Strips Guard for LoRaWAN

1Introduction

Strips Guard is a magnetic open/close sensor for LoRaWAN. It reports when a door, window, gate, cabinet or drawer opens or closes, and it also measures temperature. At under 3 mm thick it fits inside the frame, where nobody sees it. The electronics are conformally coated, so it can be used indoors and in sheltered places outdoors, including damp ones.

It works with any LoRaWAN network server (LoRaWAN 1.0.4, class A, OTAA) and reaches up to 10 km in line of sight. The battery is built in and lasts well over ten years. Where metal doors or frames block the radio while closed, it can work as a beacon: it then reports only while the door is open (see Beacon mode).

What's in the box

• Strips Guard, with the adhesive already on the back
• One or two magnets on the sensor. They keep it in transport mode until you start. Afterwards, one goes on the door or window.
• The LoRaWAN keys (DevEUI, JoinEUI and AppKey). They come on a label in the box and also by e-mail.

No tools or screws are needed. The +Clip mounting accessory is sold separately.

Parts of the sensor

2Before you start

A LoRaWAN sensor needs a little more preparation than a sensor that pairs with a hub. Have this ready first:

You need

• A LoRaWAN gateway within range, powered on and online
• An account on a LoRaWAN network server (for example The Things Network, ChirpStack, Loriot or Actility), with the gateway added to it
• The keys for the sensor: DevEUI, JoinEUI (also called AppEUI) and AppKey
• The region printed on the sensor's label (for example EU868 or US915). The network server and the gateway must use the same region. In US915 and AU915, they must also use the same sub-band.
• The Strips payload decoder in your network server or application, so the messages can be read (see Support)

Choosing the place

• Range: up to 10 km in open line of sight, much less through walls and floors
• No metal: do not mount Strips directly on metal, magnetic surfaces or inside a metal structure. If it has to go on metal, put padding between them. If a closed metal door blocks the radio, use beacon mode.
• Frame or door: Strips can go on the frame (recommended) with the magnet on the door or window, or the other way round
• Hidden mounting: to hide Strips inside a door or window frame you need a gap of at least 3.5 mm
• Hinges and locks: make sure neither Strips nor the magnet is in the way when the door or window opens fully

3Step by step: from box to ready

Eight steps. Register the sensor in the network server before you take the magnets off. Then join it, choose what it should report, and mount it last.

3

Join the network

Take every magnet off the sensor. Strips leaves transport mode and sends a join request.

If the magnets have already been off, or you are joining the sensor again, start the join with the magnet instead: move it to the rounded end three times, for three green blinks.

Done when: a short green blink shows the join request was sent, and a few seconds later one long green blink confirms the join. The network server now shows the device as joined, with its first messages.

Five short red blinks means the join failed. See Troubleshooting: the usual causes are wrong keys, the wrong region or sub-band, or no gateway in range.

After the first join, Strips sends the current state of its default reports: the door status and the tamper status. That is expected.

6

Install

1. Clean both surfaces. They must be clean, dry and at least +10 °C.
2. Try the position: hold Strips in place with a piece of ordinary tape, so you can still move it.
3. Place the magnet opposite the square end of Strips (see the distances below). Close and open the door or window and check that the reports arrive. Adjust if needed.
4. Check fully open and fully closed: the door or window must open and close freely, and every change must be reported.
5. Mark the position of Strips and remove the tape. Peel the film off the adhesive on the back and press Strips firmly in place, exactly on the mark. Fix the magnet the same way.

Keep the magnet away from the rounded end. A magnet at both ends at once is read as tampering.

For rough or temporary surfaces, use the +Clip accessory (sold separately) instead of the adhesive.

4Using the sensor

What it reports

• Open / closed: as a report or as an alarm, depending on the profile
• Tamper: when a magnet is held at both ends at once
• Temperature: reports, averages or alarms, if you turn them on
• Door count: with the Door Counter profile
• Battery level and heartbeat: once a day by default. A new sensor shows 99 %, which means full.

Beacon mode

Some doors and frames are metal, and a closed metal door can block the radio completely, for example in hotel rooms. In beacon mode (the Open Door Only Report profile), Strips stays quiet while the door is shut. While it is open, it sends a report every 5 minutes for the first 20 hours, and then once an hour. Your application can see from the reports that the door is open and for how long, for example to pause the air conditioning.

Confirmed messages and network outages

Alarms are sent confirmed: Strips waits for an acknowledgement from the network server. If none arrives, for example because the gateway is off, Strips goes into resend mode. It tries again after 1, 2, 4, 8 minutes and so on, up to once a day. After 7 days without an acknowledgement, Strips resets itself and goes into standby (see below).

Operating modes

Strips cannot be switched off. Once the magnets have been removed, it can go back into transport mode only if it has never joined. This applies if the join failed, or if the magnets were put back before it sent a join request.

LED signals

You can turn the LED down with the LED Level setting: all events (default), user actions and errors only, or very limited.

5Magnet commands

You give commands by moving a magnet at the rounded end of Strips. Use the magnet that came with it, or any small magnet.

6Maintenance and removal

Battery

The battery is built in and lasts well over ten years. It cannot be replaced. Frequent reporting, a weak link and high spreading factors all shorten it. To get the most out of it:

• Mount Strips away from metal, within good reach of a gateway
• Report only what you need. The profiles in the Config Tool are tested for battery life.
• Keep the Magnet Poll Interval at its default unless you need faster response

In the cold, the battery level can read lower than it really is. This is expected: the reading takes the temperature into account and does not show the real charge.

The battery is a lithium manganese dioxide (LiMnO₂) cell, one of the most stable lithium chemistries. Do not open the sensor, and do not puncture it or heat it above +80 °C. When the battery is empty, dispose of the whole sensor as a battery, for recycling. Near the end of its life the battery normally swells a little; this is expected.

Removing Strips

Use dental floss or a thin string.

Moving to another network server

1. Delete the device from the old network server.
2. Reset Strips with the magnet.
3. Register it in the new network server and join it again.

The settings stay in the sensor.

7Troubleshooting

8Technical reference

For integrators. The Strips LoRa Config Tool builds the downlinks, and the payload decoder reads the uplinks. Both are linked under Support.

Ports and factory settings

Status codes

After a configuration downlink, Strips answers with one of these codes:

Reports

Settings

The settings that apply to Strips Guard, as in the Config Tool.

9Specifications

10Support

• Strips LoRa Config Tool, which creates the configuration downlinks: strips-lora-config-app.service.sensative.net
• Payload decoder (open source): github.com/Sensative/strips-lora-translator-open-source
• Support, FAQ and downloads: sensative.com/support
• Product page and product sheet: sensative.com/sensors/strips-guard
• Technical support request: through the form on the support page

Sources: Sensative Docs, Strips Multi-sensor for LoRaWAN, FAQ Strips LoRaWAN and Troubleshooting Guide Strips LoRaWAN (read 24 October 2026); Strips LoRa Config Tool (profiles, reports and settings); datasheet Strips Guard LoRaWAN Rev B; specifications from the sensative.com product data.