHcountPeers();
+      ResponseCmndChar(_peerMAC);
+    } else if (WiFi.macAddress() == String(_peerMAC) || WiFi.softAPmacAddress() == String(_peerMAC)){
+      // a device can be added as its own peer, but every send will result in a ESP_NOW_SEND_FAIL
+      AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG,PSTR("MSH: device %s cannot be a peer of itself"), XdrvMailbox.data, _peerMAC);
+    } else {
+      AddLog(LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG,PSTR("MSH: %s is already on peer list, will not add"), XdrvMailbox.data, _peerMAC);
+    }
   }
 }