Building a global, free and open IoT network | Hacker News Reader

Building a global, free and open IoT network

thethingsnetwork.org

74 pointsfab272223 comments

Does this provide a bare IP connection or is it just for MQTT channels back to your servers? I can't tell if that's "the" method of communication or just a helpful thing that you're offering.

Basically, is this something that I would be able to use directly with my company's CoAP APIs?

The protocol speaks LoRaWAN, which isn't IP. The data will get sent via a distributed network, over IP (using MQTT), to a server of your choice. This application server (run by you or someone else) can then store the data, have a REST API endpoint, MQTT channel, or whatever service that runs there.

Thanks for the post! We are very happy how this is progressing and for all the contribution around the world.

Anyone know what frequency bands these are being deployed in in the US? I am assuming they using the 902-928Mhz ISM license free band.

Licensed frequencies would make this significantly more involved to deploy in the US.

915 MHz

Support The Things Network. They are not only supplying easy to activate hardware, they are hard at work at an excellent architecture (http://forum.thethingsnetwork.org/t/request-for-comments-net...) and a clean, easy to use integration framework.

it would be so cool to just fiddle with IoT sensors without worrying about a nearby wifi hotspot with access. Just using the Things network as a free and open road is a beautiful idea.

And I have gotten my base IoT node down to about 2.50$. How?

Arduino Nano ($1.80) nRF24L01+ (0.63$)

Both from Aliexpress. Combine it with MySensors library and off you go.

For secure connections, use the USB-serial gateway, change the default channel, turn on encryption as well as signing support.

I use Node-red to get the data and do stuff with it.

Two questions: 1) are there technical restrictions for using this mesh network with remote aerial sensors, i.e. does it hurt badly when nodes move? 2) how well would it perform indoors in manufacturing plants? I'm thinking of low-cost adhoc industrial IoT prototyping.

According to the spec [1] it's for both mobile and fixed devices:

"LoRaWAN™ network protocol which is optimized for battery- powered end-devices that may be either mobile or mounted at a fixed location. "

[1] http://www.lora-alliance.org/portals/0/specs/LoRaWAN%20Speci...

I spoke with one associated with the lora alliance today and 1) yes, up to about 300 km/h, and 2) they perform well up to 20m underground in cities if gateways are placed every 500-1000m.

Awesome effort! We're following Amsterdam's example in Zurich and building a TTN network over here. The initial tests went great and we're now preparing to deploy more gateways real soon!

Let's cover the US together! We don't have to wait on big corp's to do it, let's make it ourselves!

How does this compare to the SIGFOX network?

I'm not an expert but a big difference is packet size: Sigfox is limited to 12 bytes, while LoRaWAN is up to 256 (iirc). Sigfox also imposes a max of 140 messages per day. Also, the governing body of LoRa is open (lora alliance), while Sigfox is closed. In general, the LoRaWAN approach is more open, with most if not all of the infrastructure being open sourced.

SIGFOX has certain limits (outside of theoretical and practical bandwidth restrictions) placed on it. radio-electronics.com (http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/wireless/sigfox/basics...) states up to 140 messages of 12 bytes per object per day, with a throughput of up to 100 bytes per second.

The Things network, on the other hand, seems to supply its services openly and freely without limits, using the LoRaWan spec. Semtech (http://www.semtech.com/wireless-rf/lora/LoRa-FAQs.pdf) says it provides between 0.3 and 11kbps of bandwidth, so in theory your speeds can be anywhere from 3x to 111x higher.

The range of these things is inmense, the possiblities endless: I love how you guys bring this technology to everyone!

Thanks Thomas!

Great Job! Singapore and Malaysia will TTN soon also, the things.. are in motion.

Awesome!

How can we get this in Victoria, BC, Canada? Anybody want to team up?

Groningen pledged a city wide network within 12h. You guys rock!

the whole city? How cool is that! #dreamingofgoingbacktogroningen

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