GPS and GSM

[Thucar]

I'm actually looking into this very thing myself. Not from the GPS aspect but the GSM/GPRS point of view. The goal here is to create a remote battery/solar powered MQTT gateway that can have a network of nodes of its own.

I'm testing things with the A6 GSM/GPRS module from AI Thinker. Right now I'm trying to chew through the MyGatewayTransportMQTTClient.cpp file and figure out how to convinve MySensors to play nice with the thing.

As the A6 library I'm using TinyGSM. Using one of the TinyGSM examples I got the GPRS connection up and running in no time.

[gohan]

@Thucar I think you will need some some kind of controller (like node-red or whatever) than can bridge the different systems connected to MQTT

[Thucar]

How come? Using a TinyGSM example sketch I can connect to the internet, get an IP address, connect to my MQTT broker and push/read messages. So I was thinking all I need to do is use the TinyGSM library to set up an Internet connection. Then use the GatewayXXXXMQTTClient sketch to handle everything else. Pretty much like with Ethernet or ESP8266 versions of the gateway.

[gohan]

I meant from the server side, from the client you only need the mqtt client, but if you want the GSM client talk to other things like on your mysensors network, then a controller is needed

[Thucar]

I was thinking more in the lines of a standalone Mysensors network. So I would place this GSM gateway in my beeyard, add nodes to each individual hive and have the gateway forward all gathered information to my MQTT broker. At the same time I could use the gateway to read incoming messages from the broker and forward them to the nodes.

An alternative would be to not configure it as a MQTT gateway but as an Ethernet Client gateway that connects directly to my PC.

[gohan]

Ok I got it now. Maybe @Yveaux could provide a comment on the feasibility

[Thucar]

Looks like I have it working. At least it compiles nicely and connects to the Internet via GPRS. The problem is, I can't use it as an Ethernet server gateway when on GPRS. It has to be in Client configuration. I've been using MySController so far but does not look like it supports gateways as Clients. What would you say is the simplest way to test the Ethernet Client configuration?

[gohan]

Sorry... no idea on how to hack the mysensors gateway to use gprs

[Thucar]

I'm not looking to hack it. I think I pretty much did that part. I'm looking for information on how to use or more specifically test a regular Ethernet Gateway in Client mode. The Client mode seems to be an official feature of the Ethernet Gateway judging by the comments in the example file.

[mfalkvidd]

@Thucar the ethernet client gateways needs an open tcp port to connect to. If you have a linux machine you can use netcat to start such a port. If the linux machine is behind a router you'll need to use port forearding.

[gohan]

@mfalkvidd I think he wants to compile a MQTT gateway but without the ethernet interface and use the GPRS instead

[fhenryco]

what would you say is the main benefit of the A6 module with respect to a sim800L

[Thucar]

@fhenryco for me, the benefit of the A6 is that I have one on my desk :)

@gohan I'm not fixed on using a MQTT gateway. Not after learning that a regular Ethernet Gateway can be used as a Client. Actually I would very much prefer using it as an Ethernet Gateway if I can.

So far I have not managed to get MySensors to play ball. Even though I have an internet connection up and running and a port to connect to, I'm not seeing any incoming connections. Must dig deeper.