Reducing Cellular Data Usage

If the cellular data usage of your Kona gateway exceeds expected levels, there are several configuration options, both at the gateway level and across the broader solution architecture, that can help optimize and reduce overall data consumption. This article outlines the available approaches to achieve this.

Gateway Configuration Options:

1. In the /etc/default/tektelic-bridge.toml file you can adjust the mqtt_keepalive_interval and the gw_events_interval using the VI text editor to a higher value. What this will do is make the gateway send its keep-alive and event packets to the Network Server less often, which will reduce the overall data used by the gateway.

   1. By default, the gateway sends its MQTT keep-alive packet every 60 seconds and the gw events packet every 30 seconds. We typically reccomend customers to change both values to 300 seconds to reduce cellular data. You can opt to use a even more infrequent keep-alive / events interval, however please note that the longer this interval is configured, the longer period of time your gateway will show as "Online" and working when it may not be. 
2. In the /etc/default/config.json file you can adjust the stat_interval using the VI text editor to a higher value.  What this will do is decrease the frequency the gateway sends its statistics packet to the network server, which will also reduce the overall data usage.
   1. Like the mqtt_keepalive_interval and gw_events_interval, we reccomend changing this from 30 seconds to every 300 seconds to start.
      
      

Sensor Configuration Options:

1. If possible for your use case, decreasing the frequency of how often your sensors are periodically transmitting data will also help reduce overall cell data usage on the gateway as less overall traffic is being sent to the network server.