LoRaWAN in detail
Private LoRaWAN networks for pharma, chemicals and industry: measured on site, with two redundant gateways and mobile connectivity from two different carriers. No intervention in the corporate network or control system – and documented so it fits into a qualification.
868 MHz
licence-free SRD band in Europe
2 gateways
per building – every sensor received twice
2 carriers
SIM cards from different providers
< −100 dBm
reception of all nodes during the walkdown: GOOD
Wireless instead of cable
LoRaWAN radio brings readings out of rooms where you don’t want to – or may not – run a cable. The sensor measures right at the point of interest, the gateway transmits independently of the plant network – no wall penetration, no cable tray, no change to the control system.
With cable
With wireless sensors
Field record: 3 years of control-room monitoring data
3
years of continuous use
2
min interval
around the clock
788,400
payloads per sensor
3 × 365 × 24 h × 30/h
1.58
million readings
temperature + humidity
15
limit violations
reliably detected and reported
Every violation arrived as an email – before it could turn into a failure.
How it works
We measure radio coverage on site at every planned measuring point – signal strength and quality, even in basements and behind reinforced concrete.
Walkdown
Readings, gateway locations and antenna planning go into a report. It is the basis for installation – and for qualification in GMP.
Radio report
The kit arrives pre-configured in a case: gateway, sensors and accessories, neatly packed and ready to go.
In a case
Plug the gateway in – the LTE link is up. Mount sensors by magnet, bracket or cable tie exactly where it’s critical.
Plug & play
Sign in at monicore.one: live readings, set limits, activate email alerts. Done.
Live data
More safety
The number of gateways depends on the building and criticality. Every sensor transmits to all gateways in range; if one fails, the others take over automatically.
1gateway
Start & pilot
Ideal for getting started, one room or one floor.
2gateways
Redundant
Two gateways with SIM cards from two different carriers – our standard for critical areas.
3gateways
Large building
Several floors or long buildings: every measuring point is heard by at least two gateways.
4gateways
Campus & highest availability
Several buildings or a site – coverage with reserve, even while one gateway is serviced.
We deliver it all – from the starter kit in a case to a redundant network ready for qualification.
Request a site surveySummary of our reports
Behind this page are experience, walkdown and measurement reports from several years of practice. The key results in brief:
Pilot at DSM since 2022
Technical and economic assessment
On-site measurement, network planning
Basics of radio planning
Own measurement per radio packet
Walkdowns and reports via QR code
Basics
LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) is an open radio standard of the LoRa Alliance for sensors that send small amounts of data over long distances – battery-powered, for years. It is ideal for industrial sites: signals pass through walls and ceilings, and sensors need neither cables nor network sockets.
Each sensor (node) transmits directly to the gateways in range. If one node fails, the others are unaffected – there is no mesh that needs to rebuild.
Transmission takes place in the 863–870 MHz SRD band. Each device may transmit at most 1 % of the time (duty cycle) – 36 seconds per hour – at max. 25 mW.
Every message is end-to-end encrypted with AES-128. Each node gets its own keys; without them nobody can read or inject data.
Typically 10 mW, max. 25 mW – Wi-Fi transmits at 100 mW to 1 W, mobile networks above 1 W. And a node only transmits for fractions of a second, e.g. every 2 minutes.
The spreading factor (SF7 to SF12) “stretches” the radio signal. More stretching means more range – but longer airtime, more battery use and fewer messages allowed per hour. The goal of good planning: the lowest possible SF, i.e. placing gateways so that sensors can use SF7.
Guide values for a short payload at 125 kHz bandwidth. Theoretically up to 5 km (SF7) or 16 km (SF12) – much less in reinforced-concrete buildings. That is exactly why we measure on site.
Choose SF
Life from our own current measurement per radio packet (13.8 mAs at SF7 to 81.7 mAs at SF12) plus sleep current – without self-discharge and temperature effects. That is why we design for 10 years and place gateways so that SF7 is enough.
Radio planning in detail
A radio network can be described by three properties: range, data rate and energy consumption. In practice, at most two can be optimised. LoRaWAN goes for range and low energy – with a small data rate. Exactly right for readings every few minutes.
151 dB covers very long distances in open terrain. On site, walls, slabs and metal eat up this margin – that is why measuring on site matters.
Even with line of sight, the space around the direct line matters: an obstacle in the first Fresnel zone – a pipe bridge, a roof structure – noticeably lowers the level. So gateways go high and free.
Guide values. Reinforced concrete, metal containers and tank farms can attenuate much more – the walkdown measures the real value.
The network automatically sets each sensor’s spreading factor: well-received sensors transmit faster and save battery. Good gateway positions are the prerequisite.
Why at all?
Control, server and infrastructure rooms house PLCs, power supplies, switches and SIL cards – the basis of all production. Yet they are rarely measured. This is what we have seen in many plants:
Air conditioning, control cabinets and access often belong to different departments. When cooling fails, nobody feels directly responsible.
Maintenance by external contractors, unclear reporting paths – hours or days pass before the right person is on site.
Overheated electronics fail sporadically – from single signal channels to the entire control system. SIL cards can no longer be relied upon.
Central collective alarms without clear assignment get acknowledged and forgotten. Room temperature is not a process alarm and does not belong to the operator.
Shift staff are usually not allowed into control or server rooms. A problem is only noticed when the control system HMI fails.
Permanently high temperature and humidity accelerate component ageing and promote condensation – long before anything fails.
Pilot cases from practice
From our pilot projects in control rooms (since 2022). Each case shows a different radio challenge – and why measuring on site is decisive.
