In one embodiment, the locations of a plurality of network devices in a low power and lossy network (LLN) are determined along an intelligent wire. One or more neighboring devices for each network device in the plurality are identified based on the locations of the network devices along the intelligent wire. A communication schedule for the network devices is determined that prevents neighboring devices along the intelligent wire from transmitting on the same frequency. The network devices are assigned to communication time slots based on the communication schedule. The network devices are also assigned frequency offsets based on the communication schedule.