I am new to LoRaWAN/TTN/IoT and have two very specific questions for which I cannot find a satisfactory answer on the internet yet. Could you please see if you can answer these?
If I have a LoRaWAN gateway and only need to use it for my private use (let’s say I don’t want others to use it), is there any way we can achieve this?
How can I ensure that my end-device uses my gateway? Is there any way in the gateway’s live data to detect which end-devices are using my gateway (as of now, I only see the gateway status messages)? I am using ‘The Things Kickstarter Gateway v1’ for my learning purpose.
Yes if you install your own LoRaWAN network server and point your gateway to it.
Yes and no. LoRaWAN devices will transmit and anyone in radio range will be able to receive the transmissions including other LoRaWAN networks. However only one network will have the encryption keys required to decrypt the data. Keep in mind not all of the LoRaWAN packet is encrypted, some information is plain text.
Keep in mind this forum is for The Things Network, a public community driven network. So we’re not about private networks…
A gateway is an RF to UDP media convertor - any valid LoRaWAN packets are relayed to the LNS that the gateway is registered on, only there is the packet processed. If the packet is from a device that is not registered on that LNS then it is silently dropped. Usually this is asked by someone trying to protect their bandwidth - on any normal internet connection the usage is minimal compared to a website that unexpectedly drops a video advert in the corner, if you are deploying via mobile then you are out of luck!
An addition to @kersing’s response, you will need to ensure your end device is in range of your gateway. Please do not ask how to do that, there are discussions right across the forum about range and all its variability.
Yes, it’s the gateway console.
Your questions come without the most important piece of information - the why? Why do you want to do this, what do you think you benefit from running a private setup, do you understand what it takes to run your own private setup, what is wrong with TTN and allowing your gateway to be used by the community, and so much more. You may have a really good reason and if we know it, we can answer more specifically.
Your questions also reveal that you are early in your understanding of LoRaWAN so you will benefit hugely from reading the Learn section (link top of page) to save you asking basic questions.
We encourage forum search as there is a huge body of knowledge here and as there were no keywords to speak of in the title, I’ve summarised it as best I can. I’ll concede that your 2.5 questions would be harder to search for!
I understand the forum is for The Things Network, a public community-driven network, and I am very happy to share the gateway with others. However, I successfully connected my ‘The Things Kickstarter Gateway’ to TTN. Nevertheless, when I attempt to connect LoRa end-devices, they do not connect. I am unsure how to pinpoint the issue.
In one instance, the device indicates it’s connected, but I am unable to see any data in TTN. Therefore, I thought to ask these questions to gain a better understanding logically and identify where the issue might lie.
I do not have any idea to run the private network. However, by asking that question I was trying to resolve the issue I am facing. As I mentioned to @kersing , I successfully connected my ‘The Things Kickstarter Gateway’ to TTN. Nevertheless, when I attempt to connect LoRa end-devices, they do not connect. I am unsure how to pinpoint the issue.
In one instance, the device indicates it’s connected, but I am unable to see any data in TTN. Therefore, I thought to ask these questions to gain a better understanding logically and identify where the issue might lie.
There is absolutely no point posting almost the exact same text - we can read the replies to other people just fine.
I’m struggling to imagine how you asked one of the FAQ in from such an unusual angle - unless you have changed your mind based on the observations being made to you - it would be appropriate to say so.
I’ll close this topic and let you start a new one - this time please detail the issue with information on the device(s), how close they are to the gateway, how they are setup on the console, if the join request is seen on the gateway console, if the join accept is seen on the device console.
When you post this information, please ensure that you have read the Learn section before hand and used the forum search to eliminate anything related to how LW works or the frequent issues that come up.