868 MHzLoRaWAN
Kilometres of range, years on a battery.
LoRaWAN sends small packets of data over kilometres, at such low power that a sensor runs for years. The price is speed - which is exactly why it is for measurements, not conversations.
In short
LoRa, LoRaWAN and the gateways
LoRa is the modulation - spread spectrum with "chirps" that can be received even below the noise floor. LoRaWAN is the network protocol on top: devices transmit to gateways, and gateways to a network server. In Europe it runs in the licence-free 868 MHz band.
Range is 2-5 km in a city and over 15 km in open country - depending on terrain and antennas. The rate is between 0.25 and about 50 kbit/s, and airtime is limited, so packets are a few to a few dozen bytes.
The network can be yours - your own gateway and server - or public, such as The Things Network or an operator network. The device stays the same; only where the data goes changes.
When
When LoRaWAN is the right choice
Choose LoRaWAN when
- Sensors are far from each other or from a network
- The battery has to last for years
- The data is small - a reading every few minutes or hours
- There is no Wi-Fi and you want no SIM in every sensor
It's not for you if
- You need real-time commands - airtime is limited
- The data is large or continuous
- Everything is in one room - Bluetooth LE is simpler
| Technology | Range | Rate | Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| LoRaWAN | 2-15 km | 0.25-50 kbit/s | Battery for years |
| NB-IoT / LTE-M | The mobile network | tens of kbit/s to 1 Mbit/s | Battery, SIM card |
| Wi-Fi | 30-50 m indoors | tens of Mbit/s | Usually mains |
| Bluetooth LE | 10-100 m | 1-2 Mbit/s | Battery for years |
What we build
Devices with LoRaWAN
Examples of devices we design - not a client list.
01
Building monitoring
Temperature, humidity, CO₂ and counters across many rooms - with no cables and no Wi-Fi passwords.
02
Farming and environment
Soil moisture, water level, weather stations - kilometres from the nearest socket.
03
Cities
Parking occupancy, bin fill levels and the state of street lighting.
04
Metering
The pulse outputs of water and electricity meters, read and sent once an hour.
Parts
Radios and modules
The antenna and where it sits matter as much as the chip. We test range on site, not only in the lab.
- Semtech SX126x
- LoRa radio
- STM32WL
- A microcontroller with a built-in LoRa radio
- Certified LoRaWAN modules
- For a faster launch
Questions about LoRaWAN
Do I need my own gateway?
Not necessarily. If there is public coverage, such as The Things Network or an operator network, devices can use it. Your own gateway gives full control and coverage exactly where you need it.
How often can a sensor transmit?
European rules limit airtime, and networks often have limits of their own. In practice: a packet every few minutes, not every second.
Can commands be sent to the device?
Yes, but the device receives them after its own transmission. For things that must happen immediately, LoRaWAN is not the right choice.
Where does the data go?
To a network server, and from there to your system over MQTT or HTTP. The apps around it are built by our software partner CulSoft.