Lopy4 indoor range

[shishir]

Hello,
I am experimenting with Lopy4 range.
Nano gateway sample code + robert-hh fix, latest firmware, Pysense, pycom antenna
I can connect to TNN and push the data to Cayenne dashboard when both the node and gateway are in the same house.
The node couldn't connect to gateway when the gateway was kept indoor in the house and the node was
a) 0.5 miles away indoor in another building, but both buildings have clear line of sight
b) in next building (0.1 miles), but both buildings have lots of offices/residences

Is this expected? Is there a way to increase the range??
Will using a commercial gateway help

Thanks for your help

[jcaron]

@shishir missing a lot of details:

• what region
• what frequency
• what sf/data rate
• what antenna
• is the antenna connected to the right port on the LoPy 4 (not in the same place as on the LoPy 1)
• do I understand correctly that you are using a LoPy 4 on both sides?
• if so, have you correctly configured the non-gateway node to send on a single frequency?
  ...

[robert-hh]

@shishir Since you can connect, I guess that most of the parameters @jcaron asked for are correct. The remaining are related to antenna and set-up. You should give the gateway a good antenna, and place it such it if not obstructed by building elements with a lot of metal. Placement is essential.
And yes, reducing the data rate may help.
I made a little bit of testing around my house with two gateways One antenna indoor at the window (plain glass), the other outdoor halfway up the roof. The test device was outside. Data rate 5 (SF7BW125).
The best distance I could get was 1400m. But at two spots the signal of the node was caught by a gateway 6000m apart. That one is on the top of a hill, with an outdoor antenna.

[shishir]

@jcaron Region is EU. Using the github code, same settings (LORA_FREQUENCY = 868100000, LORA_GW_DR = "SF7BW125" # DR_5, LORA_NODE_DR = 5).
Using Pycom LoRa antenna.
Yes it is on the right port. [opposite side of reset button on the module. I think Lopy1 has it on the same side of reset button].
Yes Lop4 for both node and gateway.
Using sample code. It sets the 3 default channels to the same frequency

[shishir]

@robert-hh Will the Lopy4 node work in my scenarios if I was using an industrial gateway, say kerlink for example.

[robert-hh]

@shishir An industrial full built gateway differs in a few aspects from the LoPy nanogateway:
a) full support of the Lora Standard
b) built under the aspects of RF design
c) Nice package, eventually IP67 case, and plug-and-play

The Kerlin IoT station is rather expensive. You can also go with a self-made setup, based on either a RAK831 or IMST IC880a and a Raspberry py. For the RAK831, there are full packages offered at AliExpress at about 150$ plus tax plus EU VAT), the IC880a (at 119€ plus VAT) can be directly ordered at the vendor IMST. The have also a pre-built version with a RPi, case and SW installed at about 200€ + VAT. Both are easy to set up. There exist step-by-step instructions in the TTN forum.
I ordered here the IC880a board, mostly to avoid the tax trouble with a 150$ delivery from China, and because IMST delivers via UPS within a day or two. And I had an unused RPi anyhow. The RF set-up surely could be better. It is connected to Aurel GP868 antenna which I placed outside. This antenna is basically a wavelengt/4 device, but due to the GP radial not very critical in handling. And it is easy to mount. And I could get it from a local shop. What are my experiences:

• a Fipy (or any xxPy) as node connects without any problem
• the sensitivity of the IC88a and the LoPy a Nanogateway is not that different, may about 6 dB. If you consider, that moving the node around by just a few cm at a certain place can easily make a difference of 10 dB and more, this is less important than it might look in the first place.
• ANTENNA, ANTENNA, ANTENNA, and it's placement! Together with RF design is the most important factor.
  if you just use you LoPy4 node with a LoPy nanogateway, than you can use that combination. If you want to use other nodes, invest into a gateway which supports the full standard.

One question at the end: When you connecetd the LoPy4 node to the LoPy4 nanogateway, did you use ABP join or OTAA join. In case of the latter, TTN will sent other frequencies too to the node, and the node will use them, meaning that a nanogateway will not get 2 of 3 messages. If the TTN server decides that the Node shoudl send at other data rates, then all messages get lost. So better use OTAA join once, to get the device ID and the keys assigned, and use these values further on with ABP join. The you have a better control on channels and data rates.

[robert-hh]

@shishir On a different note:
You said that you pushed your data to the cayenne dashboard. I tried that too, but without any reliable result. It seems that at cayenne one can only select between a predefined set of devices.Which device did you select for your LoPy?

[shishir]

@robert-hh I used the following Cayenne library:
https://github.com/jojo-/py-cayenne-lpp

On node side, imported the library and used the following code
for i in range (10):
print('Sending CayenneLPP data')
time.sleep(50.0)
lpp.add_temperature(si.temperature())
lpp.add_relative_humidity(si.humidity(), channel = 112)
lpp.send(reset_payload = True)

On TNN, chose the data format as CayenneLLP

On Cayenne, chose LoRa-> The Things Network->Cayenna LLP

Do let me know if you face any problems

[robert-hh]

@shishir said in Lopy4 indoor range:

On Cayenne, chose LoRa-> The Things Network->Cayenna LLP

That was the missing link. Thanks alot