Success connecting to Arduino Cloud / TTN with MKR WAN 13x0: share your experience (solved)

I have access to the portal, specific for the Arduino things. When you register a first thing via Arduino cloud, it generates a TTN account, and an Application, for you in the background.
I have 2 things registered, identically set up.

Arduino Cloud and TTN setup happen in parallel. When you successfully registered a thing, it's registered on both sides.
The registry does not involve LoRaWAN traffic though - it's all background process by the Arduino and the TTN backbone. There is a sketch uploaded to the MKRs during that time, but that's utilitarian - to configure the device.
The final sketch you make, with your functionality to exchange telemetry, is done at a later step. It's at that step that I get no connection.

Arduino setup: DEVICE (actual HW):

Arduino setup: THING (the UNIT you talk to, layer over the device):

The variable is the telemetry data to exchange. Device is a link to the THING above.
The network data are the attributes that are retrieved when the wizard registers the thing on TTN:

Now the result of this activity on TTN:

TTN Console with APP and account (created once when the first THING is registered:

TTN Application, with two END Points (these are the 2 MKR LANs I registered via Arduino Cloud):

TTN THING, the same one I showed above in the Azure Cloud setup:

It shows under the device header: No activity yet:

And that's an indication that this registered device hasn't connected to TTN once, via radio.

For the investigation with the SDR, I'll need to do more work: new laptop and the software not yet installed ...

Checking the second part of your comments: the Version.
I loaded the sketch you refered too. Here's the output:

Welcome to MKR WAN 1300/1310 first configuration sketch
Register to your favourite LoRa network and we are ready to go!
Your module version is: ARD-078 1.2.0
Please make sure that the latest modem firmware is installed.
To update the firmware upload the 'MKRWANFWUpdate_standalone.ino' sketch.
Your device EUI is: a***********7
Are you connecting via OTAA (1) or ABP (2)?
Enter your APP EUI
Enter your APP KEY

The result is the same, output:

Something went wrong; are you indoor? Move near a window and retry.

I'm checking the firmware (I thought I remember that this was already done by the Arduino Cloud Wizard when registering, but unsure):

Compilation complete.
Atmel SMART device 0x10010005 found
Device : ATSAMD21G18A
Chip ID : 10010005
Version : v2.0 [Arduino:XYZ] Apr 30 2019 12:41:57
Address : 8192
Pages : 3968
Page Size : 64 bytes
Total Size : 248KB
Planes : 1
Lock Regions : 16
Locked : none
Security : false
Boot Flash : true
BOD : false
BOR : false
Arduino : FAST_CHIP_ERASE
Arduino : FAST_MULTI_PAGE_WRITE
Arduino : CAN_CHECKSUM_MEMORY_BUFFER
Erase flash
done in 0.841 seconds

Write 119852 bytes to flash (1873 pages)

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done in 0.916 seconds

Verify 119852 bytes of flash with checksum.
Verify successful
done in 0.107 seconds
CPU reset.

--------------------------
upload complete.

Now I'll upload the test again...

Done, and it didn't change (seeing the output of the updater above, I'm now sure that I did it before).

Something went wrong; are you indoor? Move near a window, then reset and retry.

Hi Jan,

Your screenshot below looks correct (i.e. it is what I expected to see based on my non-Arduino TTN config), it is unlikely to be a TTN configuration issue I guess. Has your MKR board worked for any non-LoRaWAN communication, e.g. just plain LoRa? I suppose it could be a faulty MKR board.. I have only a couple of Arduino Uno and an Arduino Mega, and one of the Uno was faulty from the factory. But it is still a long shot, still more likely that Arduino have a library bug or firmware issue I suppose : (

Has your MKR board worked for any non-LoRaWAN communication, e.g. just plain LoRa? I suppose it could be a faulty MKR board.

Yes they are functional. I have two MKR WAN 1310s, and they can perfectly communicate together and exchange data, over a decent distance. Those are the same ones that I try with TTN here.

edit: also, lack of a matching antenna will not be the bottleneck

Does anyone  know about the TTN Mapper project at ttnmapper.org (ttnmapper.org/.../) It is another gateway mapper . my only question is that it has fewer gateways than the TTN map at https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/map

The gateway next my home is not listed? I'm wondering how accurate this map is? it show fewer gateways around me. It does give more info on the gateways it list however, like Location Lan/Lat

I located the closest gateway on that map, it's just a house block away.

According to that map, it's online right now.

I've made a gizmo that lights up the LED if I have a connection:

Here's my gizmo. As jc2048 indicated, I'll have to keep the antenna vertical.

There's no auto-retry. I need to push the reset button.
Not a big fan walking through the capital with something like this, but anything for science :)

That box has reminded me that years ago the police of my city stopped me because I was taking a picture with a large pinhole camera made from a cardboard box. In the end I had to open the box and the film was blurred. Your box also looks like a bomb :D Good luck with the tests.

Success!

Walking tour, and in RED where I had coverage:

edit: data also arrived at the Arduino cloud, as expected:

touristic info: the walk was partly through the Louis Bertrandlaan. One of the prettiest lanes of the Brussels district. It's a protected view since 2020.

source: https://www.bruxellesbavard.be/nl/voor-groepen-en-ondernemingen/57--schaarbeek-1900

source:https://www.hln.be/brussel/gewest-beschermt-louis-betrandlaan~a91f55e3/165443150/

Great, glad it's sorted : )