Build a Long-Range Sensor Network with ChirpStack
Sensor Symphony
© Lead Image © file404, 123RF.com
ChirpStack's LoRaWAN implementation lets you set up long-range wireless traffic for sensors even if you are far from a WiFi access point.
If you have sensors in your house, there are many technologies that you can use to transmit their measurements wirelessly: Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread, and even WiFi. However, they all have a limited range. For sensors in your garden, the distance may be just too far. Moreover, for many applications, these technologies are too powerful: They offer much more bandwidth than you need. For monitoring the level of your rainwater tank or the temperature and humidity in your greenhouse, you only need to send a couple of bytes every few minutes.
Networks optimized for these situations are called low-power wide area networks (LPWAN). One such technology is LoRaWAN: It implements wireless communication over longer distances (even exceeding 10km in optimal conditions) with minimal power consumption. The tradeoff is that the data transmission rate is low, limited to a few kilobits per second at most, but that's good enough for garden sensors. The same applies to measurements in farms, vineyards, and many other large areas. By sending a small packet with sensor values every 10 minutes, a LoRaWAN sensor can operate for up to 10 years on a single battery.
In this article, I'll show you how to set up long-range communication in your home. But before getting started, I need to define some basic terminology.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Working Exploit for a Linux Kernel Flaw Made Public
Even before a bug received its CVE identifier or an upstream fix, the local privilege escalation vulnerability exploit found its way into the wild.
-
r/opensource Bans AI-Assisted and AI-Related Projects
The de facto subreddit for all things open source has not only banned AI-related projects but also users who "don't speak English."
-
Bottlenecks Discovered by Meta Engineers Lead to Scalability Improvements
Thanks to a small group of engineers at Meta, the Linux kernel module kernfs has been improved, which has led to some serious gains.
-
PwnEscape Poses VM Vulnerability
A guest-to-host escape flaw in Linux KVM, named PwnEscape, might be yet another means of attacking Linux.
-
Linux Mint 27 Set for a Christmas Release
The developers behind Linux Mint have announced a Christmas release, and it looks like Santa's sack will be brimming with features.
-
Is Linus Torvalds Vibe Coding?
The creator of Linux has added AI into his process for Linux kernel development, and it's more than just for debugging.
-
openKylin 3.0 Released with Expanded AI Integration
The latest release features a pre-installed AI agent to help perform tasks.
-
DigitalOcean Ends Open Source Credits Program
In a change that has surprised many open source developers, DigitalOcean has decided to sunset its Open Source Credits Program.
-
Office 365 Available for Testing on Linux via Bottles
Linux users can now test the official Office 365, thanks to Mirko Brombin's work on Bottles.
-
Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Following in the footsteps of other European countries, the Netherlands is looking to increase its sovereign digital infrastructure with open source software.