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  • LoRaWAN
  • Quick Start
  • Applications & Integrations
  • Devices & Gateways
  • Migrating to The Things Stack Community Edition
  • V2 Docs (Outdated)

Gateways

    Overview
  • LoRa Basics™ Station
  • Root Certificates
  • SDKs

    Running a gateway

  • Troubleshooting
  • Lightning Protection
  • Packet Forwarders
  • Gateway Registration
  • Where to start
  • Hardware

  • Pi Supply Gateway HAT
  • MultiTech Conduit
  • RAK2245 Pi Hat Edition - LoRaWAN® Gateway Concentrator Module
  • RAK7243C Pilot Gateway
  • RAK831
  • The Things Gateway
  • The Things Indoor Gateway
  • The Things Outdoor Gateway
  • AAEON
  • Cisco LoRaWAN Gateway
  • Kerlink
  • Laird RG1xx
  • Lorrier LR2
  • MikroTik Routerboard
  • P-NUCLEO-LRWAN2
  • Tektelic
  • Ursalink

Gateways

Gateways form the bridge between devices and The Things Network. Devices use low power networks like LoRaWAN to connect to the Gateway, while the Gateway uses high bandwidth networks like WiFi, Ethernet or Cellular to connect to The Things Network.

All gateways within reach of a device will receive the device’s messages and forward them to The Things Network. The network will deduplicate the messages and select the best gateway to forward any messages queued for downlink. A single gateway can serve thousands of devices.

Gateways

How do gateways work?

Gateways are routers equipped with a LoRa concentrator, allowing them to receive LoRa packets. You can usually find two kinds of gateways:

  • Gateways running on a minimal firmware, making them low-cost and easy to use (e.g. The Things Gateway), running only the packet forwarding software.

  • Gateways running an operating system, for which the packet forwarding software is run as a background program (e.g. Kerlink IoT Station, Multitech Conduit). This gives more liberty to the gateway administrator to manage their gateway and to install their own software.

Can I install a gateway without a license?

LoRaWAN operates on unlicensed bands, so in most countries, running your own gateway is completely legal. There can be, however, country-to-country restrictions (e.g. where to install antennas, and such). Reach out to your local communities if you have a doubt!

Help build a global network

No coverage where your device lives? Need more bandwidth? Simply add another Gateway to extend the network for both your own use and anyone else’s.

We’re offering the affordable The Things Gateway. But you can use any standard LoRa gateway with The Things Network. Under Where to start, you can find how to buy or build your own gateway to extend the network!

If you’d like to document and promote another gateway, contact us for our Ambassador & Partner programs.

Troubleshooting

Read

Lightning Protection

Read

Packet Forwarders

Read

Pi Supply Gateway HAT

Read

Gateway Registration

Read

MultiTech Conduit

Read

RAK2245 Pi Hat Edition - LoRaWAN® Gateway Concentrator Module

Read

RAK7243C Pilot Gateway

Read

RAK831

Read

The Things Gateway

Read

Where to start

Read

The Things Indoor Gateway

Read

The Things Outdoor Gateway

Read

AAEON

Read

Cisco LoRaWAN Gateway

Read

Kerlink

Read

Laird RG1xx

Read

LoRa Basics™ Station

Read

Lorrier LR2

Read

MikroTik Routerboard

Read

P-NUCLEO-LRWAN2

Read

Root Certificates

Read

Tektelic

Read

Ursalink

Read
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