In the Internet of Things (IoT) era, choosing the right technology to wirelessly transmit packets of data is paramount. If your devices need to send small amounts of data over long distances without draining their batteries, you’ve probably heard of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). But what radio technology do you want to run on it? Some of the most popular options are Sigfox, Ingenu, and LoRaWAN.

Sigfox

Sigfox is popular throughout Europe and in parts of Asia. It’s useful only for the lowest bandwidth applications that need to send small and very infrequent bursts of data.

Sigfox controls every aspect of the network technology, and all messaging traffic is routed through their servers. This means that the success of IoT applications running on Sigfox networks is entirely dependent on Sigfox’s operational capacity and its organizational health.

With Sigfox, the devices are inexpensive, and the connectivity costs are low.

Ingenu

Ingenu Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA) is a proprietary LPWAN technology stack developed by Ingenu. The RPMA architecture boasts strong uplink and downlink capabilities, and operates in the globally-available 2.4GHz spectrum, most commonly used by Wi-Fi. This results in decreased range and reduced battery life.

Like Sigfox, applications running on Ingenu’s network are beholden to the company’s success. Service interruptions or organizational failures of the Ingenu software can lead to network and application failures.

Ingenu’s device costs are the highest of the three.

LoRaWAN

Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) has a much greater range than Ingenu, and a greater maximum data rate than Sigfox. Compared to other networks, its radio protocol is relatively simple to set up.

LoRaWAN is backed by the LoRa Alliance, an international non-profit group dedicated to standardizing LoRa, and it has received kudos from Gartner. It isn’t dependent on any one company.

Another bonus is its support for global roaming-IoT devices can connect to LPWANs around the world, moving between them as the devices travel.

LoRaWAN’s costs are on the low end of the spectrum. They are not as low as Sigfox’s, but LoRaWAN can transmit data significantly faster.

The Minute Details

If you’ve had enough coffee to handle the concept of cost-optimized picocells, here are the specifics:

Technology	LoRa	SigFox	Ingenu (RMPA)
Module Cost	$4-$6	<$3	$10
Annual Connectivity Cost (per device)	$1-$15	$1-$13	Not available
Range	Up to 30 miles	Up to 30 miles	Up to 8 miles
Max Packet Size	242 bytes	12 bytes	Flexible
Max Data Rate (kbps)	5	0.3	41
Deployment	Macro-based, cable strand-deployable, cost-optimized picocells	Macro-based	Macro-based
Battery Life	High	High	Moderate
Frequency	915 MHz (US)	915 MHz	2.4 GHz
Default Spectrum	ISM6	ISM	ISM
Resistance to Interference	High	Low	Moderate
Gateway Mode	Full or Half Duplex	Half Duplex	Half Duplex
Standardization	Standard body through LoRa Alliance	Source Network	Global IEE Standard
Network Topology	Star	Star	Mesh
Total Number of Publicly Available Devices	20 mill	10 mill	Not available
Complexity	Low	Low	Moderate
Global Presence	57	29	29+

Our Recommendation: LoRaWAN

LoRaWAN can transmit data over long distances cheaply, support multiple deployment types, roam freely, and support large-scale deployments, making it our choice for the best LPWAN radio technology.

With 57 network operators including Comcast, LoRaWAN is currently deployed in more than 100 countries around the world. It is the dominant LPWAN technology on the market today, enjoying the support of major technology companies such as IBM, Alibaba, Bosch, Cisco, and Nokia.

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1 Based on the most recently public data as of September 2017
2 Current range of MachineQ pricing options, subject to change without notice
3 Based on the maximum range across publically available data for both rural and urban ranges
4 Maximum payload of 242 bytes at SF7, the smallest possible payload of 11 bytes at SF10
5 Reserved internationally for the use of radio frequency energy for industrial, scientific, and medical purposes (ISM)
6 Number of IoT devices connected to the AT&T network
7 Complexity as defined by how much memory and processing power you need on your end device