IoT means Internet of Things. It's all about connecting stuff – like sensors, lights, fridges, machines – to the internet or local networks. The goal is to get data, control things from far away, or just make life easier. You can find IoT in smart homes, cities, factories, farms, hospitals – almost everywhere.
Because people want more control and info in real-time. Think of checking your house temperature on your phone, or machines in a factory telling when they need repair. IoT makes that possible. It saves time, energy, and money.
LoRa. Yeah, that weird long-range radio stuff. LPWAN – Low Power Wide Area Network, or as I like to call it: "Let’s Pray We Actually Network". It's meant for talking far with barely any juice. Not fast. Not reliable. But hey – if all you need is a few bytes to make it across a cow field every now and then, this is your jam.
LoRaWAN. Not to be confused with LoRa. This one’s the brain on top – the protocol layer that tries to make LoRa useful. Still LPWAN. Still low power, low bandwidth. But adds things like addressing, security, and network logic. Kinda messy, but it brings structure to chaos. It’s not perfect. Nothing is. But hey – cows and parking sensors love it.
6LoWPAN. Rolls off the tongue like gravel. It means "IPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks". Fancy words for “we’re trying to cram full-blown internet protocol into battery-powered radio toys.” Not always clean. Not always fast. But if you want real IP over lossy radio links, this is your monster.
Zigbee. That short-range mesh thing people keep confusing with Bluetooth. It runs on 802.15.4, acts like it knows what it’s doing, and tries to glue smart home devices together without screaming. Low power, low data rate, decent range – in theory. Not LPWAN. Not Wi-Fi. Just somewhere awkward in between.
Bluetooth Low Energy. Not to be confused with Classic Bluetooth – that old power-hungry audio dinosaur. BLE is the diet version. Less bandwidth, less power, less everything – but good enough for sensors and stuff that just want to say “I’m alive” once a minute. Not long range. Not LPWAN. Just... barely enough.
Z-Wave. Not Wi-Fi. Not Zigbee. Just... Z-Wave. Runs on sub-GHz, speaks its own language, and somehow convinced half the smart home industry to play along. Short range, but better walls penetration. It's not perfect, but it mostly works – if you stay within its bubble.
Thread. Not to be confused with social media features or sewing supplies. It’s IPv6 over 802.15.4 with a mesh twist. Supposed to be secure, scalable, low-power, and totally cloud-free. Reality? Closer to “still figuring things out.” It’s neat on paper. Less neat when firmware gets moody.
SigFox. The "send-it-and-pray" network. Ultra-narrowband LPWAN for when you want to whisper 12 bytes across the continent. Long range, ultra-low power, but don’t expect a conversation – it’s mostly one-way. It’s here to let sensors check in once a day and maybe live forever on a coin cell.
NB-IoT. Narrowband Internet of Things. Built on LTE leftovers. Not quite 5G, not quite anything. It’s LPWAN over licensed spectrum. Telecom-grade, enterprise-sounding, battery-saving – in theory. Meant for sending tiny data over long range with low power. In practice? Sometimes it works. Sometimes it sulks.
LTE-M. Also called Cat-M1. Like NB-IoT’s less sleepy cousin who actually shows up to work. Still LPWAN. Still over cellular. Still low-power. But faster, more interactive, and actually bi-directional. Meant for wearables, alarms, trackers – stuff that wants to talk more than once a day.
5G IoT. Not just faster internet. It's 5G, but for your toaster. Built on promises of ultra-low latency, high device density, and speeds your coffee machine will never need. Long range? Sometimes. LPWAN? Kinda. Messy? Definitely. It wants to replace everything – Wi-Fi, LoRa, LTE-M – and rule them all. Still trying.
UWB. Ultra-Wideband. Sounds fancy, right? Spoiler: it's short range, high accuracy, low payload. Not LPWAN. Not Wi-Fi. It’s kind of like radar for gadgets. You don’t use it to stream video – you use it to figure out exactly where your keys are hiding. Fancy? Yeah. Messy? Also yeah. It works – mostly when the firmware's not drunk.
WirelessHART. Industrial, old-school, deterministic. Runs over IEEE 802.15.4, but feels more like your grandpa's fieldbus. Not long range. Not LPWAN. Just short, stable, and good enough to control a chemical plant without exploding anything. Messy? A little. Fancy? Only if you like Gantt charts and process valves.
ISA100.11a. Rolls off the tongue like a firmware bug. It’s an industrial wireless protocol designed for process automation, meant to be flexible, scalable, and future-proof – three words that usually spell "overcomplicated." Not short range, not long range – just “industrial range.” Mesh-based, deterministic, and allergic to consumer-grade anything.
Wi-Fi. You know it. You curse it. It's the thing that connects everything when it works, and ruins meetings when it doesn’t. Based on IEEE 802.11, it was never meant for IoT, but here we are – trying to squeeze sensors into an airport-grade protocol. Not LPWAN. Not fancy. Not simple. But it’s everywhere and somehow still alive.