LoRaWAN Integration

Hi Guys,

I have setup TTNV3 and impressed with the simple setup.

I would like to know if anyone has thought about coding an Integration/Add-on for LoRaWAN?

This would allow a LoRaWan Gateway, I use MikroTik, to communicate directly with Home Assistant.

Main goal for this is to allow an internal networking LoRa solution.

I understand that a “Things Stack” server can be setup, but an Integration supporting LoRaWAN would be a simpler solution.

Thank you.

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I wish we could integrate this container into HA:

I also have a Microtik Knot, and would like to pull stuff in via LoRa. Even if this network server was running and we simply brought the data in via MQTT.

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+1 for the integration

The mentioned compact lorawan server has general MQTT connector. It means you can already read the sensors though MQTT topics. The MQTT server is already included in HA. You just have to forward the lorawan packets to your local lorawan server, configure it to relay the messages to your HA MQTT server. I will try that out once i get some lora boards and make a sensor.

First Post…we build commercial LoRaWAN Building Control systems. Searched to see if there was any Home Assistant LoRaWAN activity and came across this thread. We have developed an ESP32 PCB with onboard features including a RAK 3172 module, 3 Relays, 2 1/10K IN, 2 Digital IN, 1 0-10V OUT, and a 40 Pin Header with Pi compatible GPIO pins. It runs on 24V AC. Just looking for feedback to see if Home Assistant users are interested in this type of product, and if yes, how we should go about “tuning” it for easy integration by Home Assistant users. Thanks.

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Did anything ever happen with an integration here?

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How have you got on this project?

I just spent hours on this. Tryign to get my Milesight gateway talking to HA. Trying to get IoT TTN talking to HA. It’s very very complicated. It’s liek Apple vs PC 20 years ago. They are 2 separate worlds.

In the end I gave up and just have my LoRaWAN sensors sending to datacake.de via TTN which was simple to set up and saw the data right away.

This works well:
LoRaWAN → Milesight Gateway → TTN → datakage graphs

So I have some graphs of LoRaWAN water tank levels, but cant’ integrate into HA.

This a headache:
LoRaWAN → Milesight Gateway → HA MQTT server.

Very hard. I got my HA MQTT seeing some data from the Milesight gateway. But no measurements.

‘You just have to’… ha ha.
Have you tried playing with the LoraWAN gateway, they are complicated and there’s no instructions on how to integrate with HA.

"The packet forwarder is a program running on the host of a LoRa gateway that forwards RF packets received by the concentrator to a server through an IP/UDP link, and emits RF packets that are sent by the server. Currently, Milesight LoRaWAN® Gateway supports the following packet forwarders:

Which one of these should I use to try to send an MQTT message to HA?

I use ChirpStack4 extensively with HA, communicating with home assistant using MQTT.

I run a private LoRaWAN gateway running on an RPi using a RAK hat.

ChirpstackOS bundles node-red and creates a dedicated gateway so it is easy to pre-process and then send data across to Home Assistant without any need for a formal integration.

Chirpstack is an excellent package with good community support.

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I have a Dragino LPS8 gateway that interfaces LoRaWAN to MQTT over Ethernet/WiFi. Very reliable, not too expensive.
I use it to bridge devices to TTN, and MQTT to NodeRed, so HA seems doable. Anyone tried?

Hi Max,

I use the TTNv3 integration into Home Assistant with success

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The “swiss guy” has a recent (23) YT video reviewing routers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ5XDgleQdY). The RAK/Wisgate (Indoor LoRaWAN gateway - 8 Channel SX1302 LoRa Gateway) seems like a decent option for local use (chirpstack built-in). wonder if anyone has tried it?

Hello, is there an update to this? I’m definitely interested… the more easy-to-deploy, the better.

What kind of massaging is needed to get a device to show up in HA, with the correct parameters? Is there a device library being build, like zigbee2mqtt has?

I’m unaware of any formal integration with chirpstack however it is very easy to connect a LoraWAN/Chirpstack device to HA via node-red flows and the MQTT integration. There is a lot of data generated by each device and communication session, you can decide what to pull out and publish to MQTT.

For example, the following lines added to config are all that is required to integrate these sensors

> mqtt:
>   - binary_sensor:
>       name: "spring pump relay"
>       state_topic: "chirpstack/springpump/relay1pump"
>       payload_on: "ON"
>       device_class: running
>       value_template: "{{ value_json.state }}"
>   - sensor:
>       name: "spring pump volume "
>       state_topic: "chirpstack/springpump/volumecount"
>       device_class: water
>       unit_of_measurement: Dl
>       state_class: total_increasing
>   - sensor:
>       name: "spring battery voltage"
>       state_topic: "chirpstack/springpump/batterycharge"
>       device_class: battery
>       unit_of_measurement: V
>       state_class: measurement
>   - sensor:
>       name: "spring pump pressure"
>       state_topic: "chirpstack/springpump/pressurereading"
>       device_class: pressure
>       unit_of_measurement: kPa
>       state_class: measurement

I use LoraWan primarily to monitor and control remote pumps and water tanks that are upto a kilometre away from WIFI or power - its quite a lot of effort to set up but just about the only option serious range is required.

You do have the option of using a public/3rd party network like The Things Network in which case there is an integration available but you will have communication costs. I don’t have any coverage so is not a consideration not operate a private network. The shared networks are optimized for monitoring sensors - so may not be the best option for eg controlling a relay/remote pump.

That is actually the easy part, LoraWAN devices are not really directed at consumer markets and there’s a degree of effort needed to understand configuration and activation processes but once up and running it works seamlessly.