The latest in a line of high technology gateways has been installed in Abergavenny, with anyone in the town and the surrounding areas now able to tap into the sustainable resource.

LoRaWAN gateways serve as a bridge between enabled devices and the internet, facilitating communication between them. The connection between the gateway, which has been installed on the roof of Abergavenny Leisure Centre, and LoRaWAN sensors and smart devices, can be faster than a standard internet connection but generally provides a more reliable signal.

It has been funded by Abergavenny Town Council and the technology is designed to extend the reach of the town’s environmental sensors, which should result in the return of more accurate and wide-reaching green data.

By having a gateway, the challenges of patchy and inconsistent internet connections which the environmental sensors would otherwise have relied upon are eradicated. This is because LoRaWAN gateways act as a hub which data from its connected sensors are passed through before getting a reading.

Essentially, it creates a network within itself and bypasses many factors which contribute to inaccurate data transport.

Local business, SenseAbility, was enlisted to install the new gateway which will benefit local people by providing more stable connections for businesses and services around the town.

“Having one allows remote data, from remote sources, to be passed to and from remote locations,” Scott Andrews, part of the team who installed the gateway, said.

“We have found that having one in Abergavenny in particular, but the whole of Wales really, works very well because the topography of the landscape is challenging to work with when building digital infrastructure.”

“The best part of this project is anyone can tap into it. If you have a mobile phone or a tablet which connects to the internet, you can benefit from a faster connection.”

With its elevated position, the new tower will enhance data reception increase the range to a rough 8 kilometre radius, giving more businesses access to an even stronger connection than ever before.

“I am confident people well out of town, as far as Llanfoist, could benefit from using this tower,” Scott said.

The technology has a variety of uses for monitoring data for different kinds of businesses, which allows businesses to monitor their data automatically.

The solar-powered gateway is also being supported for use in local schools with students’ data able to be visualised in a central dashboard.

LoRaWAN gateways were first mentioned in the town in 2023 as a part of Abergavenny Town Council’s vision of a ‘smart town’, which provides data on visitor numbers and dwell time that is used to help grow tourism and the local economy.

Sandra Rosser, Town Council Clerk, reiterated the body’s commitment to sustainablity.

“Abergavenny Town Council is proud to continue its sustainability journey,” she said.

“We have now worked with SenseAbility to fit a second LoRaWAN gateway on the Abergavenny Leisure Centre roof, and are pleased we have been able to expand this game-changing technology across the town.”