Unleashing the Power of LoRaWANs: Scaling Peaks and Breaking Barriers in our Recent 1W Transmitter Range Test! Discover the astonishing 6.74 km range we conquered in hilly terrain with a clear line of sight, and stay tuned as we set our sights on reaching new heights – a staggering 15+ km awaits!



Long Range Wide Area Networks, or LoRaWANs, are low-power, wide-area networks that use wireless communication technology. The purpose of this post is to present the results of a recent LoRa range test that we conducted using a 1W transmitter in a hilly setting. In this line-of-sight test, we achieved a range of 6.74 kilometers with the presence of the Fresnel zone, indicating that the signal path was relatively clear. However, we expect to achieve a range of more than 15 kilometers with the same setup.


Hardware employed:

                         

 LoRA Gateway: RAK Wireless - [Wisgate Edge Lite 2]


GM100 (Modified for Range Testing)



LoRa Transmitter: Ebyte - [E22900M30S]



Transmitter Antenna: 868MHz LoRa 9dBi Rubber Magnetic with RG174 (L-3Mtr) Cable



Receiver Antenna: 868MHz 15dBi Fiberglass Antenna and 868MHz 18dBi Fiberglass Antenna

GPS: Ublox GPS was used for accurate positioning.


LoRA Settings:

Frequency: ISM Band (865-868 MHz)

SF (Spreading Factor): 12

BW (Bandwidth): 125kHz

LoRaWAN Version: 1.0.2 Rev.B

Device Class: Class A


Mode
Bitrate (bits/sec)
payload size (bytes)
Airtime(s)
SF12/125kHz
250
15

1.646

The above table shows the airtime for LoRa transmissions


Test Method:

Environment: Line of sight (hilly terrain)

TestLocation: Mukkunnimala Pallichal, Kerala (8.4641772,77.0208192) to Judgekunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala (8.450386,76.961288)


Test Results:

Initial Setup:

To effectively test the range and signal strength of a wireless communication system using an Ebyte transmitter (E22900M30S) and RAK Wireless Wisgate Edge Lite 2 gateway.


Receiver Setup:

  • Installed the RAK Wireless Wisgate Edge Lite 2 gateway with an 18dBi receiver antenna in Mukkunnimala, Pallichal.
  • Ensured that the receiver was properly connected and configured to receive signals from the transmitter

Transmitter Setup:

  • Installed the Ebyte transmitter (E22900M30S) with a 9dBi transmitter antenna in Judgekunnu, Thiruvananthapuram.
  • Configured the Ebyte transmitter (E22900M30S) with the desired transmission parameters.

Signal Strength Measurement:

  • Used GM100 (Modified for Range Testing) to measure the signal strength at various distances from the transmitter.


Data Collection:

We used the Ublox GPS to record the locations where the LoRa signal was received and GM100 (Modified for Range Testing) for determining signal strength and range.


Frame Count

Timestamp

Fix

Latitude

Longitude

Altitude

Satellites

RSSI (dBm)

SNR (dB)

Frequency (Hz)

602

1/19/2024 12:27

1

8.449781

76.961578

71.9

11

-97

-2

865985000

605

1/19/2024 12:30

1

8.449805

76.961571

72.3

11
-92

1.5

865985000

606

1/19/2024 12:31

1

8.449807

76.961571

72.6

11

-94

-2

865985000

607

1/19/2024 12:32

1

8.449811

76.961563

71.9

11

-90

1

865985000

608

1/19/2024 12:33

1

8.449814

76.961563

72

11

-92

0.8

865985000

609

1/19/2024 12:34

1

8.449811

76.961563

72.9

11

-93

-2

865985000

610

1/19/2024 12:35

1

8.44981

76.961571

73.8

11

-93

-2.8

865985000

611

1/19/2024 12:36

1

8.449813

76.961563

73

11

-94

-4.3

865985000

612

1/19/2024 12:37

1

8.449807

76.961563

72.6

11

-96

-8.3

865985000

The table shows the data collected using the GM100 (Modified for Range Testing) device


Findings:

We discovered that combining an 18dBi receiver antenna with a 1W transmitter power allowed us to significantly outperform our previous test results. Our previous tests in a Non-Line-of-Sight environment yielded a range of approximately 1.1 kilometers. In this hilly, LOS test, we were able to achieve a significantly longer range of 6.74 kilometers.

Higher gain antennas can capture signals more effectively and provide a stronger received signal, upgrading from a 15dBi receiver antenna to an 18dBi receiver antenna has resulted in RSSI values ranging from -90 dBm to -93 dBm.



The diagram shows the test location, where we placed the receiver antenna in Mukkunnimala Pallichal, Kerala (8.4641772,77.0208192) and the transmitter antenna in Judgekunnu, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, (8.450386,76.961288) where we were able to achieve a range of up to 6.74 km.


Conclusion:

The use of an 18dBi receiver antenna in conjunction with a 1W transmitter in a line-of-sight, hilly environment yielded promising results, including a longer range and higher RSSI values. These findings indicate the robustness and reliability of LoRa technology, even in challenging environments. we are expecting to achieve a range of more than 15 kilometers with the same setup.


Reference:

What are LoRa and LoRaWAN? -https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/lorawan/what-is-lorawan/

Line of Sight- The Real range of Wireless Communications -https://www.tekonelectronics.com/en/news/tekon-blog/line-of-sight-real-range-wireless-communications/

Fresnel Zone - https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/fresnel-zone#:~:text=The%20Fresnel%20zone%20is%20defined,Techniques%20in%20Hydrocarbon%20Exploration%2C%202014

What Is Antenna Gain? - https://antennatestlab.com/antenna-education-tutorials/what-is-antenna-gain-dbi-scale

LoRaWAN airtime calculator - https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/airtime-calculator