lora.rssi() == 0 is that a problem ?

[bartvandeenen]

I'm trying to connect to the Things Network, but I'm not having any success yet. Is a lora.rssi() having a value of 0 indicative of me not being in range of a LoRa gateway ?
The power mode is always on, so I would expect some signal.

>>> lora.power_mode() == LoRa.ALWAYS_ON
True
>>> lora.ABP
1
>>> lora.has_joined()
True

[daniel]

I guess you are using ABP, right? In ABP there's no confirmation from the Gateway when joining. The join process only involves setting up the Keys on the node (the LoPy). It might be that you are too far from the Gateway. I'll have a loot at the RSSI value...

[bartvandeenen]

@daniel
Yep, ABP, so I understand the has_joined is always True. I've traced the rssi function a bit in the C code, but I haven't found yet where the internal rssi value is set. I haven't had time to build my own firmware yet, but it's on the list.

[chrigu]

is the lora.rssi() the only way to check whether you're in the range of a LoRa gateway?

[daniel]

With lora.rssi() you can see how good is the signal after you are connected to another device (be it a LoRaWAN Gateway or another LoPy in raw-LoRa mode). RSSI it's always going to be 0 before your receive the packet. It cannot be use to see if you are in range of a LoRa Gateway. One way to do this is by peforming an OTAA join and waiting for it to succeed.

Cheers,
Daniel

[chrigu]

@daniel thanks for the info. In that case I'll need to test from another location. I tried with OTAA, but the Lopy didn't join.