Comparison
| Protocol | Band | Throughput | Range | Power | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WiFi 6 (802.11ax) | 2.4 / 5 GHz | up to 9.6 Gbit/s | 30–100 m | High | Home, office, streaming |
| WiFi 7 (be) | 2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz | up to 46 Gbit/s | 30–100 m | High | Bleeding edge high-bandwidth |
| WiFi HaLow (802.11ah) | 900 MHz | 150 kbit/s – 40 Mbit/s | 1 km | Medium | IoT, sensor networks |
| BT Classic | 2.4 GHz | 3 Mbit/s | 10–100 m | Medium | Audio (A2DP), pairing |
| BT LE 5 | 2.4 GHz | 125 kbit/s – 2 Mbit/s | 10–100 m | Very low | Wearables, beacons |
| Zigbee (802.15.4) | 2.4 GHz | 250 kbit/s | 10–100 m | Very low | Mesh home automation |
| Z-Wave | sub-GHz | 100 kbit/s | 30 m | Very low | Home automation (prop.) |
| Thread | 2.4 GHz | 250 kbit/s | 10–100 m | Very low | IP-based mesh (Matter) |
| LoRa / LoRaWAN | 868 / 915 MHz | 0.3–50 kbit/s | 5–15 km | Ultra-low | Low-data long-range IoT |
| Sigfox | sub-GHz | 0.1 kbit/s | 10+ km | Ultra-low | Tiny payload IoT |
| NB-IoT | cellular | 26–66 kbit/s | km | Low | Cellular IoT — utility meters |
| LTE-M | cellular | 1 Mbit/s | km | Low | Cellular IoT — mobile assets |
| 5G NR | 600 MHz – 52 GHz | up to 10 Gbit/s | km | High | Mobile broadband, URLLC |
| UWB | 3.1–10.6 GHz | 500 Mbit/s | 10 m | Low | Location, tracking (AirTag) |
| NFC | 13.56 MHz | 424 kbit/s | < 10 cm | Very low | Tap payments, pairing |
Picking one
- Streaming media, desktop: WiFi.
- Personal audio, short control: Bluetooth.
- Smart home devices: Zigbee / Thread / Matter.
- Long range + tiny data: LoRa or Sigfox.
- Cellular IoT: NB-IoT (low bandwidth) or LTE-M (mobile).
- Location / distance: UWB for cm-level, BLE beacons for room-level.
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