Thanks for your interest in Sigfox and Simple Hardware products.

In order to install the devices it is important to understand several things:

• Sigfox is working on the edge of what’s physically possible. There is less margin in radio performance than in both WiFi and GSM. Sigfox needs to work across tens of kilometers and proper installation is extremely important.

• Sigfox is using 868/915 MHz frequencies that don’t penetrate water or soil very well. Underground installation is possible, but coverage and antenna performance must be excellent for satisfying results. A signal repeater can be used for underground installation if there are not many devices that will not emit too many messages, won’t require downlink and there’s good coverage outside. Otherwise, Micro Access Point is recommended.

• Modern office buildings quite often have metal plates on the external facade and windows coated in metal. GSM operators install indoor densification units in these buildings and Sigfox might need local densification through Micro Access Point.

SimpleLeak installation

By its design, it should work fine in any environment. For deep basement water leakage monitoring see Point 2 above.

SimplePack installation

You can install the SimplePack in any orientation. The emitting pattern is circular in all axes. We are using a multi-frequency antenna so we are resistant to antenna detuning from direct contact with a large metal object. Even despite the SimplePack being Sigfox Class 0, we recommend field tests of radio performance for every field deployment with limited Sigfox coverage. A non-conductive distance plate of 2-3 cm can help if the radio performance is below expectations on and around large metallic structures. Also please don’t use metallic duct tape for device fixation.

If you need any guidance please send us your use case and photos of the installation and the environment.

Find more articles and original source here.

Best wishes

Simple Hardware Team