Bandwidth

As the number of IoT solutions grows, the number of sensors deployed will also increase. All these sensors will collect and transmit data over local networks and the Internet. Individually, each sensor can transmit small amounts of data, but with a large number of sensors, the total volume of data able to be transmitted over networks will require significantly high bandwidth.

The amount of data that IoT devices collect and transmit will increase as technology continues to evolve, which will, in turn, contribute to the need for increased bandwidth. As an analogy, when smartphones became capable of transmitting images and streaming video, the need for bandwidth jumped significantly.

New technology standards and solutions are being implemented to support this growing need for bandwidth.

A Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) is a type of wireless telecommunication WAN designed to allow long-range communications at a low bit rate among connected devices such as sensors. The low power and low bit rate requirements make them well suited for IoT solutions, in contrast to WiFi communication which requires more power from the sensors. The emergence of 5G in cellular data communication will also go a long way toward supporting the increasing need for reliable and high-bandwidth networks.