At the end of January a LoRaWAN gateway was setup at the top of Water Tower - one of the highest located sites in Bydgoszcz.
Water Tower was erected in 1900. Currently it is part of the Museum of Waterworks. Inside the building you can see a huge water tank with capacity of 1260 m³, as well as old wooden pipes, water meters, equipment from old bathrooms, etc. The great attraction is an observation deck offering panoramic view of the city but entering upstairs can be quite a feat.
The gateway has been installed just above the observation deck at a height of 40 m. It was put inside the building because nobody wants to disfigure the tower’s facade. Despite of this, the range is impressive due to the fact that Water Tower stands on the hill. Actually the gateway covers the central part of the city but some distant places are also in range.
The gateway was funded by our partner - NMG S.A. company. It is Kerlink Wirnet Station with 3G backhaul. The gateway is reliable but like almost any network device has to be configured properly. Especially security recommendations are very important. In case of 3G backhaul connection unexpected IP traffic can significantly increase data consumption and can result in quota being exceeded.
This is our third LoRaWAN gateway operating within TTN in Bydgoszcz. We are looking for other attractive locations for next gateways.
