GSM is the second generation mobile telephone system. It is mainly meant for voice, but also supports data in the form of SMS and GPRS. Because this is an old system, it is widely adopted.
LTE is the 4th generation mobile network system. Even though it supports voice calls, it was designed for better scalability and wireless broadband. The range is normally less than GSM, but the attainable data rate is orders of magnitude more. LTE can compare to long-range WiFi.
The nature of the LoRa network potentially allows IoT devices to run for years on small batteries, occasionally sending out small packets of data, waiting for a short time for response messages, and then closing the connection until more data needs to be sent.
| GSM/UMTS/LTE (2G/3G/4G) | LoRaWAN |
|---|---|
| Bundled transfer of multiple measurements together after a certain time period | Continuos transfer of a single set of measurements in a short time period |
| Example: 24 measurements set every day sent daily | Example: 1 measurement set every 15 minutes |
| Example data size: 5000B | Example data size: 64B |
| Big (expensive) industrial-grade battery | Small battery |
| Range: 2km(LTE) - 35km(GSM) | Range: 5-15km typical (heavily dependant on line of sight) |
| Communication from device to a mobile telephone provider antenna | Communication from device to either a LoRa Gateway or a LoRa-compatible antenna from a mobile telephone provider |
| 👍 Existing Coverage & High data rate | 👍 Low power & Lower cost & “Real Time”-Data |
| 👎 Requires a contract with a mobile telephone service provider. Requires a lot of energy. | 👎 Requires investing in one’s own network with base stations, a community network or getting a contract with a service provider that has coverage where you need it. |
💡⚡ NEW: NB-IoT/LTE-M
NB-IoT / LTE-M variants are also possible.
Same advantages as in the 2G/3G/4G variation with the possibility (in ADT1) to use small replaceable AA batteries.
Coverage NB-IoT/LTE-M: https://www.gsma.com/iot/deployment-map/