Does anyone know anything about capacity differences between high-end “carrier grade” gateways and DIY stuff? Have worked a lot with Wi-Fi and built own APs, and with that technology the difference in feature set between a $500 AP and something you build yourself is massive. Tesla vs bicycle. Same goes for scalability. Wonder if someone has any insight in how low-cost and DIY LoRa GW’s scale compared to high-end and more expensive gear? LoRa(WAN) feels like a quite simple implementation, so are there any differences in features, sensitivity, multi-frequency reception etc. that could justify a higher price tag?
This one fit into a waterproof enclosure with 4mm screw aligned to enclosure, just put in it, 2 screw and it’s done.
got some PCB of V1.1 mounted for those interested
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This doesn’t directly answer your question, it is more a ‘what do the more expensive outdoor Ingress Protected Gateways provide apart from IP?’ answer.
I was looking at a gateway for a construction site scenario and apart from the IP67 casing a $1200 gateway excluding shipping adds features like 4G backhaul and GNSS support, neither of which I needed, plus an accessory kit including lightning arrestor, LoRa and cellular antennas, mounting bracket kit, PoE injector etc. which does push the price up.
So I would approach it from this angle: what capacity do I need? How many gateways will cover my area? Do the deployment conditions warrant higher IP? Are the additional features/hardware necessary? How much DIY time do you have? Does it need to be placed externally (line of sight and building/glass material constraints)?
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Thanks a lot. I have time to build an own gateway but don’t really see the point as I’m looking at large scale deployments for customers. I want the GPS position of the gateway, possibly 4G backhaul (although it’s often MSO companies that are asking for the solution so they have the fiber points), PoE (can get that on the Pie as well, but I don’t think the Pie can manage the temp specs without a built-in heater) and I definitely want a gateway with the highest possible capacity in terms of # of supported devices. So those are the parameters I will look for in the specs when comparing prices.
Most gateways use just one radio board for LoRaWAN limiting the gateway to 8 channels. I’ve seen gateways with 16 channels listed (second radio board), however if the 8 additional channels make sense depends on you location and the channels supported in that region. There might be slight differences in the design resulting in sensitivity, but the differences will be small. Capacity of all 8 channel gateways is the same.
Differences for carrier grade gateways are: IP rating of housing, temperature range the gateway can be subjected too, features like GPS with time stamping capabilities for location services (see other forum threads on the usefulness of this feature, do not start a discussion here!), management features in the embedded OS (keep in mind sometimes carrier grade means less features 
) Support for 4G/LTE.
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Mind you that ‘carrier grade gateways’ will easily set you back multiple thousands dollars. We’re talking Cisco hardware here. I wouldn’t really call the €1.200 gateways ‘carrier grade’, they are just regular commercial grade gateways with added functionality like PoE or integrated LTE modem.
Specs wise, all gateways, or at least the radio boards, follow the Semtech spec and use the same Semtech provided silicon. Some gateways use multiple radio boards (Mtech, Cisco) providing additional capacity, but like @kersing says that isn’t particularly useful in most cases.
A DIY gateway will therefore offer as good as the same RF performance of a carrier grade gateway. Those last ones will however offer extended temperature range, ingress protection, service life guaranty, surge protection (both on RF side as PSU side) etc.
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I have not done any extensive testing yet. I do have it working with the Microchip motes. I have some Laird and Multitech development boards as well but have not had a chance to test those yet.
Hi,
Where should I go and meet detailed multi channel GW description or sample (as reference or promoted) projects?
Actually I’ve gathered the RN2486 (Microchip) and RFM95PW (HopeRF) modules and several RF Lora compatible modules based on SX12xx reference.
Is there a good place or DIY guide, what components, settings or workarounds are crucial to build own DIY multi channel Gateway?
What we have to use as hardware solution and what part we able to substitute as software part on separated MCU or Micro Computer solution?
Have a look at this example -
https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/labs/story/how-to-build-your-own-lorawan-gateway
start with ’ search ’
Absolutely right,
the search is crucial, but most of DIY GW what I’ve seen so far as 1-Channel solution.
The mentioned sample use ready -made part then connect it to mC as RPI.
As I understand the idea of multi channel GW support isn’t so simple for software or DIY hardware implementation, isn’t ?
absolutely… first problem is the availability of the semtech chip set, for a long time you couldn’t buy these SX1301 / sx1257 and you couldn’t publish about these chips without their lawyers getting agressive 
now you can find them if you look good… but then ?
it’s not ‘arduino’ plug and play stuff, in fact I haven’t seen a DIY working single board multichannel GW , off course the RAK / RPI or ic880A / RPI are proven DIY gateways with lots of community support.
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@BoRRoZ, thanks a lot
This is what I meant and partially I’ve suspected.
The web search of “SX1301” is not effective, because to much links tells on it or shows ready to use modules - that’s the one
The “far east source” seems interesting, but not this time 
For me, DIY doesn’t mean an Arduino (or other MC, MCU) shield, I’m not afraid to solder…
It looks like I have to play with 1-channel GW projects and wait for good news in SX1301 topic as we all
@SmartEaling WRT Multitech Pricing - TTN NYC recently heard from from a Multitech representative - their next gateway is priced at $300. Also, I see a prior version of the gateway (both US and Euro versions) available at Symmetry for $180. http://www.semiconductorstore.com/cart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=71556
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That is only the LoRa mCard for conduit, you need a conduit as well. BTW, you’re linking to the new SPI based card, not the older USB interface based card so hardly a prior version…
BTW, the new gateway is available at Symmetry as well. Keep in mind it has an internal antenna and no connector to attach an external one.
Thanks both.
Hi. We’ve not tested yet, but I also believe the TekTelic outdoor gateway is going to be a cost effective gateway solution for your requirements.
seems that they are not for sale at this moment
My experience is that TekTelic have received a lot of enquiries for their solutions and are playing ‘catch-up’ on the orders.
If you contact them directly, the team can give you an update and costs.
I’ve seen some informal test results for their indoor LoRaWAN gateway and it’s performed better than the Multitech gateways. Unlike other devices, this isn’t built on a Linux platform. It’s all in the chipset, which means - other than a small configuration file - it’s plug and play. This may or may not be a good idea for your solution.
Regarding availability: In fairness, with the exception of MultiTech and Kerlink, several gateway companies we work with are struggling to fill orders. The easily configurable Laird Sentrius is on backorder with delays of up to 8 weeks here in the UK.