The Business of LoRaWAN

Britt Antley, Industrial IoT specialist at WIKA and former Chevron operator, talks about what actually drives adoption of IIoT in the real world—and why the shift from control systems to monitoring is one of the most important changes happening in industrial environments today.With nearly two decades at Chevron, Britt brings a grounded perspective on how large-scale operations think about technology. He explains how his work evolved from traditional IT and process control into industrial IoT, and why LoRaWAN-style deployments fundamentally change the equation. Instead of months-long installs and expensive hardwired sensors, companies can now deploy low-cost devices in minutes, dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for instrumentation.The conversation explores how IIoT creates value beyond simple cost savings, especially in brownfield environments where the goal is to “put eyes” on systems that were previously manual. From monitoring tank levels to reducing unnecessary operator rounds, Britt breaks down how better visibility leads to improved efficiency, safety, and decision-making.Britt also shares how he approaches new customer environments—starting with understanding operations, identifying manual processes, and uncovering high-impact opportunities for instrumentation. The discussion highlights a key insight: many systems don’t need high-frequency control, just reliable, periodic data.The episode closes with a deep dive into WIKA’s Sentinel sensor, including how combining vibration and ultrasound enables earlier detection of equipment failures and extends predictive maintenance timelines from weeks to months.Britt on LinkedInWIKA

Johan Stokking, co-founder of The Things Network and The Things Industries and CTO of The Things Stack, joins the show to talk about why LoRaWAN works best when it’s combined intelligently with other wireless technologies rather than treated as a standalone answer to every problem.The conversation starts with why The Things Conference deliberately expanded beyond LoRaWAN, and what Johan is seeing as LoRaWAN matures. He explains why developers now understand both what LoRaWAN is good at and where its limits are, and why the real momentum comes from combining LoRaWAN with cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other radios to solve practical deployment problems.Johan walks through his “niche of a niche of a niche” fridge monitoring example, using cold chain as a way to explain where LoRaWAN fits exceptionally well and why these highly specific use cases can still represent multi-billion-dollar markets.The discussion digs into real bottlenecks like battery life, basement connectivity, lack of Wi-Fi credentials, and compliance requirements that make LoRaWAN the right tool in the right context.The episode also explores what’s coming next at the silicon and modem level, including multi-radio devices and why cloud platforms will need to manage multiple connectivity options seamlessly.Johan shares how network metadata and design data can be used to optimize deployments, improve battery life, and drive real ROI, and where data itself may become more valuable over time.The conversation wraps with what Johan is most excited about next, including the next Things Conference and upcoming improvements in the LoRaWAN ecosystem focused on better interoperability and plug-and-play deployments.Johan's LinkedIn The Things IndustriesHelium Global IoT Coverage - Want to know if Helium coverage exists where you need it? Check out this map!Helium Foundation - The Helium Foundation's IoT Working Group (IOTWG) has generously provided support for the first 6 months of shows, please go check them out and consider using the Helium LoRaWAN as a primary or backup on your next deployment. With over a quarter million gateways deployed worldwide, it's likely that you have and can use Helium coverage.Support The Show - If you'd like to support the MetSci Show financially, here's where you can donate on a one-time or an ongoing basis. Thank you!MetSci Show - If you'd like to use our IoT or AI Data Value calculators, or you'd like to contact me, the MetSci Show site is the best way to do it. MeteoScientific Console - Use LoRaWAN - The MeteoScientific Console allows you to use LoRaWAN today. As long as you have Helium coverage (and you probably do, about 90% of populated areas in the world have a gateway within 2 miles), you can onboard a sensor. You can always check coverage at https://explorer.helium.com and switch to the "IoT" tab in the top right.

