The vast majority of machine-to-machine devices in place today rely on 2G cellular networks for their connectivity.
But the wireless service providers that operate these networks are sunsetting them. That means organizations with existing connected device applications – as well as businesses that are now implementing new initiatives leveraging the Internet of Things – need to find other connectivity options. The good news is that these organizations have a wide array of choices from which to choose.
A collection of companies and technologies, all of which fall under the broad heading of low-power wide area networks, or LPWA, have recently surfaced to address IoT requirements. For example a company called Ingenu is pushing its proprietary random phase multiple access technology and expanding network. SIGFOX has its patented ultra narrow band method. And The LoRa Alliance is a group of companies that have come together in an effort to standardize LPWA.
Senet is among the LoRa contingent. In fact, Senet is the only LoRa-based LPWA solution provider that has FCC-certified gateways and an established North American network with a real, production application running today, notes Steve Ball, Senet’s senior director of product management. The company has a proven network that reaches 100,000 square miles in the U.S., with coverage in the Northeast, parts of the Midwest (mainly in Iowa and Missouri), and California’s Central Valley. And the company is willing and able to expand on that within two to three months if and when customer needs require it.
The network is in use today supporting a fuel tank monitoring application called EnerTrac – a proof point of Senet’s offering, which can support the vast majority of IoT applications for all verticals. Senet’s carrier-class network is a highly scalable, cloud-based Network-as-a-Service that provides network control and device management as well as real-time analytics and reporting to multiple tenants.
“Senet makes it easy for organizations to get connected with its complete, end-to-end networking and IoT platform services,” says Senet CEO George Dannecker. “All you have to do is subscribe. We’ll do the rest.”
In addition to the ease of use Senet’s NaaS offering enables, the company says its LoRa-based solution is low cost, offers a range of more than 15 miles in rural and 5 miles in urban environments, supports bidirectional communications, and can offer connectivity for both fixed and mobile endpoints.
Senet’s modulation and flexible channel plans help reduce interference and noise. And it offers built-in security using AES-128 CCM. Senet customers also have at their disposal proprietary tools for customer mapping, analytics, and system health.
The LoRa technology used by Senet has low power consumption, meaning endpoints can operate on the network for more than a decade without the need for new AA batteries. Senet also notes the benefits of it being part of an ecosystem of companies via the LoRa Alliance and embracing an open, standards-based approach to IoT connectivity.
The LoRa Alliance, which made available for download its first specification in June, now has 130 members, including adopter members, contributor members, and sponsor members. The group includes such well-known tech suppliers as Cisco and IBM, among many others, and major service providers including Bouygues Telecom of France, KPN of Europe, SK Telecom of Korea, and Swisscom.
“When businesses decide that the open standards-based LoRa network is the right solution for their IoT requirements,” says Ball, “Senet is the answer.” For more information on Senet call 603-821-0003 or email
[email protected].
Edited by
Ken Briodagh
