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rbAmp LoRaWAN

Coming Q4 2026. AC energy monitoring over LoRaWAN — 10+ km range, no WiFi needed. For remote pumps, farm panels, off-grid cabins, and building submetering where running Ethernet or extending WiFi is expensive. Ships as Basic UI1 first; Standard UI1 follows.

Get notified at launch

Drop your email and we will tell you the day pre-orders open. First batch ships with an early-bird discount.

Why LoRaWAN

Some installations are out of reach for WiFi. A pump in a field, a meter on a remote cabin, a sub-feed on the opposite side of a warehouse — running Cat-5 or extending the wireless mesh costs more than the meter itself. LoRaWAN is the right radio for that job: low data rate (energy readings are small), 10+ km line-of-sight to a single gateway, multi-year battery operation possible on a USB-rechargeable cell.

rbAmp LoRaWAN ships with:

  • The same metering core as Wireless Basic / Standard (you get accuracy parity)
  • A LoRaWAN 1.0.4 stack pre-flashed, OTA Class A by default
  • Pluggable into existing networks: The Things Network (free), Helium, ChirpStack (self-host), or any LoRaWAN 1.0.4 gateway you operate

Two variants on the roadmap

rbAmp LoRaWAN Basic UI1

Single-phase consumption monitoring for a single load. ±2–3% accuracy. Use cases: irrigation pumps, off-grid solar arrays, remote farm equipment.

rbAmp LoRaWAN Standard UI1

Bidirectional metering (consumption + export). ±0.5–1% accuracy. Use cases: remote solar arrays, off-grid battery banks where you need to see both directions.

Use cases we are validating

  • Farm pump telemetry — a single pump tens of meters from the farmhouse, no WiFi extender needed
  • Off-grid solar dashboard — see your remote cabin's PV output and battery state from your phone
  • Submetering in old buildings — apartment sub-feed across long basement runs, no Ethernet
  • Construction site temporary monitoring — track loads during a build before the WiFi network is up

Cloud and data routing

Readings flow from the rbAmp LoRaWAN module → your LoRaWAN gateway → your application server. We support three routing patterns out of the box:

  • The Things Network webhooks → MQTT → rbAmp Cloud (default), Home Assistant, or your own broker
  • Helium console → custom integration to your dashboard
  • Self-hosted ChirpStack → direct integration without external dependency

Detailed integration recipes ship with the product on launch.

Limitations to know up front

LoRaWAN is not WiFi. The trade-offs:

  • Low data rate. A reading every 5–10 minutes is typical; second-resolution is not possible (radio duty cycle limits).
  • No firmware re-flash over the air unless you have direct USB access at deployment time. Plan for one trip to the device per major firmware revision.
  • Gateway required. A LoRaWAN gateway in range is mandatory. If you do not have one, factor it into the project budget — entry gateways are $80–150.

For installations where these are blockers, look at the WiFi-based rbAmp Wireless instead.

Pricing (estimated)

  • rbAmp LoRaWAN Basic UI1 — $20–28
  • rbAmp LoRaWAN Standard UI1 — $28–38

Final pricing locked in closer to launch.

Frequently asked

When does LoRaWAN launch? Q4 2026 estimated, after WiFi Wireless ships in Q3.

Will I need a gateway? Yes — a LoRaWAN 1.0.4 gateway in range. The Things Network has community gateways in many cities (check the map at thethingsnetwork.org). Otherwise budget $80–150 for an entry gateway.

Battery operation? Yes — but with caveats. The module itself draws ~10–15 mA continuous and ~100 mA on transmit. Multi-year operation on a USB-rechargeable Li-ion is feasible at a 10-minute reading interval. Detailed runtime spec at launch.

Class B / Class C support? Not at launch. Class A (uplink + short downlink window) only.

Re-flashable firmware? Yes — via the same Arduino/ESPHome path as Wireless. But not over-the-air. Plan for a USB visit.

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