I only see this when the connection quality is poor. And I have seen ONE poor connection to a given node will cause the connection quality of other nodes connecting to that given node to degrade.
Based on my observations, when the AREDN node detects that the connection changes (such as in dropping out), it rebuilds the OLSR table according to what it can still see, and its reachability (the cost, ETX). Thus you get an empty list, or only the still reachable nodes. You may also see an incomplete list while the AREDN node is attempting to (re)build its OLSR table.
Good luck getting a solid connection. I'm sure that will help.
Based on my observations, when the AREDN node detects that the connection changes (such as in dropping out), it rebuilds the OLSR table according to what it can still see, and its reachability (the cost, ETX). Thus you get an empty list, or only the still reachable nodes. You may also see an incomplete list while the AREDN node is attempting to (re)build its OLSR table.
Good luck getting a solid connection. I'm sure that will help.