What LoRa Gateways Are You Using?

Let’s discuss LoRa Gateways, ones you’ve used, ones you love, ones you hate.

I am loving the Laird Sentrius RG1xx LoRaWAN Gateway with Wifi/Ethernet and optional LTE (US only).

I’ve used the Wifi/Ethernet model at the recommendation of others and found it to be a great device with quality documentation. It was easy to setup and configure and I plug and play moved from one location/network to another and started working again on it’s own without needing to be reconfigured.

I’m excited about the LTE offering that just came out in April 2020 that will remove the need for a cellular modem as a middleman for the network.

In the past it has worked with an external antenna, the Sparkfun WRL-14868, to increase range capabilities.

Attempting a cheaper gateway option, I purchased a Gemtek LoRa Indoor Femto Gateway from a reseller (not the one linked). I have since heard from others that their Gemtek LoRa Indoor Femto Gateways have worked just fine so I will not comment on their quality here but I will say to make sure any equipment you purchase comes with full access provided.

The Gemtek gateway I purchased came from a retailer who puts their own firmware on the device and ties it to their proprietary system, in this case it was iotinabox. I was not given a provision code and it prevented me from accessing most of the gateway features and ultimately prevented me from integrating into BMON though I tried a number of different options that were preferred and recommended by iotinabox.

So, be sure you know what you’re getting before you buy. Anything that touts connecting to a proprietary system probably isn’t going to be very open with their information.