TOOL
IoT protocol picker
Six constraints decide most connectivity arguments before anyone gets to preference. Set them and the picker eliminates every standard that physically cannot meet them, then explains what each survivor costs you.
How the picker decides
Every standard below carries six declared figures: the range it holds in its normal deployment, the lowest power class it supports, the application-layer throughput it realistically delivers, its round-trip latency class, the node count one network holds before it needs splitting, and whether devices are IP endpoints. A standard is eliminated when it fails a constraint outright, which is why every elimination below is stated rather than hidden.
What survives is ranked by cost of ownership rather than by capability: a standard that needs nothing but the phone already in the room outranks one that needs a hub you have to buy and run, which outranks one that needs a carrier contract with a monthly line rental. When two standards do the same job, the picker prefers the one that leaves less infrastructure behind.
What it deliberately does not model
- Duty-cycle and dwell-time law. Sub-GHz unlicensed bands are throttled by regulation, not by the radio: 1% duty cycle in much of the EU 868 MHz band, 400 ms dwell time in the US 915 MHz band. The declared LoRaWAN throughput is already the regulated figure, but your regional parameters may be stricter.
- Building materials. Range figures assume ordinary interior construction. Reinforced concrete, foil-backed insulation and metal cabinets can cost more link budget than a whole step down the range list.
- Carrier coverage. NB-IoT and LTE-M are only as available as an operator's network at your site. Check coverage before committing, especially underground or in rural areas.
- Certification cost and time. Standards with a logo programme, Matter and Z-Wave among them, add a certification step to a commercial product's schedule.
Where the picker points at a standard you want to understand properly, the reasoning behind each one is in the guides: Zigbee vs Z-Wave vs Matter, LoRaWAN vs NB-IoT vs LTE-M, Bluetooth LE for wearables, Modbus vs MQTT, and the full connectivity decision guide.