Gavin Brown, VP of Strategic Growth and Design Partner at RAKwireless, talks about how solid industrial design and RF engineering turn LoRaWAN from a promising idea into reliable, large-scale deployments. With a background in industrial design and product development, he explains how RAK’s core pillars—gateways, modules, and supporting services—give customers a path of least resistance into LoRaWAN, whether they’re building networks, nodes, or full end-to-end solutions.Gavin digs into what typical RAK customers really look like: teams who know their own domain well but need help bridging the gap into wireless and LoRaWAN. He describes industrial design as a hybrid of art, design, and engineering, and shows why the best projects are “front heavy,” putting RF constraints, cost, supply chain, and mechanical realities into the strategy before anyone obsessively sketches enclosures or PCB shapes. That early thinking is especially critical for LoRaWAN, where antenna placement and housing can make the difference between pain and success.He shares real-world examples, from a 25–50,000-node deployment that struggled with range because RF was an afterthought, to a utility project that achieved a 63 km link by respecting physics and integrating the antenna properly into a metal manhole cover. Gavin also highlights some of his favorite RAK designs, including the compact WisGate Soho Pro gateway with fully integrated antennas, and explains how off-grid solar gateway solutions and gateway mesh backhaul are opening up LoRaWAN in remote regions like the valleys of Wales. Throughout the conversation, he returns to a core theme: LoRaWAN works brilliantly when hardware, RF, and business goals are designed together, not bolted on at the end.Gavin on LinkedInRAK WirelessHelium Global IoT Coverage - Want to know if Helium coverage exists where you need it? Check out this map!Helium Foundation - The Helium Foundation's IoT Working Group (IOTWG) has generously provided support for the first 6 months of shows, please go check them out and consider using the Helium LoRaWAN as a primary or backup on your next deployment. With over a quarter million gateways deployed worldwide, it's likely that you have and can use Helium coverage.Support The Show - If you'd like to support the MetSci Show financially, here's where you can donate on a one-time or an ongoing basis. Thank you!MetSci Show - If you'd like to use our IoT or AI Data Value calculators, or you'd like to contact me, the MetSci Show site is the best way to do it. MeteoScientific Console - Use LoRaWAN - The MeteoScientific Console allows you to use LoRaWAN today. As long as you have Helium coverage (and you probably do, about 90% of populated areas in the world have a gateway within 2 miles), you can onboard a sensor. You can always check coverage at https://explorer.helium.com and switch to the "IoT" tab in the top right.

Thomas Froment, Program Manager for Development Tools at the Eclipse Foundation, talks about how AI-native, vendor-neutral tooling is transforming the way IoT and LoRaWAN developers build, test, and ship products. In this episode, he explains what Eclipse Theia is, why it matters, and how open-source toolchains give companies more control, privacy, and long-term resilience than proprietary AI editors. Drawing from his experience leading Theia, Open VSX, and other Eclipse development-tool initiatives, Thomas breaks down the rapidly evolving AI workflow landscape and why embedded engineers should pay attention.What Eclipse Theia actually is: a framework for building fully customizable, AI-native development environments designed for embedded and IoT toolchainsHow Theia differs from VS Code and Cursor, including privacy, extensibility, transparency, and the ability to integrate hardware, local workflows, and cloud systems in a single toolchainWhy open-source governance and vendor independence matter for companies developing IoT devices, especially in regulated or security-sensitive environmentsThe explosive growth of Open VSX and the shift toward extension ecosystems not controlled by a single vendorThe role of Model Context Protocol, AI agents, and domain-specific prompting as organizations integrate AI deeply into engineering and testing workflowsHow teams use Theia to build hybrid local-plus-cloud development environments that support hardware-in-the-loop testing, device constraints, and long-tail IoT edge casesEmerging use cases for lightweight and local AI models inside IoT products, and why customization of prompts and agent behavior becomes essentialCollaboration tooling within the Theia ecosystem, enabling real-time co-editing, code reviews, and multi-developer workflows for embedded teamsWhy IoT and LoRaWAN companies need to think in terms of entire toolchains rather than just IDEs, and how open-source components allow a tailored pipeline from development through testing and deploymentGuest Links:LinkedInEclipse Foundation

