By default, a device that pairing mode adds is held: Hermetry knows it, but the network server does not answer it and none of its data reaches your flows until a person approves it. This protects you from strangers’ devices that happen to hold the same shared AppKey.
Approving needs the permission to add, edit and delete LoRaWAN devices (administrators by default).
What a held device looks like
| Where | What you see |
|---|---|
| The notification | LoRaWAN device DevEUI added by pairing mode – “Pairing mode of the profile name added the device DevEUI. It waits for your approval: open it and choose Approve on its LoRaWAN tab.” |
| The profile’s Devices added list | Status Waiting for approval with an Approve button |
| The device’s LoRaWAN tab | A warning: Pairing mode added this device. It is not answered until someone approves it. with Approve |
| The join badge | Waiting for approval |
| The frames log | Its join requests dropped as Waiting for approval |
| The device itself | Quarantined, like other self-registered devices waiting for approval |
A held device has no session and no data. Nothing it sends is stored.
Check before you approve
A device was added because its join request was signed with your profile’s shared AppKey. That proves it holds the key, not that it is yours. Before you approve:
- Compare the DevEUI with your delivery list or the labels of the devices you powered on.
- Check Added: it should fall inside the time you were powering devices on.
- Check the receiving gateway in the frames log: is it the gateway near your devices?
Approve a device
From the profile:
- Open the profile’s LoRaWAN tab and the Devices added list.
- Select Approve beside the device.
- Confirm Approve the device: “Pairing mode added this device. Once approved it is answered at its next join and its data reaches your flows.”
Or from the device:
- Open the device on the Devices page and its LoRaWAN tab.
- Select Approve in the warning and confirm.
What happens:
- The device leaves quarantine and becomes active.
- The hold is cleared. The device’s next join request is answered and it joins.
- The approval is written to the audit log as
iot_lorawan.device.approved.
Devices retry joining by themselves, often with growing pauses. If you do not want to wait, power-cycle the device after approving it.
Approving a device that is not held is refused with This device is not waiting for approval. (not_held).
Approving through the quarantine view
If your organisation also uses the quarantine view for self-registered devices, you can activate the device there instead. The LoRaWAN hold is then cleared the next time the device tries to join. See Quarantine for self-registered devices.
Rename the device
Paired devices are named LoRa <DevEUI>. Rename them on the device page like any device, for example after the room or machine they measure.
Remove a device you do not know
- Open the device’s LoRaWAN tab.
- Select Remove and confirm Remove the device: “The device, its keys and its session are removed and its DevEUI is released. Its readings stay.”
Then consider replacing the profile’s shared AppKey, since someone else holds it.
Skip approval
If you control the radio area and trust every device that holds the key, tick Devices added by pairing mode are ready at once (no approval) on the profile’s LoRaWAN tab and save. The pairing section then says Added devices are ready at once (the profile approves them). New devices are added active and join at their next attempt.
Through the API
POST /tenant/<tenantId>/api/iot/lorawan/devices/<deviceId>/approveReturns { device }.