IoT is everywhere. Electric rental scooters are taking over cities, machines are monitored remotely, and vegetables are grown in vertical greenhouses. At first glance, these examples might seem unrelated, however they do have one thing in common—they are all users of LoRaWAN.
LoRaWAN stands for Long Range Wide Area Network. As the name suggests, LoRaWAN is known for its range. Unlike Bluetooth and WiFi, which only have ranges of 10 – 100 meters, LoRaWAN can cover distances of up to 10 miles. Obviously this is a major benefit for advocating its use in connected products.
LoRaWAN consists of end devices, gateways, and servers. The end devices send data, mainly from sensors to gateways. End devices then transmit data to multiple gateways at once. It’s good to note that data is not transmitted consistently. Some systems transmit data on a set schedule, every three hours or only when something unusual is detected, like a leak. Once the gateways receive the data, it is sent to the network server, where it is consolidated for user consumption. As a bidirectional network, users can also send information to end devices across a large area.
LoRa vs. LoRaWAN
LoRaWAN is not physical. The hardware that supports LoRaWAN is simply LoRa. LoRa is the radio signal that carries data from end devices to servers. The WAN (Wide Area Network) actually dictates how the data is communicated. Its capabilities, including security, scalability, and low power consumption, make it an ideal choice for companies to connect IoT systems.
IoT: The Benefits of Using LoRaWAN
The major benefit of using LoRaWAN in your product is its low power consumption. Other networks typically consume a significant amount of power and, therefore, increase costs when covering large areas. LoRaWAN is designed to operate on low power due to its unidirectional communication and simple data packages. Because of LoRaWAN’s low power consumption, the system also has a long battery life.
In rural areas, LoRaWAN can cover areas of up to 10 miles, and in urban areas, it can reach distances of up to 3 miles. It’s also much more resilient in buildings and does not lose connectivity in dense environments, unlike other wireless networks. Nothing is worse than losing your Bluetooth connection due to walking further than 10 feet from the source.
Another major benefit of LoRaWAN is the security it provides to both data and users. Transmissions are encrypted end-to-end, with the encryption key stored in a non-readable format.
LoRaWAN in Action
Smart cities are popping up everywhere. LoRaWAN is being used to successfully connect city services. Smart street light systems reduce energy consumption, sensor-enabled trash bins provide data to help optimize waste management and reduce environmental impact. In Wichita, LoRaWAN has integrated into the city’s gunshot detection program. LoRaWAN can quickly transmit sensor data, whereas a traditional network may take up to 3 minutes.
LoRaWAN’s reach, energy efficiency, and relatively low operating cost make it ideal for monitoring farm conditions. Environmental factors, such as climate and soil moisture levels, need to be tracked. Livestock also require monitoring, and the ability to access data in a centralized location from up to 10 miles away creates more efficient farming practices. The age of farmers working 18-hour days is becoming a thing of the past.
Smart Building Applications
Manufacturers are major consumers of LoRaWAN networks. Whereas farmers use it to monitor factors across farmland, and cities use it to track public works, companies use LoRaWAN to monitor factors across facilities.
Over the past decade, the shift towards smart factories has led to the integration of LoRaWAN into manufacturing, enabling the monitoring of machinery and equipment. Although there are various wireless networks that companies choose to centralize their Industrial IoT (IIoT), LoRaWAN’s low-cost, low-energy structure is appealing to manufacturers.
Within smart factories, LoRaWAN monitors factory conditions, equipment conditions, and resource use to inform decisions on safety procedures, predictive maintenance, and cost.
Factories are not the only smart buildings with LoRaWAN. Smart homes are also on the rise. Water and gas leak detection devices are the most common forms of LoRaWAN devices in homes. In California, smart meters are standard in homes. LoRaWAN is the network of choice for some providers, especially when it comes to water meters.
Challenges of LoRaWAN
LoRaWAN is unique for its long range, but users may need to take certain measures to ensure it meets their individual needs. Although LoRaWAN has a range of up to 10 miles, new systems may default to transmitting at the minimum power level. Gateways also need to be strategically placed; placing gateways high up allows for a longer range, and transmission amounts and rates are also adjustable.
Alternative LPWANs
LoRaWAN is not the only low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) on the market. For those who value security and a more straightforward setup, other LPWANs may be a better fit.
- NB-IoT: Narrowband Internet of Things, or NB-IoT, has similar advantages to LoRaWAN, with minimal power consumption and cost-effectiveness. NB-IoT is more secure than LoRaWAN, but it also has a shorter range.
- SigFox: Another LPWAN, SigFox operates a fixed data rate. The rate is not adjustable, which makes SigFox more straightforward but less flexible than LoRaWAN.
- WiFi: Low-power networks cannot handle all needs. The most popular network technology for high-bandwidth use is WiFi. While it offers fast speeds, reliable data transfer, and point-to-point communication, WiFi is extremely vulnerable to interference and has a limited range.
Future of LoRaWAN
As smart cities and regions continue to develop, LoRaWAN will become more common. Companies can use LoRaWAN to track progress and meet ESG goals. Increasing LoRaWAN communication security will also grow the protocol’s user base. If LoRaWAN integrates with AI, as has been explored in recent years, it would allow devices to adjust their transmission patterns based on shifting network conditions or historical performance.
The major benefit of offering a scalable approach that doesn’t require constant upgrades or high energy use is another massive benefit to adoption. The rise of alternative LPWANs shows there’s no one-size-fits-all network. Still, LoRaWAN’s combination of low power, low cost, and long range make it a strong choice for situations where frequent data transmission isn’t necessary, but coverage and efficiency are. Future growth may depend on how well it adapts, whether through better integration with AI, enhanced security, or expansion into new industries. LoRaWAN remains a dependable option for connecting sensors, devices, and services across long distances without over-complication.
Pivot International’s global engineering teams are experts at bringing the latest technologies to life. We have a broad range of expertise designing products for wired and wireless communication interfaces. Our most recent design included a LoRaWAN connected hub and tracker that uses passive NFC and AWS cellular connectivity. Our partner came to us for a solution to their industrial product that required a secure connection across a long distance that also included monitoring. Our engineers worked seamlessly with their team to create their solution. To learn more about our capabilities, or simply how to better connect your product, contact us today.
