With a heltec esp32 lora v3 and Dragino LPS8-N gateway i have a reach of about 5 m inside and it seems to not work when the node is in a room and the gateway in other one.
Any idea about this and how to increase it ?
Tanks
Heltec esp32 lora v3 reach
Do you have an appropriate match between the frequency you are using and that for which the board is designed? I had this sort of problem the very first time I used LoRaāI was trying to run hardware tuned for 433MHz at 915MHzā¦
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I use the 868 bandwidth directly defined in arduino ide and the gateway is also in the same band.
15 m between the node and the gateway in 2 different rooms leads to SF7BW125, RSSI -106 and NR 1.5.
I apologise if I am misunderstanding your response there, but is your Heltec board a model HTIT-WB32LA or HTIT-WB32LAF (check the location of the resistor on the back of the board)? It is the HTIT-WB32LA version that is ātunedā to the 863~928MHz band.
If thatās correct, the only other thing I can think of is the antennae that you are usingāagain, they need to be matched to the frequency you are using.
Iām not sure where to see the board model but on the box itās written ā863-928ā. I look at the board and it seems the external antenna was not well connected. With the external antenna connected the reach is better (about 100m). My gateway is an inside one so perhaps the reach is not very good with this (less power).
I do not remember where i read this but i read somewhere that the exernal + internal antenne is not the better solution and it would be a good idea to disconnect the internal antenna ?
The board model is written on the back of the board, above the Heltec logo. Both are written there, but only one has a resistor adjacent to it. But if the box says ā863~928ā itāll be the correct one, and in my experience you wonāt get anything like a 100m range if itās the wrong board. And yes, that I-PEX connector can be a little tricky to get right.
Range, however, will certainly be attenuated by obstructions, be they walls, buildings, trees or terrain in general, as well as the antenna. A higher gain antenna will improve range but, again in my experience, a well-matched (in terms of operating frequency) āsmallā antenna will be every bit as good, if not better than a poorly-matched higher gain antenna.
Thereās only one LoRa antenna. The discussion you may be recalling, I believe, would more likely have been in relation to the WiFi antennaāthe on-board WiFi antenna does not have a very good reputation.
@tanguy-e means that his gateway by default uses a built-in antenna, as in, physically inside its encasing. That antenna isnāt very bad, but an external antenna usually (as long as that antenna is somewhat decent) results in much better range. You do have to make sure that the device knows to use the external antenna - Google will be your friend.