LoRa and LoRaWAN

LoRa is a radio modulation that trades data rate for range and sensitivity; LoRaWAN is the open network protocol built on it, maintained by the LoRa Alliance. Devices send small, infrequent messages to gateways, which forward them to a network server. Typical uses are meters, environmental and agricultural sensors, asset tracking, and building sensors where Wi-Fi doesn't reach and cellular is too costly or power-hungry.

It operates in regional unlicensed bands, for example 863–870 MHz in Europe and 902–928 MHz in the US, each with its own rules for channels, duty cycle and dwell time set out in the LoRaWAN Regional Parameters. Payloads are small and data rates low, so it suits readings and alarms rather than streaming or large firmware updates.

Where it bites: you need gateway coverage (your own or a network operator's), regional variants can mean different hardware or configuration per market, and downlink capacity is limited.