5G Or LoRaWAN Deep Dive: 3 Reasons Why LoRaWAN Is Better For Commercial Use

Image of buildings with IoT capabilities

5G undoubtedly will make a huge difference to our lives when it fully launches. However, LoRaWAN is an existing technology that is better suited for commercial building communications.

There’s been a lot of talk about how 5G will revolutionize our society with blazing fast internet speeds, bandwidth, as well as an increase in IoT-enabled devices. This can lead to smarter cities and an improved quality of life. However, 5G is still a few years away from becoming the standard in wireless technology, while Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAn) has been a top contender for commercial building communications with over 87 million devices deployed globally. Here are three reasons why LoRaWAN is more effective:

5G Is Still A Few Years Away From Becoming The Standard In Wireless Technology

Coverage and Distance:

LoRaWAN has no problem with long distances, or communicating through dense urban environments. This is extremely effective for commercial portfolios that operate in building dense full concrete high rises that wish to save costs by having one gateway service an entire building, or for commercial properties that are miles apart. While 5G has been stated to be over 100 times faster than 4G, speed never translates well to distance: 5G-enabled devices must be kept at short range, and will also travel poorly through solid objects like walls, concrete, or soil, as it must pass on a huge amount of data. This will also increase an operator’s costs, as they will need to install cell towers between locations.

Data Integrity:

Another key benefit to using LoRaWAN-enabled devices within a commercial setting is data integrity.  IoT devices used in a commercial setting usually send small amounts of information consistently, like a water submeter or an electrical submeter recording consumption patterns. This plays to LoRaWAN’s advantage, as small amounts of data can move through far or dense distances easier than large amounts of data would for 5G.

Cost:

One of the most crucial advantages LoRaWAN has over 5G concerns cost. A LoRaWAN network requires minimal infrastructure, has a low cost to implement, and can be deployed instantly. A 5G network depends on an extensive infrastructure to be in place, requires a high initial capital cost, and isn’t ready for commercial use yet.

Conclusion:

LoRaWAN allows property managers, developers, and data consultants to securely and efficiently set up networks for commercial building data collection. By enabling consistent data integrity through both rural and urban environments, at a very cost-effective price to implement, LoRaWAN is the ideal technology to manage commercial building communications.

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