The Helium lora-network relies on gateways (hotspots) that are installed and maintained by third parties. We cannot guarantee continuous network coverage by these gateways. However, connecting your BEEP base to the Helium network can be an economical alternative to purchasing and installing your own gateway.
Using the Helium network is not free: connecting your BEEP base with a transmission interval of 1x per 15 minutes will cost approximately 4 USD per year. With a transmission interval of 1x per 60 minutes, this cost is reduced to approximately 1 USD per year.
First check whether your apiary is covered by a Helium hotspot by using the coverage map at https://explorer.helium.com
Is there a Helium hotspot providing coverage at your location? You can then proceed with the following guide to connect your BEEP base to the Helium network.
Step 1: get started by signing into the Helium console at https://console.helium.com and click on Add and Manage Devices. Add a new device by clicking the "New Device" button:
Choose a name for your device, then copy the DevEUI, AppEUI and AppKey into the "Manual Configuration" screen of the Lora-menu on your phone's BEEP Base App, and click "Save Device" in the Helium Console and "Set Credentials" in the BEEP Base App. On your phone, you should now see your lora-network status change to "Enabled and Connected".
Step 2: To connect to the BEEP database, click on "Integrations" in the left side-bar and then on "Add New Integration". Pick "HTTP" to add an integration of the "HTTP" type.
The endpoint of this HTTP integration needs to be set to https://api.beep.nl/api/lora_sensors
Choose a name for this integration, and click "Save".
Step 3: To enable this integration for your BEEP base device, click on "Flows" in the sidebar and open the Nodes-menu in the top left. From this menu, pick your newly created integration and drag it onto the canvas, then pick your device and drag it onto the canvas too. Connect the device to the integration as shown here:
Step 4: Check https://app.beep.nl: is your BEEP base now succesfully transmitting data to the BEEP database? If so, you can use the Helium network for as long as the hotspot remains active *and* your subscription is paid for with "data credits".
Click on Data Credits in the left side-bar to extend your subscription. Data Credits can be purchased by credit card with a minimum of 10 USD per purchase.
Additional BEEP bases can be connected by using the above steps (up to a maximum of 10 bases).
Questions? Mail us at info@beep.nl or contact us through the helpdesk.