FAQ
Short answers to the questions that come up most often when working with akenza.
Getting started
How do I get started with my first device?
Follow the Getting Started guide. It takes you through creating an organization and a workspace, then setting up a data flow and connecting your first device.
I do not have a physical device. How can I test akenza?
Use the Device Simulator. It generates uplinks for you, so you can build and test a whole data flow, rules included, before any hardware arrives.
My sensor is online and sending data. What is next?
Receiving data is the first step. From there:
Act on it with the Rule Engine, which triggers notifications, downlinks, and aggregations. The rule logic and geofence blocks are good starting points.
Visualize it and share it with the Dashboard Builder.
Connectivity
Which connectivity technologies does akenza support?
akenza provides device connectors for the common IoT protocols, including HTTP, MQTT, CoAP, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and mioty, alongside connectors for vendor clouds such as Disruptive Technologies, Haltian, Spaceti, and Vergesense.
For a data source that none of these cover, a custom connector can be built in some cases. Ask through the Service Desk.
Which LoRaWAN network servers can I connect?
The Things Network, Swisscom LPN, Loriot, Actility, Everynet, ewz, Cibicom, Helium, and ChirpStack. See LoRaWAN for the connector of each.
For some of these providers, akenza offers Connectivity as a Service, which gives you LoRaWAN connectivity in self-service without a separate contract with the network operator.
I want to use a network provider that is not listed on akenza. What can I do?
Get in touch through the Service Desk. For LoRaWAN there is also the option to connect your own Integration, which connects your existing network account or a network server that has no Connectivity as a Service offering of its own.
How do I check the LoRaWAN coverage at my site?
Most network operators publish a coverage map for their own network, so start with the websites of the operators active in your country.
A map is a prediction, not a measurement. To confirm coverage at the spot where the sensor will actually sit, walk the site with a LoRaWAN network tester. That also tells you where to place gateways and how much margin a given mounting position has.
Where do I find the keys and identification parameters of my device?
They come from the manufacturer, usually in the device manual, on a label, or in a provisioning file delivered with the hardware. For LoRaWAN this means the DevEUI, AppEUI or JoinEUI, and the AppKey for OTAA, or the session keys for ABP. What each key is for is explained under security keys.
I registered a LoRaWAN device but receive no data. What can I do?
Force the device to rejoin the network. Most sensors do this on a hard reset: take the battery out, short the contacts to drain the remaining voltage, then put the battery back in. Depending on the sending interval it can take up to an hour before the first data appears in akenza.
If data still does not arrive, check that the DevEUI, AppEUI, and AppKey in akenza match the device exactly, and that the device is inside the coverage of the network it was registered on.
Devices and data
I want to connect a sensor, but there is no device type for it. What can I do?
Check the device type library first, since it already covers a large number of sensors. If yours is not in it, write your own device type in the browser, which usually takes a few lines of JavaScript to turn the payload into named values. Custom device types are available on the Advanced plan and higher.
How can I visualize my data?
Every device has a built-in data view showing its latest measurements and their history, which is enough for checking a single sensor. To bring several devices together, or to share a view with people who do not work in akenza, build a dashboard and publish it with a public link.
The templating syntax in my email output connector does not work. What can I do?
Check the syntax against the message templating reference. A placeholder has to match the structure your device type actually outputs, so it is worth comparing it against the decoded payload of a real message.
Organizations and workspaces
Can I have multiple organizations?
Yes, as many as you need. Each organization carries its own subscription, so several organizations means several subscriptions. See Organization context for what belongs to an organization and what belongs to a workspace.
Is there a limit to the number of workspaces in an organization?
No. Add as many workspaces as your projects or sites require. Depending on your subscription plan, a different number of workspaces is included at no additional cost.
How do I get access to another organization?
Ask an owner or admin of that organization to add you, and to assign the role you need. Access is granted either across the whole organization or in a single workspace, and the user roles page lists what each role may do.
Deployment and data ownership
Who owns the data?
You do. akenza orchestrates data on behalf of its customers, and you stay in control of what your devices generate at all times.
Where is the data stored?
Data on the akenza public cloud is stored on Google Cloud Platform in Frankfurt, Germany. A dedicated deployment can run with another cloud provider and in another region, which is the route to take when data has to stay in a particular country.
Can akenza run in our own cloud?
Yes. Besides the public cloud, akenza is available as a dedicated deployment in your own cloud subscription, with on-premises hosting on request. A dedicated deployment is a tenant of its own, which is also what unlocks tenant-wide white labeling and custom SSO.
DeploymentIs white labeling supported?
Yes, from the Expert plan upwards, and tenant-wide on a dedicated deployment. It replaces akenza's branding with yours throughout the application, in the notifications your rules send, and on shared dashboards.
White LabelingPlans and billing
How much data is included, and how long is it kept?
Data is metered in two units, and every plan includes an allowance of each per device per month:
Data ingestion unit (DIU)
The data points ingested by the platform.
Datapoint storage day (DSD)
The data points kept in storage, counted per day of retention.
Because storage is metered per day, retention follows from your allowance rather than from a fixed cutoff: the same allowance covers many data points for a short time or fewer for longer. Going over the monthly allowance is charged as a consumption fee. See akenza.io/pricing for the allowance on each plan.
Where can I find past invoices?
Under Subscription > Invoices. Past invoices are listed there and can be downloaded as PDFs.
How do I change my subscription plan?
Go to Subscription > Plans and pick the plan you want. The change takes effect immediately, and the invoice at the end of the month is pro-rated accordingly.
Product and support
Where can I request new features?
Through the feature portal, where you can also vote on what others have asked for:
Request a featureWhere do I report a problem or check whether one is known?
The Service Desk is the place to raise an issue. To check whether the platform itself is affected, see the Status Page.
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