RAK Mesh Gateway: Downlink "TOO_EARLY" Error and Additional Channel Configuration Issues

LPWAN Industrial Gateways / Concentrators
1

Hey everyone,

I’m running a RAK mesh pair (border RAK7289cv2 + relay RAK7289v2) on ChirpStack v4.11 in IN865 and I’ve hit two blockers that are completely stalling my deployment:

Downlink “TOO_EARLY” Error

  • The border gateway receives and forwards downlinks from ChirpStack fine, but the relay throws this every time:

    Handle mesh event error: TX Ack error [Too Early]
Enqueuing timestamped packet, downlink_id: 4011012793, counter_us: 3744209009, current_counter_us: 3745816427
Too early to enqueue packet, downlink_id: 4011012793, counter_us: 3744209009, current_counter_us: 3745816427

  • Notably, only OTAA join accepts work for these downlinks—all other downlink attempts fail with the above error.

Extra IN865 Channels Ignored

  • I need 8 channels (3 standard + 5 extra) so my nodes can spread traffic, but the relay only ever logs packets on the 3 defaults.
  • I’ve edited both /etc/chirpstack-concentratord/sx1302/examples and /etc/chirpstack-gateway-mesh to include the extra channels and restarted everything—still nothing.

Setup Snapshot

  • Gateways ~5 m apart (testing), SF7, max‑hop 1, same 128‑bit sign key
  • Border: “Ignore Direct Uplinks” ON, GNSS & USB enabled, MQTT forwarder ON
  • Relay: Mesh forwarder only, GNSS & USB enabled

What I’m Looking For

  • How to get mesh gateways listening on non‑standard IN865 channels.
  • Any fixes or workarounds for the “TOO_EARLY” error.
  • Confirmation of any mesh‑specific channel or timing limitations.

thanks in advance for any pointers!

—
Abdul Arshad V S