Determine which gateway is used by a given node

arjanvanb · January 4, 2018, 4:35pm

This post contains references to outdated APIs.

Please read the following for the new APIs: https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/t/new-api-for-gateway-mapping-status-and-info/49778

Get the gateway id(s) from the meta data, like from the MQTT JSON message or by expanding an item in the device’s Data page in TTN Console.

TTN Console example

MQTT example

{
   "app_id":"arjanvanb-app-1",
   "dev_id":"arjanvanb-bb-1",
   "hardware_serial":"70B3D5B020035CD1",
   "port":2,
   "counter":7165,
   "payload_raw":"CWUMqw0LDNM=",
   "metadata":{
      "time":"2017-04-27T10:07:27.207187339Z",
      "frequency":868.1,
      "modulation":"LORA",
      "data_rate":"SF7BW125",
      "coding_rate":"4/5",
      "gateways":[
         {
            "gtw_id":"eui-b827ebffff5fe05c",
            "timestamp":532315708,
            "time":"",
            "channel":0,
            "rssi":-57,
            "snr":9,
            "latitude":52.37447,
            "longitude":4.63576
         },
         {
            "gtw_id":"eui-5ccf7ff42f1970ec",
            "timestamp":1284851361,
            "time":"2017-04-27T10:07:26.494026Z",
            "channel":0,
            "rssi":-49,
            "snr":9,
            "rf_chain":1,
            "latitude":52.374523,
            "longitude":4.635771,
            "altitude":4
         }
      ]
   }
}

Simply find the matching id in the popups of nearby gateways on your local community’s map. This also gives you a link to the owner, if the gateway’s privacy settings allow for that:

Note that the community maps show the owner and the id, labeled “Name”. But the global map unfortunately no longer shows ids nor owners. Instead, it shows the description, again labeled “Name”:
Or, use that id in a TTN Mapper URL. If it starts with eui- such as eui-0000024b080606d8 then remove that prefix and uppercase the rest:

https://ttnmapper.org/colour-radar/?type=radar&hideothers=on&gateway=0000024B080606D8

Beware that if TTN Mapper does not know the gateway, you’ll see the same map as last time you visited the site. You might want to open the URL in a new private/incognito window.
Or, get the specific gateway from, e.g.:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/gateway/eui-0000024b080606d8

…or get all from:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/ (aside: earlier, this did not need the trailing slash)

…and search the id (or description, when you want to find the owner using the “Name” in the popup of a gateway on the global map):
```
"eui-0000024b080606d8": {
  "id": "eui-0000024b080606d8",
  "description": "City of Haarlem, Publiekshal",
  "owner": "haarlem",
  "owners": [
     "haarlem"
  ],
  "location": {
     "latitude": 52.3816697,
     "longitude": 4.62976785,
     "altitude": 18
  },
  "country_code": "nl",
  "attributes": {
     "brand": "Kerlink",
     "model": "IoT Station",
     "placement": "outdoor"
  },
  "last_seen": "2018-03-09T07:30:28Z"
}
```
If this happens to have public contact details, use the value of "owner" in a TTN URL:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/u/haarlem
https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/u/arjanvanb

Sometimes, the same username is used on the forum:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/forum/u/arjanvanb

Similarly, one could use the id in a NOC URL, yielding slightly different details (beware, this is an HTTP URL; right-clicking and some “open in new incognito window” might help if your browser tries HTTPS instead):

http://noc.thethingsnetwork.org:8085/api/v2/gateways/eui-0000024b080606d8

{
   "timestamp": "2018-01-04T17:21:28.496247185Z",
   "uplink": "46859",
   "downlink": "1028",
   "location": {
      "latitude": 52.3817,
      "longitude": 4.6298175,
      "altitude": 21
   },
   "gps": {
      "latitude": 52.3817,
      "longitude": 4.6298175,
      "altitude": 21
   },
   "time": "1515086488496247185",
   "rx_ok": 46859,
   "tx_in": 1028
}

