We were approached by a customer to deploy a low-powered wide-area (LPWA) network in a newly developed community in Sussex. The customer wished to retrieve data on how the community was operating and to better manage their district heat network. The client had previously contracted two other companies to deploy LPWA networks. However, the networks were not stable and did not allow for reliable data collection.

Due to a limited budget, we took the approach of deploying LoRaWAN to cover the 500 plus dwellings that make up the community. The network had to cover a 9km² area and allow for deep indoor penetration. This project also faced technical challenges including; collecting data from pipework located underground and also from devices located in metallic boxes within properties.

Three gateways were installed to cover the whole community and to also provide redundancy in case of failure of a gateway. The gateways were installed and commissioned by our in-house team.

At the conclusion of the project, the data from the devices was being regularly collected. The network has been operational for three years without a single gateway failure or any downtime.