LoRaWAN is similar to a cellular network, our suggested provider is The Things Network, a community-driven initiative with a large amount of public gateways to connect to (check out the map of publicly listed gateways here).
We're going to build a gateway (highlighted in red in the diagram below) to pass data from your LoRaWAN device to the internet.
What is a LoRaWAN Gateway?
If have a Pi (or Feather) LoRaWAN device set up, you'll likely want to immediately start working with LoRaWAN. Our suggested network is The Things Network, a community-driven initiative with a large amount of public gateways to connect to (check out the map of publicly listed gateways here).
Gateways form a bridge a LoRaWAN device and the Network, receiving the device's data and forwarding them an application.
If you don't have a gateway near you, it's possible you could face a dead-end. While multi-channel gateways exist (we stock the official The Things Gateway), they're often expensive - placing a cost barrier on entering the network (as a hobbyist/hacker/experimenter).
Single channel gateways (like the one we'll be building) are a LoRa device which forwards data to a network. They're great for getting into LoRaWAN without purchasing a more expensive "full gateway" (like The Things Network Gateway we stock).
However...
Single-channel gateways are not LoRaWAN compliant and are not currently supported by The Things Network (due to poor coverage, among other reasons). For more information about the debate about single channel gateways, check out The Things Network forum.
The LoRa Radio Bonnet is recommended for this guide - you not only get a radio module, but also a 128x32 OLED display for status messages and three buttons you can use for creating a custom user interface or sending test messages.
There's also a 433MHz version which uses the amateur or license-free ISM band (ITU "Europe" license-free ISM or ITU "American" amateur with limitations).
For a less-permanent gateway build, you can build a gateway using a RFM95W LoRa radio breakout and an OLED display, along with a few buttons.
There's also a 433MHz version which uses the amateur or license-free ISM band (ITU "Europe" license-free ISM or ITU "American" amateur with limitations).
You'll also want to pick up the following parts from the Adafruit Shop if you do not have them already:
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