LoRaWAN products democratise IoT

The Things Network, a collaborative IoT data network, made its successful debut by covering the city of Amsterdam with LoRaWAN coverage – a protocol for high capacity, long range and low power for the Internet of Things.

There are now 500 developer communities in 94 countries vouching for this user operated network.

The products include: The Things Gateway – TheLoRaWAN base station enables ‘things’ to connect to the internet. With an easy to use gateway users can create the most substantial aspect of the IoT data network. Not only does The Gateway, provide up to 5km/ 3 miles radius of network coverage but it can also connect up to 10,000 devices.

The Things Uno is a useful board to realise IoT use cases. The Uno gives IoT projects long range connectivity (up to 10km) and comes with an added Microchip LoRaWAN module and embedded antenna. It is fully compatible with the Arduino IDE and existing shields.

The Things Node is a LoRaWAN device to start prototyping ideas without having to deal with breadboards, wires and sensors. The Things Node is based on the SparkFun Pro Micro and has an added Microchip LoRaWAN module along with an embedded antenna. It contains a temperature sensor, digital accelerometer, a light sensor, button, and RGB LED.

The three products will allow users to get started with LoRaWAN in the fastest way possible.

With the support of a global community and technical resources, as well as easy cloud integration with popular IoT platforms, users can set-up their own LoRaWAN network in five minutes or create a LoRaWAN sensor prototype in just 60 minutes.

With the development of user- owned networks, providing low power and long-distance connectivity, The Things Network range of products enable use cases which have never been possible before. Applications ranging from smart parking and vehicle management to air quality and pollution monitoring can now be easily rolled out, without the need for extensive hardware or software skills.

Steve Carr, Global Head of Marketing for Premier Farnell and Farnell element14, says: “As the Development Distributor we seek out the latest technology products that enable our customers to develop solutions quickly and easily. We are delighted to be working in partnership with The Things Network, for the manufacture and distribution of these products. The application of LoRaWAN to deliver long range, low power networks creates huge opportunities for innovation and truly democratises the Internet of Things.”

Wienke Giezeman, Initiator of The Things Network, says: “After our success on Kickstarter we are very happy to be able to say that the products are now available in the North America and Europe. Our mission is to make LoRaWAN easy for developers. As a developer you want to invest your time in making your IoT application and not in reinventing the wheel. These LoRaWAN “out-of-the-box” network and prototyping boards will get developers started in no-time.”