LoRaWan

Various technologies exist in the field of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). The best-known representatives in Germany include LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network), NB-IoT and Sigfox. The aim of these technologies is to transport a small amount of data over a long distance to a gateway with minimal energy consumption. The range is seven to 15 kilometres.

Sensors can be operated for up to ten years without changing batteries, which considerably reduces the maintenance effort. Unlike NB-IoT, LoRaWan uses a licence-free frequency band. This has led to regional players joining forces and starting to build their own cost-effective LoRaWan infrastructure. NB-IoT (sub-protocol of 4G) or Sigfox are mostly used for supra-regional use cases.