Likewise, use the Account Server API, showing different details but still including the owner:

https://account.thethingsnetwork.org/gateways/eui-0000024b080606d8

{
  "id": "eui-0000024b080606d8",
  "frequency_plan": "EU_863_870",
  "public_rights": [
    "gateway:location",
    "gateway:owner",
    "gateway:status"
  ],
  "frequency_plan_url": "https://account.thethingsnetwork.org/api/v2/frequency-plans/EU_863_870",
  "location_public": true,
  "status_public": true,
  "owner_public": true,
  "attributes": {
    "model": "IoT Station",
    "brand": "Kerlink",
    "description": "City of Haarlem, Publiekshal",
    "placement": "outdoor"
  },
  "router": {
    "id": "ttn-router-eu",
    "address": "eu.thethings.network:1901",
    "mqtt_address": "mqtts://bridge.eu.thethings.network:8882"
  },
  "fallback_routers": [
    {
      "id": "ttn-router-asia-se",
      "address": "asia-se.thethings.network:1901",
      "mqtt_address": "mqtts://bridge.asia-se.thethings.network"
    },
    {
      "id": "ttn-router-us-west",
      "address": "us-west.thethings.network:1901",
      "mqtt_address": "mqtts://bridge.us-west.thethings.network"
    },
    {
      "id": "ttn-router-brazil",
      "address": "brazil.thethings.network:1901",
      "mqtt_address": "mqtts://bridge.brazil.thethings.network"
    }
  ],
  "antenna_location": {
    "altitude": 18,
    "latitude": 52.3816697,
    "longitude": 4.62976785
  },
  "location": {
    "lng": 4.62976785,
    "lat": 52.3816697,
    "longitude": 4.62976785,
    "latitude": 52.3816697
  },
  "altitude": 18,
  "owner": {
    "id": "59c93464a0134c0031de5f32",
    "username": "haarlem"
  }
}

Likewise, use the ttnctl command line interface:
```
ttnctl gateways info eui-0000024b080606d8

      Gateway ID: eui-0000024b080606d8
  Frequency Plan: EU_863_870
          Router: ttn-router-eu
     Auto Update: on
           Owner: haarlem
    Owner Public: yes
        Location: (52.381670, 4.629768, 18)
 Location Public: yes
   Status Public: yes

           Brand: Kerlink
           Model: IoT Station
       Placement: outdoor
     Description: City of Haarlem, Publiekshal
```
Using the undocumented status in ttnctl gateways status eui-0000024b080606d8 yields some recent status information (and coordinates; see below), but no contact details like with info.

For Meshed-connected gateways:

Meshed-handler

Running ttnctl gateways info might show the incorrect band plan for your gateway. Don’t worry about this, it is incorrect. It’s because ttnctl doesn’t support the new V3 gateway offloader completely.
To get all gateways around some location:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/location?latitude=52.3816697&longitude=4.62976785&distance=1000
To get all gateways in some country:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/country/nl
To get all gateways of a specific user:

https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/user/laurens
You can paste the coordinates into Google Maps:

https://www.google.nl/maps/search/52.3817,4.6298175

Beware:

The http://noc.thethingsnetwork.org:8085 endpoint is known to be unreliable.
The endpoints starting with https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/gateway-data/ might not be officially supported APIs. As for validity/caching of that specific endpoint, @htdvisser wrote on Slack:

2020-07-01 9:40 AM
It updates live information from the NOC every minute. If the NOC is down, it serves old data for 6 hours
The coordinates in an uplink’s metadata may be different from what is reported using the methods above. Presumably that is caused by a gateway including GPS/GNSS coordinates, or fake GPS/GNSS coordinates (which it should not do) in its messages. It seems ttnctl gateways status uses the coordinates from the last uplink’s metadata, while ttnctl gateways info reports whatever is configured in TTN Console.