Various of the disclosed embodiments relate to line-of-sight (LOS), e.g., optical, based networks. Systems and methods are provided for connecting nodes based on their topological position in a line-of-sight communication network. Some embodiments may represent each node by a “backbone” and a “subnetwork” rank. The determination of a node's rank can prevent the formation of isolated “islands” of nodes, cut off from the backbone. The ranking can also provide a total ordering of nodes relative to the “fiberpop” node which can be used for healing and routing behaviors.