Dragino makes a few different LoRaWAN gateways, including the LPS8N and the outdoor DLOS8. This section gives some notes on how to configure these gateways. Full documentation for each gateway is on the Dragino website and should be consulted for detailed information.

When you power up the gateway, it broadcasts a new Wi-Fi network that you can connect to with a PC (just like connecting to a Wi-Fi network at a coffee shop). The network name always starts with “dragino,” for example “dragino-1eb408.” The Wi-Fi password for connecting to this network is “dragino+dragino.”

Next, you need to use a web browser to access the configuration web pages located on the gateway. You access those pages by typing in the following IP address into the address bar of your browser: 10.130.1.1. The first time you try to access this address, a dialog will pop up requesting you to log in. For this log in, the username is “root” and the password is “dragino.” You are then presented with the following system diagram:

System Diagram for Dragino LoRaWAN Gateway

which generally displays which parts of the gateway are working. Access to different configuration pages can be done by clicking on parts of the diagram or by using the menus at the top of the page.

It is often a good idea to upgrade the firmware of the gateway when you first receive it. Check the User Manual for details. First, you need to download the latest firmware from the Dragino website. Then, click the “Firmware Upgrade” option from the System menu at the top of the Home Dragino web page you accessed above. Finally, you “Upload Firmware File” from your PC to the Gateway and “Proceed with Flash”. You will be forced to reconnect to the gateway Wi-Fi network and access the configuration page again.

Configuring a Gateway for the Things Network

Here are the key settings that need to be changed to configure the gateway for US operation on the Things Network:

  1. From the “LoRa” menu, click the “LoRa” item. Change the Radio Settings section to look like the following:

    Screenshot of LoRa Radio Settings

    Click the “Save&Apply” button at the bottom of the page.

  2. From the “LoRaWAN” menu, click the “LoRaWAN” item. Copy and save the Gateway ID from the General Settings section, as you will need this later when you register this gateway on the Things Network. Do not change the ID.

    Screenshot of Gateway ID

    Then set the “Primary LoRaWAN Server” as follows:

    Screenshot of Primary LoRaWAN Server

    Click the “Save&Apply” button at the bottom of the page.

  3. If you are going to connect the gateway to the Internet via a wired Ethernet connection, there is no more configuration required on the gateway. If you want to use Wi-Fi to connect the gateway to the Internet, then you need to access the “Network” menu and click “WiFi.” On the WiFi page, you must fill out the settings in the “WiFi WAN Client Settings” section of the page, making sure to “Enable WiFi WAN Client” and to properly fill out the name of the Wi-Fi network (SSID) and the Passphrase. Also, keep the “Enable WiFi Access Point” checkbox enabled so that you can access the gateway in the future for configuration (i.e., make no changes in that section). Note one issue we have discovered with filling out and enabling the “WiFi WAN Client Settings” section: if that Wi-Fi connection is not available, an Ethernet connection will also not work. If you use Wi-Fi for testing the gateway but ultimately intend to use an Ethernet connection, make sure you disable the Wi-Fi WAN Client. If your gateway is capable of a cellular connection to the Internet, you can set that up on the “Network” page as well. You need to know the APN of the cellular network you are connecting to.

  4. You then need to register the gateway on the Things Network through the Things Console. The important settings there are the “Gateway EUI”, which is the “Gateway ID” that we copied in a prior step (it is called the Gateway ID on the Dragino configuration page, but it is labeled Gateway EUI on the Things Console). Also, the frequency plan must be set correctly:

    Screenshot of Frequency Plan

  5. Unplug and then re-power the gateway. If you reconnect to the gateway’s Wi-Fi network and visit the home page at 10.130.1.1, you should see green checkmarks:

System Diagram for Dragino LoRaWAN Gateway with Green Checkmarks