In this article we are going to talk about LoRaWAN . We will explain what this network standard consists of, focusing on the differences between public and private networks. We already know that in terms of networks we can find very diverse technologies, standards and characteristics that facilitate our day to day and also serve to connect all kinds of devices. Wireless networks are also increasingly gaining fundamental importance due to the rise of Internet of Things devices.
What is LoRaWAN
First, we will explain what LoRaWAN is, for all those readers who do not know what this network standard means. Its name comes from the Low Power Wide Area Network (or low power and wide area networks, in Spanish).
It is specifically designed to help improve the characteristics of Internet of Things devices , something that is increasingly present in our daily lives and will also increase significantly in the coming years. Allows you to connect battery-powered objects to the Internet wirelessly.
We can mention for example two-way communication, end-to-end security, mobility or location services. LoRaWAN was created for applications and sensors that have to transmit and receive small amounts of data over long distances a few times an hour, or perhaps just once a day. Their networks can be public (depending on antennas of telecommunications operators) or private (where network elements, such as gateways and servers, are under the control of the user).
Precisely in this last one is where we are going to deepen. We will explain what differences there are in public and private LoRaWAN networks.
Differences between public and private LoRaWAN networks
As we have indicated we can find public and private LoRaWAN networks . There are differences, as we will see. When we talk about public networks it is when they are deployed and managed by telephone operators. It is when in a certain country a telephone company has these networks and they are made available to users. What they do is resell access to that network as through a subscription. Something similar to how we do when hiring a mobile phone plan.
We can say that this network is implemented for all users nationwide , and the user subscribes to one or more plans to connect their IoT devices. The process would be first of all to acquire a subscription (the fee we pay for that fee), configure the IoT devices with that operator, activate the sensors and connect.
When you are in a larger geographic area and few sensors are used, it is more convenient to subscribe to a public network. Users can take advantage of the IoT platform developed by the telecommunications operator, its managed network infrastructure, and even roaming services.
On the other hand we have private networks . This is best recommended for better indoor range, using multiple sensors with affordable battery consumption, and being able to meet high security demands.
In this case they are installed for the use of a single entity while the public network must be shared and used by several users. For the private network, the user can manage their own IoT device sensors and network infrastructure. Many companies choose this option despite the fact that public guarantee networks exist in their country.
The operation in this case would be as follows: the first thing is to buy one or more gateways, then we implement them on our site, declare the sensors on the gateways, create the connections between the gates and the data processing platforms and finally activate the sensors.
In short, as we see, there are differences between public and private LoRaWAN networks. Each of them can be interesting in certain situations.
