Internet of Things Implementation: 5 Technology Rating Categories

When designing a “smart” device for the Internet of Things (IoT), you need
to ensure that consumers are able to monitor and control their devices
from the internet regardless of where its location may be.

You will need to determine whether your device will use WiFi, cellular,
Bluetooth or LoRa. Additionally, there are four technology rating
categories to consider: transmission speed, effective distance, power
requirement and setup complexity.

Transmission speed- Transmission speed is the maximum speed that any
device will be able to send and receive data. High speeds are critical for
transmissions with high data rates such as pictures and video, but less
important for low-data streams like text.

Effective distance– Effective distance measures how far from the router
the product can be and still be able to send data to it as well as receive
data from the server. When designing this product, it is important to know
how far it is intended to be from the router while still effectively
receiving data.

Power Requirement- Different communication technologies have different
power requirements, such as batteries or AC chargers. In some cases, large
battery packs or rechargeables may be an option.

Setup Complexity- With some products, especially consumer products,
there’s an expectation that any user can take them out of the box, connect
them, and be ready to go. However, there are IoT implementations that
require a knowledgeable setup team.

Sound Economic FutureWhich IoT Communication Technology Is Best?
WiFi has a high transmission speed and can adequately cover the area of
most homes, small business or industrial buildings. It’s a top choice for
data-intense streaming. Most devices usually need Alternating Current (AC)
power and the setup for it can be done relatively easy, especially if WiFi
is already present.

Mesh networks such as Zigbee cost more than simple WiFi and require
experts to set up. They have constant power-on requirements and are slower
than WiFi but cover more distance, as signals can hop from device to
device across the network. Although Bluetooth does not cover much
distance, it is inexpensive, simple and battery-operated.Using low power
radio-waves bluetooth and bluetooth compatible devices need to be within
close proximity of one another to work.

LTE cellular, the technology in smartphones, sets up easily and has high
transmission speed. It has to be on a network, so costs can soar with high
usage. You would need frequent recharge or massive batteries. LTE cellular
covers a lot more distance and is great for remote devices on the move. NB
IoT, or narrow band, is cellular that’s more like a landline in that it
can’t travel. Since it’s a narrower band it won’t handle as much data as
LTE does. It runs best on AC and is good in a non-mobile remote site such
as a wind farm.

LoRa (long range radio) is fairly new, and can be thought of as the cable
version of cellular. It consumes less power and covers more distance but
its bandwidth is limited. The distance can be a little better than
cellular and there’s an advantage over cellular and WiFi in that LoRa can
travel through metal.

Ciqada for IoT Implementation
Ciqada is an Internet of Things end-to-end solution. It’s a suite of
hardware and software that supports your IoT product build. Ciqada
technology provides solutions for product developers to quickly, securely
and easily connect their products to the internet. Contact Mars
International or call 908-233-0101 to learn how Mars can support your
development process.