Gateway Placement Guide

The Interact Pro Gateway plays a vital role in managing professional lighting networks. It is essential to maintain a proper placement of gateway to overcome the unique challenges of steel, concrete, and heavy Wi-Fi traffic found in offices and industrial infrastructure.

Network Constraints and Capacity

A key factor in commercial deployment is to manage the network size and ensure a scalable design.

Node limit:
The gateway supports up to 200 light points. If your area exceeds this limit, you must deploy multiple gateways, each to control a separate, non-overlapping network, and connected individually to the IP backbone.
Routers are the backbone:
Interact Ready luminaires, sensors, and switches are constantly powered and act as a crucial ZigBee router device, and extends the mesh network.

Strategic Physical Placement

Position the gateway at a central, elevated location to optimize the line of sight (LoS) to all surrounding luminaires.

Central location:
Preferably, position the gateway at the geographic centre of the assigned 200-node network area to ensure equal signal distribution.
Gateway-to-luminaire distance:
The gateway must be placed within 10 metres (33 feet) of one or more Interact Ready luminaires to form the initial and strong mesh connection.
Elevation:
Install the gateway at 1.5 metres to 2 metres (5 feet to 6.5 feet) above the floor level. Ideal spots include:
- Inside the ceiling void (ensure signal transmission through non-metallic ceiling tiles)
- On a high wall or support column
Accessibility:
Ensure that the location allows easy access for QR code scanning during commissioning, and physical connection checks (power/Ethernet).

Mitigating Signal Attenuation from Building Materials

Professional buildings have materials that severely attenuate to 2.4 GHz signal. Avoid to position the gateway near or relying on the signal path through these materials:

Obstruction type	Professional environment challenge	Placement mitigation strategy
Metal/Steel structure	Steel support beams, HVAC duct work, metal cable trays, industrial racking	Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) separation from large metallic surfaces. Never mount the gateway directly on or inside a metal enclosure like a distribution box.
Thick concrete	Firewalls, industrial flooring, elevator shafts	Do not rely on signal penetration through more than one concrete barrier. Use a luminaire (router) immediately on the opposite side of the wall/floor to bridge the signal.
Server/Communications racks	Dense equipment and strong electromagnetic interference (EMI)	Locate the gateway at least 3 metres (10 feet) away from any active server or network rack to avoid high EMI.
Water/Liquids	Large HVAC chillers, thick piping, industrial tanks	Ensure the gateway’s installation path is clear from large bodies of water, as water is highly absorptive at 2.4 GHz.

Obstruction type

Professional environment challenge

Placement mitigation strategy

Metal/Steel structure

Steel support beams, HVAC duct work, metal cable trays, industrial racking

Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) separation from large metallic surfaces. Never mount the gateway directly on or inside a metal enclosure like a distribution box.

Thick concrete

Firewalls, industrial flooring, elevator shafts

Do not rely on signal penetration through more than one concrete barrier. Use a luminaire (router) immediately on the opposite side of the wall/floor to bridge the signal.

Server/Communications racks

Dense equipment and strong electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Locate the gateway at least 3 metres (10 feet) away from any active server or network rack to avoid high EMI.

Water/Liquids

Large HVAC chillers, thick piping, industrial tanks

Ensure the gateway’s installation path is clear from large bodies of water, as water is highly absorptive at 2.4 GHz.

Critical Interference Management (Coexistence with Wi-Fi)

The 2.4 GHz signal band is shared by both ZigBee and Wi-Fi. The channel planning is mandatory for reliable performance.

System	Channel strategy
Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz	Ensure your building’s Wi-Fi network uses only the non-overlapping channels 1, 6, or 11.
ZigBee 2.4 GHz	The gateway will typically be configured to use channels 20, or 25. These channels sit in the spectral gaps between the main Wi-Fi channels.

System

Channel strategy

Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz

Ensure your building’s Wi-Fi network uses only the non-overlapping channels 1, 6, or 11.

ZigBee 2.4 GHz

The gateway will typically be configured to use channels 20, or 25. These channels sit in the spectral gaps between the main Wi-Fi channels.

Physical separation:
Maintain a minimum distance of 3 metres (10 feet) between the gateway and any high-traffic 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Access Point (AP).

Mesh Network Design and Commissioning

The system stability relies on a dense, and reliable mesh network of luminaires.

Luminaires are routers:
Ensure every luminaire (router) is within the range (ideally < 10 metres (33 feet)) of at least two other powered-luminaires for redundant signal paths.
Gateway connection:
The gateway must be connected to an unswitched, stable power outlet, and a standard Ethernet connection (DHCP) that allows outbound traffic (port 443) to Interact Pro cloud.
Deployment order:
Start by commissioning the luminaires nearest to the gateway, allowing the mesh to build outward organically and stably.