Wi-Fi, cellular, or LoRa — which for my project? — answered by Engineer Saeed Baatiah
Two questions settle it: where the device is, and how much it sends. Inside a building with good coverage and mains power: Wi-Fi, the cheapest and simplest. A remote or moving location: cellular, carrying a monthly subscription cost. Long distances with very small messages and a battery lasting years: LoRa. Getting this wrong costs a full rebuild, so it is settled before any hardware is bought.
The decision is settled by four factors in order: whether mains power exists (its absence forces a battery and rules out anything power-hungry), network coverage at the actual site rather than in the office, message size and frequency, and whether the device is fixed or moving. Test coverage on site before deciding — estimating from a map is frequently wrong inside buildings and metal warehouses.
And what is most often left out of the sums is the recurring cost rather than the upfront one. A SIM per device means a monthly fee multiplying with every unit added, so a fifty-device project carries an annual commitment that belongs in the budget from the start. Wi-Fi adds no connectivity fee but ties you to the building’s coverage, and LoRa needs a gateway bought once that serves many devices.
- Power first — its absence forces a battery and settles half the decision
- Test coverage on site, not on a map
- Cost the monthly fee × device count × a year
- Getting this wrong means a rebuild — settle it before buying hardware