Which is better, LoRa or NB-IOT IoT technology?

Which is better, LoRa or NB-IOT IoT low-power wireless technology?

The biggest difference between NB-IOT and LoRa is whether they work in licensed spectrum and so on.

Licensed Spectrum Aspects

If you use the IoT application of NB-IoT technology, it will be subject to the network coverage of the telecom operator, just like the current GPRS data transmission module or the LTE IoT terminal. If your IoT application is located in a remote suburb or In mountainous areas, if the base station supporting NB-IOT is not deployed, the Internet of Things access based on NB-IOT will not be successfully implemented.

While LoRa works on the unauthorized Sub-GHZ channel, we can use SemTech's LoRa modules and LoRa gateways to form our own network, without relying on the base station signal coverage of the mobile network, and without paying the operators network traffic usage fees. Although LoRa works in unlicensed spectrum, the channel may be interfered by other wireless communication applications, but LoRa technology is based on linear Chirp spread spectrum modulation, its technology has been used in military and aerospace communication for decades, we can Don't worry too much about LoRa's anti-interference ability.

In terms of power consumption:

In terms of power consumption, whether it is NB-IOT or LoRa, they are designed with low power consumption to meet the requirements of the meter, which is 10 years of life, but the specific details have not yet been explained in detail.

In terms of cost:

In terms of the cost of the module, it is understood that the chip of NB-IOT will be about 2 US dollars, while the LoRa will not be higher than 5 US dollars, and the later maintenance is both easy, as for the existing basis. The modification will still be in the form of a new charging method, which has not yet been specified.

NB-IoT

Safety aspects:

In terms of security, NB-IOT technology can reach a carrier-level security index, using 3GPP licensed spectrum to avoid interference problems. On the other hand, LoRa uses a multi-layer encryption method, and the ISM license-free spectrum will cause interference problems.

In terms of sensitivity and accuracy, the link budget of both technologies is above 155dB, which is completely fine for accuracy and sensitivity. (To effectively compare the performance of transmission range between different technologies, a quantitative metric called "link budget" is used. The link budget includes every variable that affects the signal strength at the receiving end, and in its simplified system includes the transmit power plus receiver sensitivity).

Signal aspect:

In terms of coverage (signal), NB-IOT<25km, LoRa<11km is slightly inferior to LoRa. NB-IOT can repeat transmission when the signal is not good.

For the installation environment of the meter, NB-IOT technology has been successfully implemented in the water meter industry, and LoRa can also be used in harsh environments.

In terms of network deployment, it is a little embarrassing for LoRa at present. It needs a strong hand to promote its network construction, and NB-IOT can be upgraded based on LTE FDD or GSM, or can be built.