Demystifying LoRa WAN Security and Capacity

LoRa and LoRaWAN are developing technologies that are meant as a way to implement a Low Power Wide Area Network which allows devices to communicate. This technology is being used to develop Internet of Things solutions for cutting edge applications such as smart farming, metering, and cities. Since this technology promises to be widespread and greatly used in the future it is very important that the security and capacity of the system is ensured. To this end, a large amount of research has been done looking into potential security threats to LoRa solutions, and how to protect against these vulnerabilities. Additionally, LoRa networks are meant to handle a high capacity of devices to provide coverage for urban areas. In such environments, it is important to know the practical capacity of the network. The goal of our paper is to collect this information and present it in a way that helps developers assess and optimize LoRaWAN deployments.