chirpstack VS firmware

can you help me please? I wish to use the Postgresql database I installed using "apt install..." locally on the machine in a container of a Chirpstack. IP of my machine is 10.0.2.45 and Postgresql is running on ports 5432 and 5433. I know I should be able to reach it because I made a container in the same docker network 172.19.0.0/16 and installed postgresql client to try to connect to a database on the same machine 10.0.2.45 and it did. But then I try again multiple time with chirpstack and I keep getting this error: ... 2023-03-12T21:24:30.454103Z INFO chirpstack::storage: Setting up PostgreSQL connection pool Error: Setup PostgreSQL connection pool error Caused by: timed out waiting for connection: could not connect to server: Connection refused Is the server running on host "localhost" (127.0.0.1) and accepting TCP/IP connections on port 5432? could not connect to server: Cannot assign requested address Is the server running on host "localhost" (::1) and accepting TCP/IP connections on port 5432? 2023-03-12T21:25:02.132215Z INFO chirpstack::cmd::root: Starting ChirpStack LoRaWAN Network Server version="4.3.0" docs="https://www.chirpstack.io/" ... and then it restarts again and again.

I "play" with LoRa and LoRaWAN devices for work so can add a few comments here to help you on this. Apologies if I'm repeating stuff you already know. LoRa (I'm going to use LoRa and LoRaWAN interchangeably cause I'm lazy) is a small packet unidirectional periodic communications protocol. More accurately you can talk to it from the gateway to the device but for class A it only opens for a very short period after it transmits, class c is always receiving but at the cost of battery life. Because it uses small packets it has limited things to send (and is encoded so needs to be decoded at the receiver so to make it simple you will want to limit what is sent). It is NOT for real time communications ie send and receive now. I have seen an article which suggested using LoRa instead of pagers for emergency services but that has limits. In terms of the system you would require to make this idea work you would need gateways (or access public gateways if available), a server stack so either Chirpstack if you want to run your own server and device manager, or use the Things Network for a managed server more info on servers. Each device that you want on your network needs to be activated and registered which if you are thinking of making it widely available becomes difficult in managing and scaling. In terms of security it's pretty good. I had a 15 second look at that link someone else has posted and have made a LoRa device with the FiPy, it's easy to get going (lots of python libraries and example code) but challenging to program well. As I said I've done a lot of research and playing with these trying to build a private network for work; I've tried to be concise but hopefully covered most things. Ideas for disaster work are critical so even if this idea doesn't pan out keep up the good work and keep the ideas coming.

Have you seen Meshtastic (https://meshtastic.org/)? It seems like a similar concept but using dedicated devices and unlicensed ISM frequencies, and it's a proper mesh network (so you can even setup repeaters to provide better coverage for an area). I guess they wouldn't work too well if you're travelling to another country since you'd have to get the right radios for the country but it's a neat idea.

💻 https://meshtastic.org/

Meshtastic is another project that has recently made serious strides[0] in their UX on the Lilygo T-deck (and similar ESP32 devices), but specifically regarding LoRA-enabled devices.

It's still on a branch, but I compiled and ran it, and now I have two T-decks that can communicate with eachother off-the-grid without a smartphone attached to send messages; it's actually usable in emergencies now, which is why I bought the devices in the first place.

Currently in the process to deploy a mesh from me to my parents and family.

[0]: https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware/pull/3259

This is a fantastic idea, thanks for sharing. I feel like LoRaWAN and LoRAMESH are the perfect solution for shuffling messaging around for home and property sensors, easily traversing a couple miles in poor conditions.

Prior to seeing this I was thinking about how to use the Meshtastic [0] project to fundamentally provide simple UDP services for message brokering over LoRa. There are so many sensors that could easily hook or connect to devices acting as network routers that could bridge other protocols across long distances very easily.

Have you looked at doing something similar with ZWave at all?

[0] https://meshtastic.org/