Summary
While there is some commonality between the types of long-range communication technologies, they also are targeting different use cases and segments. The IoT architect should choose wisely which long-range system they intend to adopt. Like other components of the IoT system, the LPWAN is difficult to change once deployed.
Considerations in picking the correct LPWAN include:
- What data rate does the IoT deployment need to use?
- Can the solution scale with the same LPWAN across regions? Is there proper coverage or does it need to be built?
- What range of transmission is appropriate?
- Is there any latency requirement for this IoT solution? Can the solution work with very high (multiple seconds) latencies?
- Are the IoT endpoints battery powered and what is the cost of servicing them? What are the cost constraints of the endpoints?
For reference, the following table details the similarities and differences between the LPWAN protocols highlighted...