{"id":870341,"date":"2021-05-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iotforall.com\/?p=104048"},"modified":"2021-05-20T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T12:00:00","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-cat-m1-and-nb-iot","status":"publish","type":"station","link":"https:\/\/platodata.io\/plato-data\/what-is-the-difference-between-cat-m1-and-nb-iot\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Difference Between Cat-M1 and NB-IoT?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Cat M1 and NB-IoT are two of the most popular IoT connectivity options right now. Understanding the use cases and the difference is important to find the right technology to support specific use cases. This article clarifies the key difference and use cases for NB-IoT<\/a> and Cat-M1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology over the past few years is well documented, with\u202fexperts predicting the number of IoT devices to reach 75 billion. To power this emergence, project managers and developers search for IoT device connectivity to support the specific ranges, bandwidths, and data loads that they need to be covered, enabling them to bring their innovative ideas to market successfully.<\/p>\n While any connectivity could technically do the job, choosing the perfect IoT solution for your project can result in improved quality of service, cost savings, and operational efficiency, creating a competitive advantage that allows businesses to innovate without worry. Two of the more popular IoT connectivity types today are\u202fLTE CAT-M1\u202fand\u202fNB-IoT.<\/p>\n Here are the differences between LTE CAT M1\u202fand NB-IoT and which one would work best for your IoT project.<\/p>\n LTE-M (LTE Cat-M or Cat-M1)<\/a> is a new mobile data standard for the growing LPWA or Low-Power Wide-Area market. It works best for transferring low to medium data in a long range.<\/p>\n Cat-M1 offers fast enough bandwidth to replace many current 2G and 3G IoT applications. It is different than NB-IoT in several other ways: Cat-M1 supports cellular tower handoffs, so it works with mobile applications, such as asset tracking and fleet management. It also supports voice features in IoT applications, such as medical alert devices and home alarm systems, where the ability of people to talk is important.<\/p>\n The standard, which uses 1.4 MHz of bandwidth, also has enough throughput to transfer firmware, software, and other security updates to IoT devices, including a full-blown Linux operating system \u2013 something NB-IoT can\u2019t do. Furthermore, Cat-M1 supports full and half-duplexing, meaning companies can lower power consumption and increase their battery life by choosing half-duplex. It\u2019s faster with 1Mbps upload and download speeds and lower latency of 10 to 15 milliseconds.<\/p>\n The most common use cases for Cat-M1 include wearables<\/a>, such as fitness bands and smartwatches and automated teller machines (ATMs), in addition to asset tracking, health monitors, and alarms. It is also widely used in metering applications, security monitoring, building monitoring systems, and telematics.<\/p>\n It also has some crossover with NB-IoT and can work with smart meters and industrial monitors.<\/p>\nWhat is Cat-M1 (LTE-M)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Cat-M1\/ LTE Cat-M<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Cat M1<\/strong> Use Cases<\/h3>\n
What is Narrowband IoT?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
NB IoT (LTE Cat-NB1)<\/strong><\/h3>\n