# How to calculate the data rate of LoRa?

Picture below is from this web, how to calculate the data rate ? For example, how much kbps is Bw125Cr48Sf4096 ?

## Easy way

The easiest way to calculate the data rate is to use the official LoRa calculator that you can download from this link.

Spreading factor is displayed differently compared to the site that the picture is from.

In the program, the spreading factor should be recognized as the exponent of two, as $$\2^{12}\$$ is 4096 which is the same thing, as in Bw125Cr48Sf4096.

You enter your values on the left, and modifying the values in the green rectangle are changing the equivalent bitrate part on the right, although changing values under Packet Configuration changes the other relevant values for timing, but doesn't affect the bitrate.

## Manual way

If you want to calculate the bitrate manually, the documentation recommends the following method on the bottom of page 3 of the LoRa FAQ.

$$\DR = SF \cdot \cfrac{BW}{2^{SF}} \cdot CR\$$

DR = Data rate
BW = Bandwidth
CR = Coding rate

If we substitute the above mentioned example values, we get the following:

$$\DR = 12 \cdot \cfrac{125\ kHz}{2^{12}} \cdot \cfrac{4}{8}\$$

$$\DR = 183.1055\ bps\$$.

This is the exact same value what we got in the calculator software.

Sources

• Thanks very much. It is so slow. How long about the Bw500Cr45Sf128 ?And the software has some bug, as my picture. And I can't bigger it . – lanse7pty Dec 31 '16 at 15:55
• @lanse7pty Answer Part 1 - What kind of operating system do you use? I use Windows 10 (Build 10586.713) and it works for me without a hassle. If you can't fix the problem with the software, refer to the manual way. With the Bw500Cr45Sf128 the max data rate is 21875 bps, which may also be considered slow, compared to the internet bandwidth the average user experiences from their ISP. As I am reading about LoRa, I noticed that this system is not intended for high bitrates, it is just a proposed way of connecting multiple battery powered IoT devices, sensors, etc. – domenix Dec 31 '16 at 17:17
• @lanse7pty Answer Part 2 - Although I don't know what do you want to achieve, LoRa is not the way if you want to create a relatively high-bandwidth point-to-point connection. The company who made this software and provides equipment for LoRa teamed up with a few other, and they have the documentation online, but you can also download the latest one from this link. – domenix Dec 31 '16 at 17:18
• @lanse7pty Answer Part 3 - What should interest you is the Regional Parameters document that you can download from here. Persistent link for the two documents here. In the Regional Parameters document it has a lot of bitrates, which could help you, and as you can see, it is not comparable to the bitrates that the ISPs sell to their customers, so it is useless for connecting two LAN, for example. – domenix Dec 31 '16 at 17:19
• @uhoh Yes, by CR, I meant a fraction, like in my answer its 4/8. It's kind of confusing how is it defined, Rate Code vs Code Rate (In AN1200.22 page 10), but in the LoRa FAQ (page 3, section 19) it would be wrong if I used the CR definition mentioned in the above mentioned paper. Generally CR means how many bit is useful information (non-redundant) compared to the total bits. Yes, I wonder why the company didn't make a website page for these calculations. It'd cross platform. – domenix Jan 3 '17 at 20:37