Dr. Simon Bunjamin, Project Manager for LoRaWAN and Smart City initiatives at NEW (Niederrhein Energie und Wasser GmbH) AG, talks about how a traditional public utility in western Germany transformed itself into a digital innovator by embracing LoRaWAN. He explains how the journey began with a single project and evolved into one of the most advanced regional LoRaWAN networks serving hundreds of thousands of customers.Shares how he moved from a background in political science into the world of IoT and smart utilitiesDescribes starting at NEW as a one-person team tasked with exploring LoRaWAN use cases across electricity, gas, and water divisionsExplains how early skepticism turned into enthusiasm once colleagues experienced LoRaWAN’s simplicity and reliability firsthandDetails the creation of an internal “experience center” to demonstrate live sensors and educate staff across departmentsTells the story of solving a seemingly minor problem—rain leaking through office windows—that sparked a wave of new IoT projectsBreaks down how LoRaWAN reshaped utility operations by replacing costly, limited systems with flexible, data-rich solutionsDiscusses the unexpected benefits of real-time metering data, from billing accuracy to optimizing heat and energy performanceShares the now-famous “beaver project,” where LoRaWAN sensors replaced manual water level checks and paid for themselves in daysHighlights lessons on building internal buy-in, navigating data governance, and balancing regulation with innovationReflects on how curiosity, communication, and small wins can drive large-scale transformation within public infrastructure organizationsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-simon-bunjamin-b84a7419/Company Website: https://www.new-energie.de/gk/service-fuer-stadtwerke/lorawan

Paul Martin Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of SenArch, talks about how solar-powered LoRaWAN gateways are filling the connectivity gaps that traditional infrastructure can’t reach. SenArch’s gateways are built to run reliably in extreme environments, with energy-optimized electronics and rugged AGM batteries that can operate for up to a month without sunlight. In this episode, Paul explains the engineering trade-offs behind battery and solar panel sizing, why AGM batteries outperform lithium in freezing temperatures, and how off-grid connectivity enables new IoT use cases worldwide.Choosing between 150-watt solar panels with 100 amp-hour batteries versus smaller 50-watt/22 amp-hour setups, depending on deployment location and climateWhy AGM batteries are critical in cold regions where lithium batteries lose charging ability and risk permanent damageThe role of Iridium low-power satellites as a backhaul option compared to Starlink, and how connectivity costs shape IoT deploymentsHidden costs in LoRaWAN, particularly the challenges of radio planning and the need for additional gateways to achieve reliable coverageThe importance of focusing on customer needs instead of competition, and why mission-critical networks demand over-specified, always-on infrastructureWater metering as one of the strongest business cases for LoRaWAN, with lower installation costs, faster rollouts, and significant efficiency gains for utilitiesPaul highlights how SenArch’s gateways are being used from Europe to North America to close coverage gaps, support water monitoring, and enable smart city, climate resilience, and agricultural projects. His experience in telecom and IoT gives him a unique perspective on building sustainable networks that deliver real-world impact.Links:Paul Martin SchwartzSenarchHelium Global IoT Coverage - Want to know if Helium coverage exists where you need it? Check out this map!Helium Foundation - The Helium Foundation's IoT Working Group (IOTWG) has generously provided support for the first 6 months of shows, please go check them out and consider using the Helium LoRaWAN as a primary or backup on your next deployment. With over a quarter million gateways deployed worldwide, it's likely that you have and can use Helium coverage.Support The Show - If you'd like to support the MetSci Show financially, here's where you can donate on a one-time or an ongoing basis. Thank you!MetSci Show - If you'd like to use our IoT or AI Data Value calculators, or you'd like to contact me, the MetSci Show site is the best way to do it. MeteoScientific Console - Use LoRaWAN - The MeteoScientific Console allows you to use LoRaWAN today. As long as you have Helium coverage (and you probably do, about 90% of populated areas in the world have a gateway within 2 miles), you can onboard a sensor. You can always check coverage at https://explorer.helium.com and switch to the "IoT" tab in the top right.

