Disclosed is a routing method named lock routing for a wireless multi-hop network, which can be based on next-hop routing and source routing and named next-hop lock routing and source lock routing respectively. The routing method utilizes traffic packets to monitor the link quality and utilizes local broadcast to help a source node keep track of the varying network topology in order to update a route path to a destination node. In local broadcast, routing control messages can be forwarded by path nodes and neighbors of an old route path, which reduces the routing control overhead and enhances the network scalability. A route update process can be triggered by the link quality and the path node state and is used to maintain ongoing traffic flows and extend the network lifetime.