A Comparison of LPWAN Technologies: LoRa vs. Sigfox vs. NB-IoT

Abstract

Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) technologies have been used to form the basis of large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments requiring long-range coverage, low power usage, and affordability. The paper is a detailed comparative analysis of three popular technologies of the LPWAN: LoRaWAN, Sigfox, and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Their architecture, protocol stack and their underlying structures, communication and performance properties, security and scalability, deployment model and cost structures are analyzed. Technical differences are converted into practical deployment knowledge using a detailed application suitability evaluation and a case study based on how to apply smart water metering in a scenario. The findings indicate that LoRaWAN is a good fit in flexible and low-cost private deployments, Sigfox offers ultra-low data rate and simple alerting applications, and NB-IoT offers carrier-grade reliability and security to large-scale and mission-critical deployment. The paper emphasizes that the choice of an LPWAN technology has to be application-based, by focusing on trade-offs between performance, security, scale, and overall cost of ownership instead of considering the individual metrics.