Brandon Dalida, Regional Sales Director at MultiTech, talks about how large-scale LoRaWAN deployments succeed when they're designed around cost-efficiency, business alignment, and network structure. With over two decades in telecom and IoT, Brandon brings a deeply practical perspective on what makes LoRaWAN work for enterprise—especially when budgets, security, and data costs are on the line.Breaks down how LoRaWAN networks can be tailored to support different business models, comparing Capex-driven private networks with Opex-heavy cloud-based topologiesExplains the value of edge intelligence and why Fortune 500 companies are increasingly turning to on-site LoRaWAN deployments for privacy, scalability, and WAN data cost savingsIntroduces MultiTech’s Conduit gateways and their BACnet/IP integration, enabling seamless LoRaWAN-to-building automation system communication for smart buildingsDiscusses the retrofitting opportunity: how LoRaWAN can be used in older buildings like museums and courthouses where wired infrastructure is not feasibleTalks through the challenges of fragmented networks in multi-site deployments and how MultiTech is building tools for onboarding and orchestration to unify device management at scaleShares the vision for future integration between LoRaWAN and Bluetooth Low Energy, especially for mobile onboarding, firmware updates, and device configurationHighlights how different wireless technologies—LoRaWAN, LTE, BLE, NFC—can work together depending on the use case, cost, and scale requirementsLinks:Brandon on LinkedInMulti-Tech website

Orne Brocaar, founder and lead developer of ChirpStack, talks about building one of the most widely used open-source LoRaWAN network servers in the world. With over two million downloads across major versions, ChirpStack has become a foundational tool for developers, businesses, and governments deploying LoRaWAN infrastructure.In this episode, Orne explains how ChirpStack grew from a side project in 2015 to a globally adopted platform, with early support from CableLabs and SIDN. He outlines the biggest technical challenges users face, especially around configuring gateways, Linux environments, and network firewalls—core steps that can make or break a LoRaWAN deployment.The conversation dives into the practical business model behind open-source software in IoT, where ChirpStack generates sustainable revenue through consultancy, contracted development, and community sponsorships. Orne shares how this structure allows him to support enterprise users while continuing to improve the platform for everyone.A highlight of the discussion is ChirpStack’s new gateway mesh feature, developed in collaboration with RAK Wireless and Smart Parks. These solar-powered relay gateways operate without direct internet connections and enable coverage in remote or rugged environments. Orne describes how the new mesh framework supports remote configuration and monitoring over LoRaWAN’s proprietary message types—providing valuable tools for managing decentralized infrastructure.Other topics include advice for first-time users, the role of ChirpStack in the broader LoRaWAN ecosystem, and what’s next for the project.Common setup pain points and how to solve themMaking open-source business models work in IoTThe role of CableLabs and SIDN in scaling ChirpStackLoRaWAN deployment in rural and off-grid areasGateway mesh architecture for extended coverageUsing LoRaWAN to send commands to gatewaysWhy ChirpStack continues to grow in adoptionGuest links:Orne Brocaar on LinkedInChirpstackHelium Global IoT Coverage - Want to know if Helium coverage exists where you need it? Check out this map!Helium Foundation - The Helium Foundation's IoT Working Group (IOTWG) has generously provided support for the first 6 months of shows, please go check them out and consider using the Helium LoRaWAN as a primary or backup on your next deployment. With over a quarter million gateways deployed worldwide, it's likely that you have and can use Helium coverage.Support The Show - If you'd like to support the MetSci Show financially, here's where you can donate on a one-time or an ongoing basis. Thank you!MetSci Show - If you'd like to use our IoT or AI Data Value calculators, or you'd like to contact me, the MetSci Show site is the best way to do it. MeteoScientific Console - Use LoRaWAN - The MeteoScientific Console allows you to use LoRaWAN today. As long as you have Helium coverage (and you probably do, about 90% of populated areas in the world have a gateway within 2 miles), you can onboard a sensor. You can always check coverage at https://explorer.helium.com and switch to the "IoT" tab in the top right.