What is LPWAN?

LPWAN (low power, wide area network) is a broad term that is used to encompass a multitude of technologies that share these common characteristics:

LOW POWER: Operating on small, inexpensive batteries that last for years;

WIDE AREA: An operating range that is generally larger than 2KM in an urban setting.

The way that LPWAN technology can achieve both low power and wide area, is that it sends small amounts of data per day, approximately 1,000 bytes of data per day. To put this number into perspective, each character you type is 1 byte, therefore, you can transfer 1000 characters per day. Simply put, LPWAN technology works well in situations where devices need to send small data over a wide area while maintaining battery life over many years.