Assistance Needed for LoRa 2.4GHz Configuration and Join Request Issues

Hello,

I am working on a project using LoRa 2.4GHz and need some assistance with configuration and performance.

Here are the details of my setup:

Development Environment: SES 8.18, nRF5 SDK Version 17.1, nRF52832.
Transceiver: E28-2G4M12S (SX1280).
Gateway: MikroTik wAP LR2 kit.

I am adapting the example from application_example/2_porting_nrf_52840 to work with the nRF52832. For testing, I am using the file main_periodical_uplink.c and here is the output I get:

<info> app: INFO: Modem Initialization
<info> app: INFO: Use soft secure element for cryptographic functionalities
<info> app: stack_id 0
<info> app: DevNonce = 0
<info> app: JoinNonce = 0xff ff ff, NetID = 0xff ff ff
<info> app: Region = WW2G4
<info> app: LoRaWAN Certification is disabled on stack 0
<info> app: Modem event callback
<info> app: INFO: Event received: RESET
<info> app: INFO: smtc_modem_join_network
<info> app: Start a new join sequence in 3 seconds on stack 0
<info> app: INFO: Periodical uplink example is starting 
<info> app: STMC_MODEM_STATUS = 0
<info> app: INFO: No network joined yet or unknown status
<info> app: STMC_MODEM_STATUS = 0
<info> app: INFO: No network joined yet or unknown status
<info> app: DevEUI - (8 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
<info> app: JoinEUI - (8 bytes): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
<info> app: DevNonce 0x1, stack_id 0
<info> app: INFO: SMTC_MODEM_STATUS_JOINING
<info> app: *************************************
<info> app: Send Payload  for stack_id = 0
<info> app: *************************************
<info> app: Tx LoRa at 9014 ms: freq:2479000000, SF10, BW800, len 23 bytes 8 dBm, fcnt_up 0, toa = 75
<info> app: INFO: SMTC_MODEM_STATUS_JOINING
<info> app: INFO: SMTC_MODEM_STATUS_JOINING

While monitoring the traffic on my gateway, I rarely receive the join request message. When I do receive it, the RSSI is usually below -100 dBm, which indicates poor signal strength.

Here are my gateway configurations:

General settings:
Channels (all configured to SF12):
Join messsage (very rarely) receiveed:

I am trying to ensure that I can successfully send messages.

My questions:

How can I configure the radio to always use Spreading Factor 12 (SF12) (along with all other radio parameters), even for the join request message?
The RSSI is consistently low. What could be the possible cause for this poor signal quality?

Thank you for your help!

Lora-net / SWL2001

Assistance Needed for LoRa 2.4GHz Configuration and Join Request Issues #94