Introduction

Introducing the KPN LoRa On Premises Gateway

The KPN LoRa On Premises Gateway is meant for use at locations that are not covered by the KPN LoRa nationwide coverage in the Netherlands, locations where a high density of LoRa devices is present or locations where an increased coverage quality is desirable to extend battery life to a maximum.

Differences with the nationwide network

The interaction from device and application server perspective with an On Premises Gateway does not differ in any way from the interaction with the nationwide network. There are no modifications required for the device or application server. The On Premises Gateways directly forwards data from end points towards the KPN LoRa Core.

Having an On Premises Gateway at an indoor location brings the possibility to bring the Spreading Factor at indoor locations down to 7, which results in faster message traffic and thus capacity for more devices. Duty cycles limitations however, still need to be applied. This counts for both the gateway as the devices.

Since the On Premises Gateways are delivered plug-and-play, they can be deployed easily at almost any location. This offers a lot of flexibility in bringing solutions to your customers. When deploying an On Premises Gateway, pay attention to the local laws and regulations regarding the LoRa frequency used by the gateway and the applicable duty cycles in that specific area.

Placement

Radio signals are blocked or reduced in strength when it needs to pass through an object. This means that the pathways from a gateway to the device(s) should contain the least amount of obstructions possible. Keep in mind that the thicker a wall is, the more of the radio signal is blocked. The signal will also be reflected by mirrors, metal structures and vast amounts of water.

Furthermore, the gateway should only be used in a static position. Using the gateway while moving it is not allowed, since this interferes with the optimization of other customer devices that the gateway connects to while being mobile.

Devices other than your LoRa devices, using the 868 MHz frequency could interfere with the radio waves that are transmitted by LoRa devices over the same frequency. Avoid using these devices nearby.

Limitations

The On Premises Gateways do not support Geolocation at this time due to the complexity involved with the Geolocation service. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the legal duty cycle is still applicable for the gateway. This means that the number of downlinks is limited to 1% transmission time meant for RX1 and 10% transmission time meant for RX2. When a gateway disconnects over a long period of time, it will be blocked from connecting to the KPN LoRa network for security reasons. If you suspect this happened, please contact the IoT Service Desk.

Returns

When your contract with KPN for the LoRa On Premises Gateway ends, you can contact the IoT Service Desk to send you a return box. Do not send KPN the gateway without notifying us about the return. Use the address supplied .