Those interested in experimenting with the LoRaWAN long-range low-power standard now have a new resource, in the form of an introductory tutorial by Nick Poole published on SparkFun.
Based around SparkFun’s own SparkX Pro RF USB-connected development board, Nick’s detailed tutorial introduces the LoRa and LoRaWAN standards, The Things Network community-driven LoRaWAN network project, and the concepts behind how a LoRaWAN network operates before going hands-on with the development board and connecting it to The Things Network.
“Services are based on best effort,” Nick writes of The Things Network, “so there’s no guarantee on uptime or latency, but it’s free! The Things Network also encourages members to grow the network by making it incredibly easy to register a gateway. Simply connect your gateway hardware to the Internet, open the TTN console, and follow the prompts.
While Nick’s tutorial requires that you are within range of a The Things Network gateway, it links out to additional tutorials on using the official TTN gateway hardware, a Raspberry Pi, or even a low-cost ESP8266 to create a TTN gateway – handily extending the network’s coverage to currently unserved areas.
The full tutorial is available now on SparkFun’s education site.
Gareth Halfacree is a technology journalist and technical author best known for his work on the Raspberry Pi User Guide and an upcoming book covering the BBC’s micro:bit project. A keen open source advocate and RISC-V fan, Gareth is responsible for curating our fortnightly community round-up posts.