As far as I understand, this is not the way a mesh (e.g. ESP-Mesh, see https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp ... ata-stream) is working. I also don't see the need for a star topology, as each ESP will most likely "see" his neighbour (you might want to try this first), so this comes down to a simple case of routing (either traditional or via mesh).(600m2, 60m corridor, 20 rooms, 40cm stone walls, 40 esps, 1 pi4)
So if i actually manage the network connections in a mesh, and manage a station and AP on every esp (with a single root).
What is to stop me using the station to publish (upstream) and the AP to subscribe (downstream).
How much data do you expect to transfer ? Routing a number of video streams over one ESP32 will most likely not work, but I don't see a problem with a few sensor readings now and then.