The 5 network IoT Board.

IoT stands for the Internet of Things, which is a system of interconnected devices such as home appliances, mechanical machines, electrical devices, etc. These interconnected devices have a Unique ID (UID) and are capable of transferring data over a network in order to communicate.

Currently, IoT is being used in connecting almost every device in a home and in a factory. These devices, when connected to a network (local/ global), can transfer data to the main server, this data can be used to monitor and control the devices remotely.

Some application of IoT includes:

Home automation
Factory automation
Production Monitoring
Inventory Management
Safety and Security
Quality Control
Supply chain monitoring
Environment Monitoring

The main and critical component of every network is connectivity. Every IoT system primarily requires a robust and reliable network to connect devices.

NEVER GO OFF NETWORK

Network, in general, are of two types :

Wired – Using cables ( Example: LAN )
Wireless – Using Radio Frequency (Example: Bluetooth, WiFi, Sifgfox,LoRA, LTE,3G,2G, EDGE etc.)

To connect IoT devices wireless networks are preferred to overcome the limitation of mobility.

Now, in wireless communication, we have different protocols that have there own advantages and disadvantages.But,

what if you can make a system that can work more than one wireless communication protocol.

A multi-protocol system will ensure data transfer even if one protocol fails or is out of reach. For Example, Suppose the device is connected to the internet via 3G network but 3G signals are poor in the area, in this case, if your system is only single protocol it will not be able to transfer data to the internet but if you have a multi-protocol system you can send data via, wifi, Bluetooth, LoRA WAN to ensure data is sent to the server regardless of network failure.

You can build a multi-network-protocol system by using more than one network protocol module in your system,but this will make your device bulky.

A good alternative would be to use a board which is specially designed to for multi-network system.

Pycom FiPy is one such board which has 5 networks namely (Wifi, Bluetooth, Sigfox, LoRa, Dual LTE-M all on one small module.