english is my 3rd language so I just type what my best I could tell.
I’m using RAK3172 and RAK4631 non RUI with RAK7289v2 as a gateway with AS923-2 for a lorawan region. For information, the gateway now is installed in this tall building. For your information, the gateway is connected to the internet via teltonika due to imei issues. teltonika uses the SIM card internet network so it is true that there is an unstable connection issue.
But the problem is this. Previously, the gateway was installed on the roof of the office during development, our office is not like a tall building and everything went smoothly using OTAA, tested up to a distance of 1Km and it still worked well, but due to topographical problems because we are in a valley, we moved the gateway to the middle of the city.
When installed in the building in the middle of the city, RAK4631 and RAK3172 could not connect via OTAA. However, the field tester RAK10701-P successfully performed the join procedure and transmitted with a certain time interval.
The antenna used is the same between the field tester, RAK4631, and RAK3172 using a 902-928MHz Blade antenna with a max gain of 2.3dBi. The code right now is lora only. Because of this problem, I’m removing all sensors connected with I2c or UART so working in Lora Only transmitting example string like “hello”. TX power level is 7, with DR_5. But still facing the same problem.
Is there a particular error or difference here between the RAK4631, RAK3172, and the gateway?
All devices are using the same LoRa transceiver, so there is no difference in the hardware itself.
You say “The code right now is lora only”.
If you use LoRa P2P (“lora only”), it cannot communicate with a LoRaWAN gateway. Only devices that are using LoRaWAN and are setup in the LoRaWAN server can connect.
thank you and pardon, my mistake. Actually lora only by any mean is that it is just lorawan communication only. I have developed other features like BLE and GPS but just in case that both are the ones responsible for noise increase or any, I disabled them. So it is just lorawan only, and I’m using from the code example too.
I just found out that in here, it cannot passed some huge building for transmitting, or even join, based from the field tester. But at locations such as exactly 45m below the gateway (45m is the height of the building) at a location where it can see the entire gateway, it still cannot connect.
Is this a problem with the radiation pattern of the antenna end devices or the gateway? Is the placement of the gateway too high? But in any location where we can see the gateway even if it is only blocked by 1 or 2 buildings or trees, the field tester can perform the join procedure and perform and the end devices cannot. And last question is that, is it safe for the gateway to operate at a maximum temperature here of 36 degrees Celsius with an altitude of 77m? thanks in advance
(2) Temperatures of 36 deg C is no problem. I have some outdoor devices in enclosures that are directly exposed to tropical sun and have internal temperature sensors. I am getting 45 deg C and higher during the day.
(3) How are you testing the RAK3172 and RAK4631? Are they in an enclosure? How are the antennas mounted?
(4) Usually the higher you place a Gateway antenna, the better is the range, but if you are directly below the antenna, you might be in an area with bad reception.
But as you said, you can connect with the Field Tester in these areas, I would first increase the TX power and check the antenna connection and orientation on your test devices. Maybe try to change the test device antenna to be oriented horizontal instead of vertical.
Thank you for your answer. To answer how to test it. I mounted the end device on some glass fiber green PCB with the antenna port extended with RP-SMA female, because it will be placed in a case. and the female spout is mounted outside the case so that the antenna is openly mounted outside the case.
For troubleshooting, We are planning that there will be another test on Monday, and with the tx data above, we will retest the transmission test. I will declare the solution after testing. Thanks
Thank you. Since we found a new issues, we will do it in another forum title. It is true that the TX Power on the lorawan is reversed. There is an issue with the EIRP settings in our region, based on some project reports. We will check first and report on the forum later for the next question.
