Wireless M-Bus vs LoRaWAN vs NB-IoT for meter reading
All three read meters remotely and all three can land in one platform. What differs is who builds the network, how far a meter reaches it and what each reading costs to carry.
Metbox ·
Wireless M-Bus: the meters already speak it
Most European water and heat meters come with a Wireless M-Bus radio. A gateway in the building, or within radio range of it, hears every meter around it and sends the readings over the mobile network. There is one SIM per gateway rather than per meter, and nothing to change on the meters.
It suits apartment buildings, housing estates and anywhere the meters are already installed with wM-Bus. Range is measured in tens of metres through walls and floors, so a large building or a scattered site may need more than one gateway. See Wireless M-Bus meter reading.
LoRaWAN: long range, your own network or a shared one
LoRaWAN is a long-range radio network in the same 868 MHz band. One rooftop gateway can cover many buildings, and the network can be your own or an existing public or private one. Meters and sensors need a LoRaWAN radio, which fewer meters have built in than wM-Bus; add-on modules exist for many.
It suits districts and utilities that want coverage across a whole area from a few masts, and sites that also run sensors and valves on the same network. See LoRaWAN meter reading.
NB-IoT: the mobile network, no gateway
NB-IoT is a cellular standard for low-power devices. The meter has its own modem and SIM and reports to the platform by itself, so there is no gateway and no local network at all — useful where meters are far apart, or in chambers and basements where operators have deep-indoor coverage.
The trade-off is one connection per meter, and coverage depends on the operator at each site. See NB-IoT meter reading.
How to choose
If the meters are already installed and have Wireless M-Bus, read them with a gateway: it is the fastest route and changes nothing on the meters. If you are covering a whole district or also need sensors and control, LoRaWAN pays off. If meters are scattered with nothing to share a gateway, NB-IoT removes the gateway entirely.
Many networks end up with all three. The Metbox platform reads Wireless M-Bus, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT and wired M-Bus side by side, so the choice can be made site by site. The compatibility list shows which networks each tested meter supports.