General information about Conserv gateways
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Key features
- Security Risk
- Data Bandwidth Usage and Network Impact
- Maintenance
- Power Outages
- Additional Information
Introduction
A gateway is a small device that functions similarly to a WiFi router by receiving messages from connected devices and relaying them to the internet. Gateways can also receive data from the internet and transmit that data back to connected devices.
Conserv gateways operate on a LoRaWAN network. LoRaWAN allows for long-distance, low-power, and secure communication between Conserv Smart Collection Sensors (SCSs) and your network or the internet. This setup makes wireless monitoring easy and efficient.
Key Features
- Reliable Long-Range Communication: The gateway ensures reliable, long-range connectivity for SCSs, often covering large or complex spaces where traditional WiFi would struggle.
- Low Power, Low Bandwidth: LoRaWAN's efficiency in power consumption and bandwidth usage helps maintain performance even in challenging environments.
- Local Internet Connectivity: The gateway connects to the internet through a local area network (LAN) or cellular data through an included SIM card.
- Advantage over WiFi: The gateway provides the ability to cover large and difficult spaces with just one device. This makes the setup ideal for large-scale monitoring without the need for multiple routers or repeaters.
Security Risk
While no system is entirely without risk, operating a gateway poses minimal risk. The gateway communicates over specific frequencies in controlled ways. It does not broadcast any information from your network or provide general access to it. In fact, having a separate network for your SCSs can enhance security by keeping them isolated from your main WiFi network.
If you have the technical expertise, you can further enhance security by confining the gateway to a specific segment of your network and limiting the servers it can communicate with online.
Data Bandwidth Usage and Network Impact
Each message that is sent by a device is minimal, typically under 51 bytes. Even with thousands of devices connected and transmitting at the maximum rate, gateways use only a small fraction of a typical broadband connection’s bandwidth.
Maintenance
All of the gateways “phone home” every so often so we know they are up and running. If something goes wrong, please open a support ticket and we will be able to look into it from our end.
Power Outages
The Tektelic Kona Micro gateway comes with a 4 hour battery backup (if the power goes down). All Conserv gateways come with a SIM card to transmit data over cellular (if your network goes down).