Join request accepted by TTS but times out on Wisblock

WisBlock
1

Hi,

I have been unable to get either of my wisblocks to successfully join OTAA.
I am able to see the Accept join-request events on the TTS live data stream, but my wisblock’s never receive a response and the request times out: <RADIO> RadioIrqProcess => IRQ_RX_TX_TIMEOUT.

I’ve tried following the advice from similar threads like this and this but haven’t gotten anywhere.

I have a Wisblock starter kit (and no gateway) and am running the LoRaWAN_OTAA_ABP.ino example.
I’ve set:

LoRaMacRegion_t g_CurrentRegion = LORAMAC_REGION_AU915;
...
uint8_t nodeDeviceEUI[8] = {redacted};
uint8_t nodeAppEUI[8] = {0xB8, 0x27, 0xEB, 0xFF, 0xFE, 0x39, 0x00, 0x00};
uint8_t nodeAppKey[16] = {redacted};

and I’ve set up a TTS end device with Network Server: au1.cloud.thethings.network

This is the logging output I get:

=====================================
Welcome to RAK4630 LoRaWan!!!
Type: OTAA
Region: AU915
=====================================
<LMH> OTAA
DevEui=...redacted...
DevAdd=00000000
AppEui=B8-27-EB-FF-FE-39-00-00
AppKey=...redacted...
<LMH> Selected subband 2
<LM> OnRadioTxDone
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => RX Windows #1 4991 #2 6002
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => TX was Join Request
<RADIO> RadioIrqProcess => IRQ_RX_TX_TIMEOUT
<LM> OnRadioRxTimeout
<LM> Join network failed 1 time(s)

<LM> OnRadioTxDone
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => RX Windows #1 4991 #2 6002
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => TX was Join Request
<RADIO> RadioIrqProcess => IRQ_RX_TX_TIMEOUT
<LM> OnRadioRxTimeout
<LM> Join network failed 2 time(s)

<LM> OnRadioTxDone
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => RX Windows #1 4991 #2 6002
<LM> OnRadioTxDone => TX was Join Request
<RADIO> RadioIrqProcess => IRQ_RX_TX_TIMEOUT
<LM> OnRadioRxTimeout
<LM> Join network failed 3 time(s)

<LM> LoRaMacState = idle
OTAA join failed!
Check your EUI's and Keys's!
Check if a Gateway is in range!

Please help, I’m new to this and have no idea :frowning_face:

2

Welcome to RAK forum @kalinaknight :slight_smile:

When you say no gateway, are you using someone else’s gateway in your location?

3

Hi Carl,
I’m hoping to use the community network in Sydney - I am covered by at least one gateway.
Also as I said, I’m seeing the Accept join-request events on TTS whenever the device is sending out a join request, so I’m pretty sure the gateway can reach me.

4

I see. Can you confirm what version of the RAK4631 BSP is installed in your Arduino IDE as well as the LoRa sx126x library?

Can you share the verbose output of the Join Request in TTS?

I will setup a gateway here for AU915 and see what I can find.

5

Sorry I’m not sure how to find the BSP, I’m using PlatformIO in VSCode and grabbed the most recent version of the wiscore_rak4631.json from here? Let me know how to find it.
Otherwise using SX126x-Arduino library version 2.0.1.
And is this the verbose output of TTS (?):

{
  "name": "js.join.accept",
  "time": "2021-06-30T05:00:50.337899542Z",
  "identifiers": [
    {
      "device_ids": {
        "device_id": "test-device-1",
        "application_ids": {
          "application_id": "mini-solar-unsw"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "device_ids": {
        "device_id": "test-device-1",
        "application_ids": {
          "application_id": "mini-solar-unsw"
        },
        "dev_eui": ...redacted...,
        "join_eui": "B827EBFFFE390000",
        "dev_addr": "260D8B56"
      }
    }
  ],
  "correlation_ids": [
    "rpc:/ttn.lorawan.v3.NsJs/HandleJoin:01F9DMN38RD0SC27B7MNK733NC"
  ],
  "origin": "ip-10-102-15-81.ap-southeast-2.compute.internal",
  "context": {
    "tenant-id": "CgN0dG4="
  },
  "visibility": {
    "rights": [
      "RIGHT_APPLICATION_TRAFFIC_READ",
      "RIGHT_APPLICATION_TRAFFIC_READ"
    ]
  },
  "unique_id": "01F9DMN3918E9KE5HKCER69KCV"
}
6

You hope, this is a recurring theme for TTN gateways - there are so many factors that unless you are standing outside the location, there are so many variables that anything could be going on with coverage.

There are two parts to this - the device sends a Join Request and the network server will send a Join Accept to the most appropriate gateway. But the gateway (usually) has a well placed larger antenna that can hear much more than the devices with much smaller antennas that may well be positioned in a less than optimal position and therefore may not hear the Join Accept.

On the TTN forum we have only one solution for those developing devices - get yourself a gateway, then you can see what is going on with the gateway console and you will have good signal strength.

Or get closer to the gateway. There’s nothing like being parked up outside a residential property with lots of radio kit on the passenger seat …

… but seriously, the owners ID should be on the map, drop them a message and ask them if they can help you get started.

7

I agree with @nmcc
If I remember correct, I had a similar case, as well on AU915. The case was solved by using a dedicated gateway during testing.

For gateways, you can choose one of our developer gateways which start at 99 US$, but my personal favorite is the RAK7268 because it is really easy to setup and for testing purposes it has a LoRaWAN server integrated. Connection to TTN is of course possible as well.

8

Thank you @beegee & @nmcc, we originally ordered a gateway a few weeks ago but with the shortages that order is taking a while so we grabbed a starter kit locally in the meantime.
I have reached out to the gateway owner for more info and will try to get closer and update how I go.

9

Hi @kalinaknight ,

It took me a while to setup my AU915 TTS gateway. I tested my WisBlock RAK4631 configured at AU915 and got no issue.

It is best to have your own gateway as suggested by @beegee and @nmcc .

Or if you know the owner of the TTS gateway near you, you can probably ask him to add you as a collaborator on the gateway so you can view the traffic and see the configuration.

The frequency plan on the network layer section is very important. If he set that differently than yours, you’ll never connect to it.

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