Regions at a glance
LoRaWAN names plans after the band. The Regional Parameters list (as reproduced in the TTN docs): EU863-870, US902-928, CN779-787, EU433, AU915-928, CN470-510, AS923-1/2/3/4, KR920-923, IN865-867 and RU864-870. The current RP002 on the LoRa Alliance site is 1.0.4 (September 2023), and there may be a newer one, so check.
- AU915 (AU915-928): TTN lists Australia and New Zealand here, plus Argentina, Brazil and Chile. The band is split into sub-bands of channels, and TTN uses only sub-band 2 (channels 8 to 15 and 65), at 916.8 to 918.2 MHz (125 kHz) and 917.5 MHz (500 kHz), downlinks 923.3 to 927.5 MHz. Devices need to be set to those channels to work on TTN. ChirpStack's AU915 default is a different sub-band, so confirm both ends match.
- US915 (US902-928): TTN lists USA, Canada, Mexico, Colombia and others. Same sub-band approach; TTN uses sub-band 2 (uplinks 903.9 to 905.3 MHz).
- EU868 (EU863-870): 8 default uplink channels (868.1, 868.3, 868.5 and 867.1 to 867.9 MHz), RX2 at 869.525 MHz. Duty cycle applies per ETSI sub-band, as quoted by TTN from EN 300 220-2 V3.2.1: 863-865 MHz 0.1%, 865-868 MHz 1%, 868-868.6 MHz 1%, 868.7-869.2 MHz 0.1%, 869.4-869.65 MHz 10%, 869.7-870 MHz 1%.
- EU433: listed as an option alongside EU868 in most European countries by TTN, but TTN notes it has no frequency plan yet.
- AS923: TTN splits it into AS1 (Japan, Malaysia, Singapore; 922.0 to 923.4 MHz) and AS2 (Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam; 923.2 to 924.6 MHz). OTAA devices start on 923.2 and 923.4 MHz. The specification also has AS923-3 and -4 variants.
- IN865: India, 865 to 867 MHz, three default uplink channels.
- KR920: South Korea, 920 to 923 MHz.
- CN470: China, 470 to 510 MHz (TTN also lists CN779-787 for China).
- RU864: RP002 has RU864-870, but TTN's country list maps Russia to EU863-870 and EU433. Those two sources disagree, so verify locally.
- 2.4 GHz LoRa: SX1280/81-class chips work on 2.4 GHz, a worldwide ISM band that is not interoperable with sub-GHz LoRa and needs 2.4 GHz-specific radios and gateways. Check the local limits for 2.4 GHz (the Australian entries are above).
The Radiocommunications (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence 2025 commenced on 1 October 2025 (I read the as-made text, so check for later amendments). In its tables:
- 915-928 MHz, any transmitter: 3 mW EIRP.
- 915-928 MHz, frequency hopping: 1 W EIRP, with no operation using fewer than 20 hopping frequencies.
- 915-928 MHz, digital modulation: 1 W EIRP, with peak power spectral density not above 25 mW per 3 kHz.
- 433.05-434.79 MHz, any transmitter: 25 mW EIRP.
- 2400-2483.5 MHz, any transmitter: 10 mW EIRP (higher entries exist for frequency hopping and digital modulation, with conditions).
- The licence also says class-licensed devices get no protection from interference by ISM equipment in 918-926 MHz and 2400-2500 MHz.
Other rules worth knowing
- USA (FCC 15.247): for 902-928 MHz frequency hopping with channels under 250 kHz wide, at least 50 hopping frequencies and no more than 0.4 s average dwell per frequency in 20 s allows 1 W conducted; 25 to 49 channels allows 0.25 W. Digitally modulated systems need a 6 dB bandwidth of at least 500 kHz, with 1 W and 8 dBm per 3 kHz PSD limits.
- Europe: Meshtastic's docs describe EU_433 and EU_868 as 10% duty cycle, EU_868 at 869.4-869.65 MHz, and say 500 kHz presets are not permitted in that sub-band.
- Network rules sit on top of regulations: TTN's Sandbox also applies a Fair Use Policy of 30 s uplink airtime per node per day.
- Buy the variant for your band. Boards are commonly sold in 433, 868 and 915 MHz versions, and some, like the Heltec WiFi LoRa 32 V3, list a wide tuning range (863-928 MHz), but the matching network and antenna still need to suit your band.
- Australia / New Zealand: 915 MHz (AU915) for LoRaWAN, and the ANZ region for Meshtastic. US / Canada: 915 MHz. Europe: 868 MHz. India: 865 MHz. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Southeast Asia: the 920-925 MHz parts for your country's plan. China: 470 MHz parts.
- Do not buy a 433 MHz or 868 MHz board in Australia just because it is cheap or in stock; a wrong-band board will not talk to AU915 gateways or ANZ Meshtastic meshes, and may not be legal to operate.
- Use the antenna that came for your band and never transmit without one attached.
Question for the group: which band and region preset are you running (AU915 sub-band, ANZ, 868 and so on), and have you found a board whose real range matched the claims on the product page?