Packet loss issue with increased range

End Devices (Nodes) Hardware
21

Sorry, I didnt understand it. Can you please elaborate what you mean by this?

22

Where in the World are you, it might not be legal for you to increase the power ?

23

I thought of adjusting within the allowed limit? Are the libraries already configured to use the maximum allowed limit? Iā€™m in India.

24

Hi - If you open the water meter - How does the antenna show up? I.E horizontal / vertical?
If the anteanna is pointing towards the gateway you may be in its black spot. Antennas tend to transmit around the antenna

25

Libraries are normally set for 25mW, the limit in a lot of places. The library however does not know where in the World it is when used, so you would need to check the limits for your part of the World.

Increasing power limits to overcome ā€˜range issuesā€™ is not the normal case.

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26

thanks for the clarification. My antenna is vertical i.e perpendicular to earth. so it isnā€™t pointing to gateway.

29

Previously i have posted an issue with my nodes not transmitting to my Multitech outdoor gateway at 3km range. some of you here in the forum mentioned that 3km is not a big range for an outdoor gateway even if it is amidst trees. i have also read elsewhere that this range is quite achievable. since we are not getting good signal at this range i want to share the google map of my end node and gateway in the below link

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/11.9908293,79.8162767/Kinisi,+Auroville,+Mattur,+Tamil+Nadu/@12.0033469,79.8027468,4052m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x3a53668b7f90abcd:0x1e50b422445ded9d!2m2!1d79.8100142!2d12.0161646!3e3

and get your views under the following conditions:

  1. Gateway is present in the location called Kinisi in the above map.
  2. Node is marked by latitude and longitude as in the ā€œfrom locationā€ of the map.
  3. Gateway is present at 20 meters above ground level.
  4. Node is surrounded by lots of trees and it is placed at 2 meters above ground level.
  5. There are lots of trees between the node and gateway as seen in the google map satellite picture.

Given this above conditions do you think of any experiments that i can make to improve the signal strength.
Additionally i want to mention a peculiar building half way between node and the gateway. iā€™m not sure if this is of any reason to worry about but just mentioning incase.
This building is called Matirmandir, a meditation chamber in the shape of a globe standing at 25 meters height with several gold platted discs covering its entire outer surface.you can see the picture of matirmandir and some general informations here:

https://www.auroville.org/contents/678
and technical details of the discs here: https://www.auroville.org/contents/685

Incidentally the RSSI value near matirmandir which is 700m from the gateway is mere -120db.

Thanks for your inputs

30

In front or in the back? if in front, I think there is something wrong in the hardware of the node or of the gateway. Do you have a second node for testing?

31

@ Shankardevy

I combined your related same questions with this previous topic.
Did you try increasing the nodeā€™s antenna hight, or use directional or better antennaā€™s ?

32

@BoRRoZ thanks for merging. I created a new topic because the previous one was closed.

I havent purchased a directional antenna yet. In the process of getting one. But I did try the node at various locations and as I mentioned, at 700m, I am already getting RSSI -120. However, at a slightly different direction, I get RSSI -115 at 3.7kms.

In front. I tested with multiple Catena 4450 boards and also DIY node with Arduino Uno. All giving similar poor results.

On the gateway side, I am using https://www.multitech.com/brands/multiconnect-conduit-ip67 powered over ethernet. Iā€™m using Laird omnidirectional outdoor antenna and using antenna gain of 3. I tried increasing the value to 5 but it gives poor results compared to 3.

I couldnā€™t find the tech specs of this antenna on multitech site but looks like this is it: https://halberdbastion.com/sites/default/files/2018-08/Laird-OF86315-DATASHEET-2017.pdf

How can I debug if this is an issue at Gateway end?

Thanks

33

itā€™s getting a long story - iā€™ll be watching this closely :wink:

please answer UdLoRaā€™s question ā€™ Do you have a second node for testing?

34

I tested with 5 different Catena 4450 boards and also with one DIY node with Arduino Uno. All giving similar poor results.

35

well, then you apparently tried everything I guess, from increasing nodeā€™s antenna heigt to checking the cables to checking the gateway.

maybe the conclusion is ā€™ LoRaWAN is not the right platform for your use case.

36

If you mean setting this in the configuration files, putting 5 as antenna gain could decrease power output to avoid breaking the law, so it is not a way. Since you have some node, what RSSI you have at, say, 30m from the gateway?

37

So in around and through trees, your receiving at 3.7kms ?

38

This is slightly in a different direction, where the trees are not as dense as my other location.

@UdLoRa
Iā€™m getting about RSSI value -65+ to -90 at 30m from the gateway. It keeps fluctuating between this range even if I dont move my node.

39

Maybe, but 3.7km with trees in the way does not sound too far from what would be expected.

40

Having analysed the equivalent of 3 years of data from a node, Iā€™m experiencing a variation of 10dB maximum. Nothing like the 25dB range you are seeing. Some nodes were running at RSSI or -60dBm while others are all the way down to -120dBm. All experienced around 10dB maximum variation.

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