Get Nb-IoT with Ting: What is Narrowband IoT anyway?

Have you noticed how everything is getting smart these days? Smart parking meters, smart bike stations, even things that might not be as obvious, such as garbage bins, soil monitors, water meters, electric meters — you get the picture. These things are all a part of the Internet of Things, and one of the best ways to put the Internet in these objects is with Narrowband IoT, or Nb-IoT for short.

What is Narrowband IoT?

Nb-IoT is a network of simple devices that can run on carrier networks—including Ting! Nb-IoT was standardized in 2016 by 3GPP and is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after options of low power wide area (LPWA) technology by offering condition and performance analysis in real time.

Narrowband can support about 250 kilobytes of uplink and downlink rather easily. While that might not sound like much, Nb-IoT is perfect for those IoT devices that use a small amount of data to function over a long period of time.

We have the power

One of the top benefits of Nb-IoT is power efficiency, which is essential when it comes to certain IoT devices, in particular, battery-powered IoT devices. Replacing batteries can be a pain, especially if you need to replace batteries for hundreds of devices, and the batteries in some devices cannot be changed easily or regularly. Take, for example, devices that are in a hard to reach places, such as extremely rural areas, inside of a volcano, on top of a snowy mountain, underwater, or even inside the bodies of humans or animals.

Narrowband IoT consumes less power by improving network efficiency and supporting more connections with less. This enables a device to live up to 10 or 15 more years than it would have otherwise. Best of all, the less power you use the more you’ll save on energy costs.

Security

Narrowband was designed with security in mind. Narrowband offers all the same security features as LTE provides. Such as:

Coverage that excels

The Internet of Things has already moved underground, physically speaking. Narrowband is being used in underground and demanding environments such as subway tunnels, pipelines, soil, asphalt, deep within buildings, mines, etc. These devices have the potential to make life and industry safer and more efficient for everyone. As Narrowband expands, expect to find more connected devices below, or above ground.

Ting and Narrowband

Ting is stretching into the future with Narrowband IoT. We offer Narrowband to all compatible devices with access to band 71 [600Mhz], regardless of the SIM card type. If your device is compatible with band 71, then it’ll have access to it. Whether you’re looking to get one or 100,000 things online, Ting has the flexibility to easily accommodate you. Have unlimited devices under one account with the ability to activate and monitor them yourself with ease.

From the city streets to the mines, we’re excited to see where Nb-IoT takes the Internet of Things. What excites us, even more, is being a part of the innovation and solutions that Nb-IoT offers.

Further reading: Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) by ublox