diff --git a/lib/connector/meshcore_connector.dart b/lib/connector/meshcore_connector.dart
index 6791901..60ebe95 100644
--- a/lib/connector/meshcore_connector.dart
+++ b/lib/connector/meshcore_connector.dart
@@ -66,15 +66,20 @@ class DirectRepeater {
 
   int get ranking {
     if (isStale()) {
-      return -1; // Stale repeaters get lowest rank
+      return -1; // Stale repeaters sort last; every live ranking below is >= 0.
     }
-    // Higher SNR gets higher rank and recency within maxAgeMinutes breaks ties.
+    // SNR-first: each dB of SNR is worth 1000 rank points; recency only breaks
+    // ties between repeaters within ~1 dB of each other (a 0-999 bonus). SX126x
+    // SNR is an int8 x 0.25 dB value spanning -32.0 .. +31.75 dB, so the +32
+    // offset keeps every live ranking >= 0 (above the -1 stale sentinel) while
+    // preserving SNR order.
     final ageMs =
         DateTime.now().millisecondsSinceEpoch -
         lastUpdated.millisecondsSinceEpoch;
     final maxAgeMs = maxAgeMinutes * 60 * 1000;
-    final recencyScore = (maxAgeMs - ageMs).clamp(0, maxAgeMs);
-    return ((snr - 31.75) * 1000).round() + recencyScore;
+    final recencyFraction = ((maxAgeMs - ageMs) / maxAgeMs).clamp(0.0, 1.0);
+    final recencyTieBreak = (recencyFraction * 999).round();
+    return ((snr + 32) * 1000).round() + recencyTieBreak;
   }
 
   bool isStale() {
diff --git a/test/connector/direct_repeater_ranking_test.dart b/test/connector/direct_repeater_ranking_test.dart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..caaec69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/connector/direct_repeater_ranking_test.dart
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+import 'package:flutter_test/flutter_test.dart';
+import 'package:meshcore_open/connector/meshcore_connector.dart';
+
+void main() {
+  group('DirectRepeater.ranking (SNR-first)', () {
+    test('a stronger signal outranks a more-recent but weaker one', () {
+      // 5 dB better SNR, but heard 24 min earlier — signal margin must win.
+      final strongOld = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 1,
+        snr: 10.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 25)),
+      );
+      final weakRecent = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 2,
+        snr: 5.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 1)),
+      );
+      expect(strongOld.ranking, greaterThan(weakRecent.ranking));
+    });
+
+    test('recency breaks ties between equal-SNR repeaters', () {
+      final older = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 1,
+        snr: 10.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 20)),
+      );
+      final newer = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 2,
+        snr: 10.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 1)),
+      );
+      expect(newer.ranking, greaterThan(older.ranking));
+    });
+
+    test('a stale repeater ranks -1', () {
+      final stale = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 1,
+        snr: 30.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 31)),
+      );
+      expect(stale.ranking, -1);
+    });
+
+    test('a live repeater always outranks a stale one', () {
+      // Weak but live vs strong but stale — the live one must win, so the
+      // stale sentinel (-1) has to sit below every live ranking.
+      final weakLive = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 1,
+        snr: -30.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 1)),
+      );
+      final strongStale = DirectRepeater(
+        pubkeyFirstByte: 2,
+        snr: 30.0,
+        lastUpdated: DateTime.now().subtract(const Duration(minutes: 31)),
+      );
+      expect(weakLive.ranking, greaterThan(strongStale.ranking));
+    });
+  });
+}