The Internet of Things (IoT) wouldn't exist without connectivity. Like a sink connected to a water line or a lamp plugged into an outlet, a device within an IoT ecosystem will only work if it is connected to other devices and technologies. Luckily, there are several types of connectivity technologies to choose from. Selecting the best one comes down to understanding your power consumption, range, and bandwidth needs.
Let's dive into eight common IoT connectivity technologies and their most frequent use cases.
You don't need to be familiar with IoT to know about cellular networks. Cellular networks are already part of everyday life. They power most phones and other popular devices like certain tablets and smartwatches. Instead of needing a brand new network to connect the various devices in your IoT project, cellular connectivity allows you to piggyback off established mobile network infrastructure.
There are many benefits to a cellular IoT system, including wide-range coverage, reliability, and higher levels of security compared to Wi-Fi or other connectivity options. Cellular connectivity is often the ideal choice for highly-mobile IoT systems. It is also a great alternative to low power wide area networks (LPWAN), like Sigfox and LoRaWAN, that operate on unlicensed bands. Let's look at some possible use cases for cellular connectivity.
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Offering impressively fast mbps, high data rate cellular connectivity is a perfect choice for data-heavy IoT applications, highly mobile devices, and real-time video streaming. With similar benefits to other cellular networks — think wide coverage, reliable access, established infrastructure — high data rate cellular provides even faster data rates and larger bandwidths.
As 5G deployment continues, IoT devices connected across a wide area, also known as "massive IoT,” will become a reality, connecting thousands of IoT devices across large areas.
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The dominant wired connection option, ethernet, can be a cheap and reliable way to connect your IoT devices if you already have the required infrastructure to hook your devices up. With low latency, ethernet is a particularly attractive option when you need a strong connection with little lag.
Ethernet generally offers speed and robustness — things like floors, walls, or the length of a room won't interfere with the connection. Still, without established infrastructure, wired connections can be difficult to scale and often requires plenty of advanced planning to implement. As a result, ethernet is most suitable for stationary devices; some common uses include:
Since many people use Wi-Fi every day in a home or office setting, you're likely familiar with many of the pros, including the ability to secure the network in private settings and the absence of cost limitations on the amount of data transferred. Similarly, the cons — its unreliability and limited range — are also well-known. Situations where Wi-Fi makes the most sense include:
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Particularly prevalent in the consumer goods market, Bluetooth is another connectivity option that works well for small, battery-powered devices. On the downside, Bluetooth's range is small—usually about 30 feet. If you've ever worn a pair of Bluetooth headphones, you know you can't walk too far away from your phone or audio device before the connection drops. Besides imposing even tighter physical restrictions than Wi-Fi, Bluetooth also often has a lower bandwidth.
However, there are plenty of areas where Bluetooth might have a leg up on other connectivity options, including reliability and portability (if you can take all of your Bluetooth-enabled devices with you). With Bluetooth low energy (BLE) devices, you'll also get the added benefit of low energy consumption, meaning your devices can run on small batteries for longer amounts of time.
Like Bluetooth, mesh protocols like ZigBee, Z-Wave, and Thread are most frequently used in domestic and consumer products. Generally, these networks work well in medium-range settings — for example, across an entire home — when you want to connect multiple devices.
By creating a "mesh" network, otherwise described as a decentralized network, each in-range device can communicate with any other device. This is particularly beneficial if one device drops out of the network. Since all of the devices are connected, losing one won't impact the network's overall strength. These networks are often deployed when linking and automating smart devices so that when one meets certain conditions, another activates.
Networks like SigFox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, or RPMA are all classified as low power wide area networks (LPWANs). Unlike cellular or Wi-Fi networks, LPAWNs support much smaller data transfers in infrequent intervals over wide areas. This keeps them power-efficient and makes them ideal for expansive IoT projects. Optimized for low-power consumption, you won't have to constantly change a sensor or device's batteries — a task that can be demanding and costly.
On the flip side, since LPWANs send small amounts of data infrequently, they're not the best option for high-bandwidth projects or those that are time-sensitive. Below are some places LPAWNs might make sense:
Particularly relevant in logistics and retail industries, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, companies can take advantage of radio waves to send small amounts of data to a nearby reader. Unlike LPWANs these data transfers happen between very short distances. Stakeholders can attach RFID tags to various products and optimize their supply chain management while keeping a close eye on inventory and assets.
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