Remote - Spring 2016 - (Page 24)

Feature Article 4G LTE Versus Wi-Fi Versus Bluetooth: What Every Aspiring IoT Entrepreneur Needs to Know Lee Williams, COO ETwater Of all the choices will you make as an Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneur, one can have a disproportionately large impact on your success: connectivity. The choice between 3G/4G LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and combinations thereof, will dramatically affect your user experience and business model. Going into this discussion, let's remember that 4G LTE, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are just marketing terms crafted for consumers. We're really talking about radio waves in different frequency bands. 4G LTE falls in the 2.5 to 7 GHz range; Wi-Fi spans from 2.4 GHz to 5.9 GHz; Bluetooth operates from 2.4 GHz to 2.485 GHz, though only at short distances. Your connectivity strategy has to be based on the nature of the experience and level of service you aim to provide. You are dealing with an invisible landscape of evolving protocols, standards, and frequencies. Interference is more common than not, and you need to plan for change and really understand the life of your product and where it will be used. In general, 4G wins in reliability, range and security, Wi-Fi is good for device interoperability, and Bluetooth is good for creating rich user experiences. You can draw a direct correlation between the latency of the responses to a connected system and the connectivity technology used. The Big Differences: Wi-Fi versus 4G LTE Wi-Fi may not be the best choice for connectivity. Compared to 4G LTE, Wi-Fi is less reliable, less secure, more limited in range and less configurable. It is going to be the most popular choice, and is perfect for devices on a personal area network. Keep in mind, it replaced 'wired' connections, and as a result it is good for the home-office, the kitchen, or the entertainment system in the living room, but it is not likely to be a good choice as the only form of connectivity outside the range of those areas. Bluetooth is the "black sheep" of the trio. As a machine-to-machine communication protocol, Bluetooth is not an IoT technology per se unless it's paired with a device that connects to the internet. Thus, for most IoT entrepreneurs, the big debate is 4G LTE versus Wi-Fi The first consideration is reliability. If you make a "smart" coffee makers, lightbulbs or other home appliances, Wi-Fi might be fine. If the power goes out, nothing disastrous happens. However, when safety and mission-critical functions are dependent on internet connectivity, you can't let power outages cause interruptions. So for a smart alarm system or sensor that measures the integrity of a construction crane, 4G LTE is necessary. Wi-Fi is also extremely sensitive to interference. A 2.4 GHz wireless landline phone can degrade Wi-Fi, and so can a deformed coaxial splitter, as I recently learned the hard way. With regard to security, Wi-Fi is only as safe as the network administrator (i.e. the consumer) makes it. Whereas nobody can join a 4G network uninvited, anybody can join a Wi-Fi network that isn't password protected. Even when consumers password protect Wi-Fi, they aren't known for choosing strong passwords (no offense to anyone who uses 123456). 4G LTE excels at security and verification without placing any burden on consumers. Distance is another key issue, especially for IoT entrepreneurs focused on outdoor applications. Whereas Wi-Fi is constrained to about 100 feet, at best, distance is no issue with 4G LTE (or 3G) anywhere with decent coverage. People will be annoyed with your Wi-Fi smart swimming pool controller if they have to install Wi-Fi extenders to use it. For agricultural, industrial and infrastructural applications, like smart highways, the problem is even more pronounced. Rigging hundreds or thousands of 24 www.RemoteMagazine.com http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Spring 2016

Editor's Choice
Driving Real-Time Insight in the Oil and Gas Industry
One Network to Rule Them All
Rolls-Royce Power Systems Protection Underground Data Center
Going Beyond Compliance: Using NERC CIP v5 as a Catalyst for a Greater Security Strategy
Different Hardware Platforms, Same HMI Software
Satellite Communications: Extending the Reach of Your Monitoring and Control Footprint
Key Elements to Designing an IoT Network for Remote Monitoring
4G LTE Versus Wi-Fi Versus Bluetooth: What Every Aspiring IoT Entrepreneur Needs to Know
SCADA
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Industry News

Remote - Spring 2016