To receive uplinks and send downlinks to your end device, you first need to add your device in The Things Stack Community Edition. Follow instructions at The Things Stack - Adding Devices!
Devices are added within applications. Applications are useful for grouping devices by purpose or location, for example.
Registering your device can be done in two ways, via The Things Stack Console or via the CLI.
Before adding your end device, make sure you know of which type your device is - ABP (Activation By Personalization) or OTAA (Over-The-Air-Activation). Depending on the type, some steps differ during the registration procedure. Learn why using OTAA devices is highly recommended.
Adding a Device Using the Console #
Instructions for adding devices in The Things Stack Community Edition are available at The Things Stack - Adding Devices. If using the Console, you can add a device manually or using the LoRaWAN Device Repository.
Manual registration is just a matter of providing some end device information like MAC Version, PHY Version, Frequency Plan, DevEUI, JoinEUI, etc. The required infomation depends on whether your end device is ABP or OTAA type. See details about adding devices manually using the Console.
If your end device is a part of the LoRaWAN Device Repository, registration of it will be semi-automated. This means that some features of the device are pre-defined, which helps you with the process of onboarding the device. If your end device is not present in this repository, you will have to add it manually.
You can also see examples of end devices added to the LoRaWAN Device Repository, and learn how to add devices to the LoRaWAN Device Repository.
Adding a device using CLI #
To add a device using CLI, you need to have the CLI installed on your system. Learn how to install and login with the CLI.
You can add both ABP and OTAA devices by manually providing the end device information through commands in your terminal. See details about adding devices using the CLI.
If you are experiencing issues while adding devices to The Things Network, see Troubleshooting.