Solution design
The radio is a decision, not a default.
Most connectivity projects pick the radio the first vendor sold them. The right one follows from five questions a buyer can answer without us: where the asset is, whether it moves, how often it must speak, what powers it, and who should own the network.
- 01 Where is the asset?
- 02 Does it move?
- 03 How often must it speak?
- 04 What powers it?
- 05 Who should own the network?
How to read it.
Go across the five numbered columns with your asset in mind. A vehicle that leaves the site needs cellular. A sensor on a battery that reports twice an hour from your own land wants private LoRaWAN. A meter or controller already on a wire needs no radio at all — it needs a line that reads and never writes. Mixing is normal: a farm is LoRaWAN for probes and valves, cellular for the pickup, wire for the pump house.
| Radio | 01 · Reach | 02 · Moves with the asset | 03 · How often · data per message | 04 · Power | 05 · Who owns the network | Running cost | HOLOIN reads it today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cellular LTE · LTE-M | anywhere with coverage | yes | large · live positions | mains or vehicle | the carrier | a SIM per device | yes · trackers through the bundled server |
| NB-IoT cellular, low power | anywhere with coverage, deeper indoors | poorly | small · infrequent | battery, years | the carrier | a SIM per device, cheaper plans | yes · LwM2M through the bundled server |
| LoRaWAN private | your site, kilometres per gateway | within the site | small · infrequent | battery, years | you | gateways once; no per-device fee | yes · the bundled network server |
| LoRaWAN public | where a public network exists | within its coverage | small · infrequent | battery, years | the operator | a fee per device | yes · the operator forwards uplinks to an HTTP source (ChirpStack format, or a generic source with a field map) |
| Wired fieldbus Modbus TCP · BACnet/IP · OPC UA · SNMP | inside the building or plant | no | continuous | mains | you | none beyond the wiring | yes · through the Field Agent, read-only |
| Wi-Fi | inside a building | within the site | large | mains | you | none | through HTTP or MQTT devices |
| Satellite | anywhere | yes | small · costly | vehicle or solar | the operator | high per message | through an HTTP or MQTT bridge; not a native source |
60 trucks on regional routes
Cellular trackers (one make or several) through the bundled server; a fuel sensor on the CAN bus where the tracker reads it.
Moving assets; positions every few seconds; vehicle power.
A 200-hectare farm, 24 zones
Private LoRaWAN: soil probes, valves and a weather station on one or two gateways; a flow meter on Modbus at the pump house.
Battery sensors, your own land, no per-device fee; the pump house is wired already.
A 12-floor office with a BMS
The Field Agent on the BACnet segment, reading the BMS’s own points, trend logs and schedules; LoRaWAN CO₂ sensors in rooms the BMS doesn’t see.
The building is wired; the gaps are battery sensors.
40 telecom sites, two hours apart
The generator controller and the rectifier over Modbus through a Field Agent at the site, uplinked by cellular; a fuel sensor on the tank.
Wired on site, nothing but cellular off site.
A 5 MW solar plant
SunSpec over Modbus TCP from the inverters and the meter through a Field Agent; the weather station the same way.
Everything is on the plant’s wire; read-only by design.
A depot with 30 chargers
The chargers’ own OCPP connection to HOLOIN; the site meter on Modbus.
OCPP is the charger’s radio; the meter is on the switchboard.
Devices we have proved, by name.
HOLOIN’s hardware catalogue lists the device models an acceptance run has proved, each with its verification level; a model not on the list can still be read — it is a catalogue entry away. The list below is holoin.ai’s, read live from its facts, so this page never claims a device the product hasn’t shown.
Cellular trackers
A device model is listed here once an acceptance run has proved it.
LoRaWAN sensors and actuators
- Decentlab DL-SHT35 air temperature and humidity sensor · verified (simulated)
Wired fieldbus (Modbus · BACnet · OPC UA · SNMP)
- Invertek Optidrive E3 variable speed drive · verified (simulated)
OCPP charge points
A device model is listed here once an acceptance run has proved it.
- 01Which assets leave the site, and how often must they be heard?
- 02What already has a wire, and who owns it — IT, OT, or a vendor?
- 03Who should own the network in five years: you, a carrier, or an operator?
Next
Bring your sites. We’ll fill in the table together.
An assessment walks your assets through the five questions and ends with a radio, a device list and an order of work — yours to take anywhere. The first session is free.