IoTnet, a service currently under development by SURF, provides our members with a wireless infrastructure for sensors based on LoRaWAN. As part of the pilot phase, outdoor gateways have been installed throughout the country for this purpose. Indoor gateways have also been installed for individual institutions. Indoor and outdoor gateways are now accessible via the Network Dashboard, SURF’s customer portal for network services.

All organisations and users with access to the network dashboard can view the outdoor gateways. Network administrators can see which gateways are located in their vicinity and what their status is. They can also analyse how much traffic has passed through them recently. If organisations manage indoor gateways as well as outdoor gateways, these are also displayed.

For example, organisations use IoTnet to collect temperature, humidity or CO₂ readings from climate sensors. This enables them to monitor air quality. Motion sensors are also used to detect no-shows in halls, whilst people counters are used to count the number of people in a room. Furthermore, researchers utilise various sensors to measure soil moisture and temperature, or water conditions.

The Network Dashboard is the portal where administrators can view the status of services. This includes current availability, SLS statistics, traffic graphs and maintenance notifications. Furthermore, for the past year, the SURF Domains service has found a new home there for domain registration and zone management. SURF’s support in the event of cyber-attacks, provided by SURFcert, is also available via the network dashboard.