Dragino LPS8 Indoor LoRaWAN Gateway Antenna

Gateways Dragino Gateways
4

thank you @kersing, @Jeff-UK. I thought so, but it also could have been the wifi antenna. you never know…

Michael

5

There is an internal antenna: the WIFI-antenna. The antenna for LoRaWan is connected by the SMA-connector. I measured the small white external antenna with a VNA: it seems to be usable between 860MHz and 920MHz.

6

Hi I am also considoring purchasing a LPS8. Would you recommend it?
And if so: is there an external antenna you would advise?

7

The one it ships with is fine as if you get a ‘better’ higher gain antenna you will need to dial back the tx PWR to stay within regs… unless by external you mean one to be placed outdoors in harsher environment on a feeder cable…then the higher gain of new ant can be used to offset the cable and connector losses? My test LPS8 has run fine for 5-6 months with only occasional outages triggered by changes to/loss of WiFi connection ( I moved from wired to wireless enet after few weeks at test site). I’m told latest firmware corrects for poor recovery after WiFi loss, though haven’t had chance to test myself yet as unit is remote and am in lockdown/site not yet accessible even though close by :frowning: My impression is good value for money with flexible connection options so go for it and let us all know how you get on/your experience…

8

Thanks Jeff, I just ordered one and will evaluate the indoor antenna performance before I try out an outdoor one (indeed my question referred to mounting one externally).
Good observation that the higher gain would well offset the cable losses.
Once I get everything up and running I will post a report.

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A post was split to a new topic: Using the TTN Node-RED library

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Hey Lou,
Did you ever try out an external antenna?

I also have an LPS8 and am considering adding an additional antenna, I’d need to run about 5 metres of cable from where the LPS8 is located to get an antenna up on the roof on a ~2 metre elevation above the roof line. I’m at 260 metres, though in a very hilly area, but I think getting the antenna out of the building would help a little.

11

Hi Siftah,

actually I haven’t added an external antenna as the one it comes with seems to work fine.
It probably helps that it’s close to a window on the second floor.

Regards, Lou

12

I use the LPS8 with an external antenna on the roof. Getting the antenna out of the building will not only help a little bit, it can improve coverage significantly.
The gain of the antenna compensates the loss of the 10m cable.

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13

Depending on the type of cable used. Ten meters of RG58 will set you back almost 5dB where something like Aircell 7 will be less then half (2.3dB) and Ecoflex 15 below 1dB for the same length.

14

Ecoflex 15 with a SMA-plug looks really funny!

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Which cable did you use? I’d be interested in a recommendation :slight_smile:

I’ll only need about 3metres of coax as I have a box with power up on the roof to put the Dragino into, so cable losses shouldn’t be a problem.

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I use Aircell 5. If you need a recommendation: If you dont have the tools or the knowledge how to mount the plugs - buy a ready-made cable.
Many “antenna”-problems are caused by wrong mounted plugs or bending of the cable.

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Doh, I meant to ask which antenna, not which cable! :slight_smile:

18

My antenna is a Horizon 868-8V1 from Interline (Poland). Additionally I bought a ready-made Aircell 5 cable with SMA and N plugs.

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19

Thanks for sharing! I’d like to extend an LPS8 above a metal roof, but I’m in Canada on 915MHz frequency and it looks like Horizon only supply 868. Anybody have thoughts on a solution for 915MHz?

20

Hi LPS8 users!

I have a question for you. Do you have measured the coverage range of this gateway in an urban environment, either with the internal antenna and the external antenna?
I am looking for buying this gateway.

Thanks for your answers

21

imho the coverage of a gateway is independent from the gateway you use. It is much more important where you mount the antenna. In an urban environment the coverage with an internal antenna might be only a few 100m, with the antenna on the roof it can be several 10km. Additionally it is important where the node is and what antenna it uses.
Just install a gateway, mount a node in your car (with an external antenna), drive around and observe what’s going on using TTNmapper.

22

Thank you for your answer. So if I use an antenna like this one: https://www.robotshop.com/media/files/content/d/drt/pdf/lora---lorawan-glass-fiber-outdoor-antenna-915-mhz-datasheet.pdf
and I fix it on my roof I can expect to have a coverage of at least 5km? (I guess 10km is a maximum range…)

23

No you can’t. Or maybe you can. That depends on local circumstances and can not be predicted with any reasonable certainty.
If your antenna is at the bottom of a valley there is almost certainly no coverage in the next valley (even if just 4 km away). If you antenna is at the top of a hill coverage could even extend to nodes 50 km away if those are at the top of a hill as well (line of sight between the antennas).

In an urban environment line of sight is important, any buildings will deteriorate the signal, but RF noise is a significant factor as well. If I recall correctly for LoRaWAN within a city and an antenna outdoors the ‘official’ statement is max 3km, anything beyond that is bonus. With an indoor antenna it is 300m and more is also a bonus.