RAK7258 Limited Range in Tests

LPWAN Industrial Gateways / Concentrators RAK7258
1

Issue:
I have the RAK7258 gateway and the Antratek Industrial tracker TNIT100 as a node. The issue is that the maximum LOS range gotten when testing is about 180m with the parameters (Rx:-99dBm,SNR:3) and without LOS, the range is shortened to about 70m with (RX:-101dBm,SNR:3.8) They both transmit with SF7 and BW125kHz. I have conducted multiple tests, enabled ADR even though the gateway is acting like a packet fowarder, increased gateway elevation, and directed the antenna where the tracker will be. I still cannot get more than 180m in range nor can i make it to transmit with higher spreading factors to increase the range.
I know the problem is not with the tracker because a public TTN gateway about 4km away recieved a packet from it and even though it probably has a higher gain antenna and overall functionality better than my 7248 gateway, the range difference is so much between both. I have read other theads about replacing the default antenna on the 7258 with a higher gain one but i am saving this as a last resort because of costs. So, i would appreciate any information at all that would enable me to have better communication ranges.

Setup: Gateway is setup on a tower and apartment balcony on a mountain with a full view of the city below so very few high rise buildings.

LoRa® Server: TTN v3

Details: It would be nice to even get the 2km promised on the 7248 gateway purchasing site.

2

SF7 is the shortest range mode, so whatever else use increasingly higher SF’s for more range (granted at limitations of packet size vs airtime)

3

Is there a solution that will increase the SF because the ADR currently does not do this ?

4

Increasing the SF is mostly a node behavior, not a server one, because it would typically be needed in situations where there was no response from the network.

Granted, ideally an ADR implementation “just barely” getting through should command an increase in SF from the server side.