I'm assuming that was on mesh core because on meshtastic they definitely say you should not use router mode or repeater mode unless you have access to an extremely high tower or a mountaintop. I always tell people that you shouldn't run a router unless you are at least 100 feet above the ground and even then you should probably talk with the community in your area to make sure that it would make sense.
100 feet or above should be router if it makes sense. Anything less than 100 feet but above 20 feet should be client and anything below 20 feet should be client mute because they're not going to get you very much more range. And so it's kind of pointless to have them be repeating messages at all.