An outdoor antenna is still a reasonable investment, especially since you can never be sure in advance how the coverage will turn out. Therefore, I am hesitating between an indoor antenna to test, or an outdoor antenna to get coverage for my gps trackers and contribute to the TTN coverage also.
Can I expect indoor coverage if I place an outdoor gateway (like the DLOS8) on top of my house? Or is there any ‘parabolic umbrella effect’
See picture below.
I tested at floor level in the basement directly below the antenna (placed on the roof) and god good signal.
I have the antenna of my gateway above the roof on a mast. Everywhere in the house - even in the cellar - I get SNR-values of more than 10dB with my test-node TTGO t-beam.
Why not give it a try?
I have a gateway on the roof of a double storey building. The building’s roof is made from metal plates. Even in this scenario the coverage is still good indoors - as long as I have an antenna plugged into my end device (https://youtu.be/pkVJ7dT72Ks?list=PLYDjg9iTvGmzhsDqH3HzNvWrdctcTT3dj&t=536).
Just watched the serie this morning. Thumbs up for that! I think I going to take the gamble and order an outdoor gateway, thanks for your advice!
To be honest, the biggest issue is the uncertainty about coverages. I am keen on fact and figures, spending 300+ euros on something which I don’t know if it gives me 2 or 10 km coverage simply doesn’t feel right. Can imagine that this stops many people from participating on the TTN?
Would a temporary rental gateway be a good idea? I would have easily spend 50,- to try an outdoor gateway for a month.
Whish I could get my antenna back on the roof, but unfortunately not at the moment.
My antenna is indoor and with brick walls and 10m separation the poor gateway gets shouted at (-40).
When I get the antenna back on the roof it will drop to -50.
There are other outdoor gateways for less than 300, good antenna placement and well made antenna is just as important for range.
To get an idea of the coverage you can expect, we can do a simulation. Normally we would use a tool like Radio Mobile to do that. If I remember correctly @pe1mew has written a guide on how to use it. But I can help you to do it too. Just send me the coordinates and height of your roof in private message.
There are definitely cheaper gateways around, like the Mikrotik that has a recommended retail price of $169. But do get the extra antenna they sell for $49.
@ABBOV in which country/area are you located? Maybe there is a TTN user close to you that’s willing to lend you a gateway to test. Unfortunately I’m likely a little far away to lend you one of mine.
Thanks for the link, I think i managed to get some data. 
With the altitude on 14.0 and the antenna height on 7.2 meters (roof) I get quite decent coverage.
Looking in to the Mikrotik right now, thanks!
@ABBOV My recommendation is no don’t buy such an ant! You don’t need higher gain unless compensating for significant cable and connector losses. Aim for something closer to isotropic patten so limit to a standard 2/2.1/3/3.1dbi ant. Then at normal +14dbm Tx level you will be within EU regs for EIRP. If you go much higher gain then even after cable losses you have to backdown the Mikrotik Tx to stay legal! Also higher gain ants often have notched coverage closer in so unless desperate to reach horizon and willing to sacrifice some potential nearer range coverage it’s a waste of money. There is a reason why the emergency services use such simple ants for all round coverage 
Seems like I need to clarify this.
The Mikrotik’s internal antenna is very bad. So you will be disappointed by the coverage if you used it. I agree you do not want a high gain antenna, but get at least something. My favourite is this one: Buy Aurel 650200599 GP 868 Ground Plane Antenne Ground Plane Antenna Assembly kit - N/A | Conrad Electronic
See you don’t have many gateways close to you.
That’s correct, but we have to start somewhere… 
Maybe I can make some more people enthousiast, so I will give them a good example.
Would be nice to have an ‘Achterhoek’ community some day. 
Cooo, what’s that bit of software??
Agree it’s quite poor but they do say for testing and use a good external for deployment. Still my test set up regularly ‘sees’ 5-8.5km (terrain limited). What dbi is the Aurel? Looked at it a few years back but never tried as could not find spec or polar plots
A node-red flow calling on the API
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