IoT stands for the Internet of Things and is a concept that has been around since 1999. IoT are objects around us that collects data and connects to controls or other machines via the internet and is a field that constantly growing every year. The most used communication for IoT devices is wireless communication. The term is broad and contains many different protocols, e.g. Bluetooth, WiFi, and LoRa. LoRa, which is short for Long Range is an energy-efficient long-range wireless data transfer technology that sends small data packets between IoT nodes and LoRa receivers. A LoRa receiver can communicate with hundreds of nodes and the product has spread widely throughout the world. LoRa is the term for the physical layer for communication and LoRaWAN corresponds to the communication protocol.

Simulating a LoRaWAN network is interesting as it provides an opportunity to get an idea of how it might work. This can result in increased use of network simulations in experiments and give the opportunity for companies, as well as private individuals to take the first step towards using LoRa and benefit from the results.

Ns-3 is a network simulator and has been selected for use in this work. The use of a network simulator always raises questions about how credible the simulation portraits reality. With a collaboration with Etteplan, the issue for the work was formulated to:

● How well can simulation of LoRaWAN correspond to physical measurement when used between a LoRa receiver and IoT node in a free-vision environment?

To answer the question, a simulation of a LoRaWAN network in the simulator Ns-3 was tested and then compared with results based on reality. The factor that was compared in the simulation against reality is the signal strength and how it is affected by spreading factors, different bandwidths and distances. The spreading factors 7 to 11 and the bandwidth 125, 250 and 500 kHz have been used at the distances 211, 1800 and 3500 meters.

After analysing the data collected during the experiment it can be seen that the signal strength became stronger the higher the bandwidth used in the reality, however similar tests resulted in the simulation to the contrary. The higher bandwidth contributed to a lower signal strength. The spreading factor behaved differently in the simulation compared to the reality because it had a bigger impact on the signal strength. The conclusion of this can be that the simulation was able to integrate the signal for a longer time with higher spreading factor and this led to better signal strength as it reduced the interference of communication. However, one can conclude that the simulation showed a good picture of what a real scenario might look like between a LoRa receiver and IoT node.