I would like to send messages from one LoRa node to another loRa node through the gateway.
I have seen a number of posts requesting essentially the same thing, but no definitive answer. I understand the gateway was designed to send information from multiple nodes to the internet (and/or MQTT), but with the right software it seems it could send information to a selected node.
What I’m looking for here is to gauge how much interest there is in pursuing this generic software solution. Those with interest should respond to this post, and we can decide how to proceed from there.
Doing LoRa node to LoRa node communication that will pass thru LoRaWAN gateway and LNS is probably a unique use case.
It will result to an uplink from node 1 then a downlink going to node 2. If this will happen frequently, like many times a day, it is not an ideal use of the LoRaWAN network. But if few times a day, then probably will be ok.
LoRaWAN is designed primarily for uplinks (like sending sensor data) or not for too frequent downlink to nodes(end-devices).
This has been discussed frequently enough on the TTN forum that we can usually point the OP to a sequence of older discussions on how unsuitable the whole thing is due to the downlink issue.
@tgibbs99, are you aware that a gateway can’t hear ANY uplinks whilst it’s transmitting - so if another device wants to send any data, it won’t be heard. People then turn on uplink confirmations, which then makes the situation worse.
If you have two devices in range of a gateway then they can talk directly to each other …
For a small, private setup around a single gateway just run a local copy of chirpstack on the gateway’s computer along with a little custom code in Python or whatever to turn the mqtt uplinks into mqtt downlinks.
With a handful of nodes you won’t see much of the scaling problem that a large public network like TTN does.
For something for more serious, carefully define the problem and select or devise an air protocol and architecture which actually suits it.