MikroTik wAP LoRa8/LoRa9 LoRa Gateway Kits Launched for $169

Last year, MikroTik announced they had worked on several LoRa products including R11e-LoRa8EU mini PCIe LoRaWAN Gateway/concentrator card, wAP LoRa8 kit (LoRa & WiFi gateway) with the mini PCIe card, as well as a 6.5 dBi Omni antenna kit to extend the range provided by the 2 dBi internal antenna.

All three products are now available with R11e-LoRa8EU mini PCIe selling for $89, wAP LoRa8 kit going for $169, and the optional antenna kit adding $49. The company also introduced wAP LoRa9 kit with R11e-LoRa9 mini PCIe card geared towards markets (like the USA) using the 902-928 MHz frequency band and selling for the same price.

MikroTik wAP LoRa8 kit (RBwAPR-2nD&R11e-LoRa8) specifications:

• SoC – Qualcomm Atheros QCA9531 MIPSBE (Big Endian) processor @ 650 MHz
• System Memory – 64 MB RAN
• Storage – 16 MB flash
• Connectivity
  • Wired – 10/100M Fast Ethernet
  • WLAN – 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n WiFi 4 @ up to 300 Mbps
  • LPWAN
    • R11e-LoRa8 LoRa MiniPCIe card working in 863-870 MHz frequency band for Europe, Russia, India, etc…
    • LoRa TX Power – Up to 20dBm
    • Lora Sensitivity – -137dB @ SF12
    • Supported LoRa devices – Class A and C
    • LoRa Antenna – 2dBi internal PCB antenna plus optional MikroTik LoRa Antenna kit for extra range/coverage.
  • Cellular – SIM card slot (no other documentation available at this stage)
• Misc – PCB temperature monitor, Voltage Monitor
• Power Supply – 9-30V DC via DC jack, 4-pin automotive connector, or passive PoE input
• Max power consumption – 7 Watts
• Dimensions – 185 x 85 x 30 mm
• Temperature Range – -40°C to 60°C
• Certifications – CE/RED, FCC, IC, EAC, ROHS
• IP protection – IP54

The device runs MikroTik RouterOS, License level 4 meaning it supports up to 200 hotspot clients among other features. The gateway ships with a getting started manual, a PoE injector, a 24V/800mA switching power supply, a desk stand, an outdoor bracket, screws, a hose clamp with a wall template, a 4-wire cable for the automotive connector.

I found out about the product launch as the company organized a workshop at The Things Conference 2020, and gave away samples to attendees. One of those attendees was Tinkerman (Xose Pérez) and he wrote a long post about his experience with the hardware and software including RouterOS interface, integration with TTN, and MikroTik Android app.

Xose mentions the kit costs 200 Euros, so I suppose that includes VAT and maybe other taxes or shipping fees, as the suggested price for the router is $169 on the LoRa products page. If you check the individual pages, you’ll also find documentation and RouterOS download link.

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