IoT

What is LoRaWAN?

LoRaWAN is an open LPWAN radio standard for IoT: long range, years of battery life, AES encryption. Architecture, device classes and EU868 explained.

What is MQTT?

MQTT is the lightweight publish/subscribe protocol for IoT: brokers, topics, QoS levels, MQTT 5.0 and TLS security, explained clearly by WZ-IT.

What is ThingsBoard?

ThingsBoard is the open-source IoT platform for device management, telemetry, rule engine and dashboards. Editions, architecture and protocols explained.

What is ChirpStack?

ChirpStack is an open-source LoRaWAN Network Server under the MIT license. We explain its components, supported gateways and self-hosted operation, no lock-in.

IoT architecture in layers

IoT architecture explained layer by layer: from sensors over LoRaWAN/MQTT, gateway and ThingsBoard to InfluxDB and Grafana - fully self-hosted and open source.

LoRaWAN vs NB-IoT vs WLAN/5G

LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M or 5G for IoT? Compare range, battery life, data rate, cost and who owns the network - plus the self-hosted LoRaWAN angle.

ThingsBoard pricing & editions

ThingsBoard pricing 2026: Community Edition is free, Professional Edition from $10/month, Cloud charges per device. Honest self-hosted vs cloud TCO.

How much does ChirpStack cost?

How much does ChirpStack cost? It is open source and free (MIT). The real costs: servers, gateways, operations and maintenance - honest LoRaWAN TCO inside.

ThingsBoard vs ChirpStack

ThingsBoard vs ChirpStack: they do not compete. ChirpStack is the LoRaWAN Network Server, ThingsBoard the IoT platform. Here is how they complement each other.

IoT platform: self-hosted vs cloud

Self-hosted IoT vs. cloud: data sovereignty, GDPR, real costs and lock-in compared. ThingsBoard/ChirpStack vs. AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Cumulocity.

Open-source IoT platforms compared

ThingsBoard vs Node-RED vs EdgeX Foundry vs Eclipse Ditto vs OpenRemote: purpose, device management, dashboards, rules, licensing and self-hosting compared.

ThingsBoard vs AWS IoT Core & Azure IoT Hub

ThingsBoard vs AWS IoT Core and Azure IoT Hub 2026: features, current pricing with a worked example, GDPR and lock-in - self-hosted or hyperscaler?

Install ThingsBoard with Docker

Install ThingsBoard CE with Docker: step-by-step docker-compose guide with PostgreSQL, ports, first login, demo account, device and dashboard.

Set up ChirpStack & a LoRaWAN gateway

Install ChirpStack with Docker, register a LoRaWAN gateway, add an OTAA device and read sensor data via MQTT. Self-hosted step-by-step guide.

Grafana IoT dashboard with InfluxDB

Self-hosted Grafana IoT dashboard with InfluxDB: install InfluxDB, ingest IoT data via MQTT/Telegraf or ThingsBoard, add the data source, panels and alerts.

ThingsBoard Rule Engine: alarms & notifications

ThingsBoard Rule Engine setup: threshold alarms, severity and notifications via email, Slack and webhook - with an example rule chain and test.

Milesight sensor in ChirpStack: payload decoder

Decode a Milesight LoRaWAN sensor in ChirpStack: grab the official JavaScript decoder from GitHub and add it to the device profile as a payload codec.

Node-RED MQTT dashboard for sensor data

Node-RED MQTT dashboard step by step: install Node-RED 5 with Docker, set up Dashboard 2.0, parse a JSON payload and show live sensor data as a gauge and chart.

Predictive maintenance & retrofit

Retrofit legacy machines without a modern interface using sensors, an edge gateway and OPC-UA/Modbus, then analyse it in ThingsBoard and Grafana - self-hosted.

Building IoT / smart building with LoRaWAN

Smart building IoT with LoRaWAN: monitor occupancy, CO2, energy and leaks with one gateway per building - self-hosted on ChirpStack, ThingsBoard, Grafana.