SparkFun LoRa Gateway Module Boosts The Capabilities With ESP32 MCU

We have covered several LoRaWAN Gateway modules, with one of the latest being the Seeed Studio’s WM1302. However, for those who don’t know much about wireless communication protocols, then LoRaWAN and LoRa are two different things and are not interchangeable. To understand in short, LoRa is a non-cellular modulation technology for LoRaWAN. One of the recently manufactured LoRa Gateway modules was developed by SparkFun based on the ESP32-WROOM-32 MCU.

Just as other similar modules, even this has a minimalistic hardware design and has the same form factor as the previous versions. If you have used the predecessor WRL-15006 ROHS that is LoRa Gateway – 1 -Channel (ESP32) module. In that case, you won’t find any specific difference between the modules, except the updated module has MCU with 16 MB flash memory than 4 MB. However, if you aren’t looking for more flash memory for your application, there is no need to upgrade as the cost of this new product is the same as the old one. This might be a good deal for a designer who has not used the SparkFun LoRa Gateway module and is looking for one to aid in their application.

Looking at the specifications, you will notice that as expected from any LoRa Gateway module, this one also supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communication protocol. Thanks to the integrated MCU that has provided the module with wide capabilities that you can explore. Apart from these wireless communication protocols, the module primarily has an RFM95W LoRa modem that operates in the range of 868/915 MHz frequency and is designed for ultra-long range spread spectrum communication based applications.

“The LoRa Gateway 1-Channel is a monster 3-network capable device thanks to an ESP32 module and an RFM95W LoRa modem. The RFM95W handles the 915 MHz band while the ESP32 takes care of bluetooth and WiFi. One of the ideal uses is to convert LoRa (Long Range) radio messages into data packets that you can access via the web, but of course, the flexibility it offers can be put to many more uses!”

If you plan to buy the SparkFun LoRa Gateway module, head to the product page where it is priced at $34.95.

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