Unexpectedly High Current Consumption on RAK3172 When Set to AU915 Compared to KR920

LPWAN Modules / EVBs
1

I’m testing several RAK3172 modules and noticed a large difference in current consumption during LoRaWAN JOIN depending on the regional band setting.

  • KR920-923 (Band 7): ~50–60 mA during JOIN
  • AU915-928 (Band 6): ~120–150 mA during JOIN (almost double)

Other settings are identical:

  • TX power: 7
  • DR: 0
  • Channel: N/A
  • ADR: off
  • LPM: off
  • LPMLVL: stop 1

All modules show the same behavior.

Questions:

  1. Is there anything I might be configuring incorrectly?
  2. If not, is it normal for AU915 to draw significantly more current during JOIN than KR920?
2

Welcome to the forum @Ch.Yoon

TX power 7 has different meaning, depending on the LoRaWAN region.

AU915 definition says TX 0 = 30 dBm (but the module can only support 22dBm)
TX 7 means 30 - (2 x TXP) == 16 dBm

KR920 definistion says TX 0 = 16 dBm
TX 7 means 0 dBm

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These definitions are from the LoRa Allianceⓒ document LoRaWAN® Regional Parameters RP002-1.0.4