Gateway Specifications - Important Highlights

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 uses the Tektelic KONA Micro Gateway, which operates 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.
• Emergency power supply: 4 hours for added resilience.
• Linux-Based Appliance: The gateway is a Linux-based device that provides the necessary LoRaWAN services, enabling SCSs to transmit small data packets over long distances.
• 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 

Your gateway comes with a 4 hour battery backup (if the power goes down) and a SIM card to transmit data over cellular (if your network goes down).

Mechanical and Power Specifications

LoRa Radio Specifications

Network Interfaces

Regulatory Compliance

Additional Information

For information about gateway ranges, click here.

For gateway port requirements and protocols, click here.