Does RAK7289 Support LoRa Mesh? Comparing Star vs. Mesh Topology for RAK3172 End Nodes

LPWAN Industrial Gateways / Concentrators
1

Hi RAK community,

I’m currently working on a project using the RAK7289 as a gateway and RAK3172 modules as end nodes. I’ve successfully set up a star topology where all RAK3172 devices communicate directly with the gateway, which then forwards data to the server/dashboard.

However, I’ve come across studies suggesting that LoRaMesh could offer advantages over the traditional star topology in certain scenarios. My questions are:

  1. Does the RAK7289 officially support LoRaMesh? I couldn’t find any mention of mesh capabilities in the datasheet.
  2. Is there a practical reason why LoRaMesh isn’t widely adopted? Are there limitations (e.g., no official firmware, reliability concerns, or performance trade-offs) that make star topology the default choice to be added in the product RakWireless?
  3. Has anyone successfully implemented a mesh network with RAK3172 or similar RAK devices? If so, what were the key challenges or benefits?

I’d appreciate any insights or references to documentation/experiences with LoRaMesh in RAK’s ecosystem. Thanks!

2

Hello,

The RAK7289 does not support LoRaMesh for end-device communication.

What RAK offers is LoRaWAN Gateway Mesh, which allows multiple gateways to form a backhaul mesh network.

LoRaMesh is a non-standard protocol based on raw LoRa PHY and is not compatible with LoRaWAN networks or servers like ChirpStack or TTN.

The reason it’s not widely adopted is that LoRaWAN was designed for hierarchical networks. Mesh introduces high latency, power drain, and synchronization complexity, making it impractical for most IoT use cases.

Hope that clarifies the difference.