Approach in pharma
In regulated environments it is not enough that it works – it must demonstrably work. Many of our FAT and SAT checks are exactly the activities required in installation and operational qualification (IQ/OQ).
Which rooms and plants are business-critical? Which measurands, limits, pre-alarms and main alarms? Who is informed when? Is the measuring point GMP-relevant, ATEX-relevant, is a UPS needed?
URS / specification
Site survey with building plans: measuring points, node and gateway positions and 230 V connections are defined. Reference measurement with a mobile gateway on a tripod and a test node – at every measuring point. Plus mobile network measurement per carrier. Photos and equipment tagging according to customer standards.
Walkdown report = basis of the DQ
Gateway locations and antenna orientation according to the building structure, at least two gateways per building, SIM cards from different carriers, power supplies on separate circuits. Each node should be received by both gateways.
Network plan, device list
The entire network is commissioned at our premises first: gateways, nodes, keys, limits, alarm recipients and dashboard. Only after a passed factory acceptance test do we go to the customer.
FAT protocol
Installation according to specifications, individual signal measurement of each node at both gateways, test of limit alarms, gateway redundancy (one gateway is deliberately switched off) and the e-mail alarm chain.
SAT protocol
DQ via the walkdown report, IQ for installation and documentation, OQ for function within limits, PQ under real conditions – e.g. limit alarms, gateway redundancy, alarming and optional audit trail.
DQ · IQ · OQ · PQ
Watchdog (“last seen”) per node, monitoring of all gateways, battery voltage measured under load once a day, remote configuration and updates, staff training, final report.
Final report, training
Nodes
A node is a battery-powered wireless sensor directly at the measuring point. It measures, encrypts and transmits – and needs no cable tray, no wall penetration and no interface in the control system. This keeps process alarms and infrastructure monitoring cleanly separated.
Mounting dimensions from our walkdown guidelines
Walkdown: mobile gateway on a tripod, test node at the planned measuring point
Gateway design & resilience
The gateway is the heart of the network – so with us there is never just one. Per building we plan at least two independent gateways, each covering the entire building. If one fails or is serviced, the other takes over – without losing a single reading.
Every node is received by both. We show this in the walkdown with measurements at both gateways – not with an assumption.
Each gateway has its own LTE SIM from a different provider. If one mobile network fails, data flows through the other.
The power supplies are on different circuits – optionally on the UPS, so measuring and alarming continue during a power failure.
The gateways transmit via mobile network. No firewall rules, no VLAN and no interface in the control system are needed.
LoRa and LTE antennas external to the gateway, installed inside the building – so no lightning protection assessment is needed.
All gateways are visible in the dashboard; a failure is reported. Settings and updates are possible remotely – important for hard-to-access rooms.
One level
Antenna vertical, gateway as central as possible in the area.
Several floors
Gateway in the middle of the building, antenna horizontal – the “donut” pattern radiates up and down.
From outside
Gateway outside, antenna vertical: windows attenuate less than reinforced-concrete slabs.
Border region
In the DE/CH/FR tri-border area, Swiss cell towers can interfere. We check coverage per carrier in advance.
Measurements, not assumptions
This is what the result of an on-site measurement looks like (anonymised). Each sensor is measured at both gateways – and where one gateway is further away, the other is close. That is intentional.
| Measuring point | Gateway 1 | Gateway 2 | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control room 1 | −56 dBm · SNR 10.25 dB | −77 dBm · SNR 9.75 dB | good |
| Control room 2 | −79 dBm · SNR 10.25 dB | −56 dBm · SNR 9.0 dB | good |
| Mobile network at gateway location | RSRP −101 dBm · RSRQ −13.5 dB · SINR 4 dB | medium – measured without external antenna → external LTE antenna planned | |
RSSI
Received signal strength in dBm. The closer to 0, the better. Walkdown rule: all nodes better than −100 dBm = GOOD.
SNR
Signal-to-noise ratio in dB. Positive values are very good; LoRa can even decode signals below the noise floor.
RSRP / RSRQ / SINR
Mobile network indicators at the gateway. They decide whether an external LTE antenna or a different carrier is needed.
Demonstrator 2022–2025
Note
The DataDOT ONE was our demonstrator in the pilot project. It ran in continuous operation for three years and is not a current product. The platform and solution are called MoniCore.one; the experience from the demo flows into our own sensor family MoniCore M1+.
What the demo showed in real operation – in control rooms of a production building, measuring every 2 minutes:
DataDOT ONE – demo sensor (sketch)
Installation in a control room (sketch)
Node status view (sketch)
No. The gateways transmit via mobile network (LTE) directly to MoniCore.one. There is no implementation in the corporate network and no interface in the control system. Connection to your own servers is possible on request.
Each sensor is received by two gateways that use SIM cards from different carriers and are connected to separate circuits. If one path fails, data flows through the other. The failure itself is reported in the dashboard.
LoRaWAN nodes typically transmit at 10 mW (max. 25 mW) and only for fractions of a second – at most 1 % of the time, in practice usually below 0.03 %. That is orders of magnitude less than Wi-Fi or a mobile phone.
It depends on the transmit interval and spreading factor. With good gateway planning (low SF), several years are common. Battery voltage is monitored, so replacement can be planned.
Yes. Walkdown report (DQ), FAT and SAT provide the basis for IQ and OQ; the PQ tests e.g. limit alarms, gateway redundancy and the alarm chain. We agree the scope with your quality assurance.
Ex areas require approved devices. Whether and how a measuring point in a zone can be implemented is checked in the project – often it is enough to place the sensor outside and route a probe inside.
A walkdown with a mobile gateway shows within a few hours how many gateways you need and where – with measurements for every point.
