LoRaWAN
®
Relay Technical Recommendations
TR016-1.0.0
©2026 LoRa Alliance
®
Page 8 of 20
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Important Deployment Considerations 178
There are several deployment considerations for relay functionality: 179
• Essential Gateway dependency 180
• Not a mesh network alternative 181
• Not a Gateway replacement 182
3.2.3 Essential Gateway dependency 183
Relays require a LoRaWAN® Gateway, which can be either a terrestrial gateway or a satellite- 184
connected gateway. A Relay forwards messages between end-devices and a Gateway, 185
effectively extending the Gateway's coverage area. 186
3.2.4 Not a mesh network 187
The deployment of relay functionality SHOULD NOT be considered as a mesh network. 188
LoRaWAN® relay functionality is only designed for targeted coverage extension in particular 189
use cases. 190
3.2.5 Not a Gateway replacement 191
Deployment of relays is not intended to replace deployment of Gateways. Gateways offer 192
broader network coverage and higher capacity, whereas Relays address specific edge cases. 193
A Relay is only able to handle a limited number of end-devices as the energy impact is 194
proportional to the relayed traffic. Below are examples of the additional connectivity cost 195
(Synchronization+WOR+ACK+RXR) cost on the end-device and on the Relay: 196
197
198
Figure 3: BATTERY LIFE Simulation - LoRaWAN® END DEVICE under Relay 199
200
