What is IoT?

The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects or groups of objects with sensors, processing ability, software, and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks. Devices like sensors, actuators or gadgets that are programmed for certain applications.

Examples of IoT devices include smart collars for pets, wildfire sensors, doorbell camera systems, home voice control devices such as Amazon Alexa and many more. Traditional WiFi or cellular data plans are not suitable networks for these devices to operate on as they lacks range and can be extremely expensive in remote areas.

The helium network solves this problem by providing decentralised, community-owned network coverage to IoT devices by using blockchain and LoRaWAN technology. It is an open-source wireless protocol that has a range of over 200 times that of traditional WiFi. This allows the helium network to provide encrypted, ubiquitous wireless connectivity at a fraction of the cost of traditional WiFi and cellular network providers such as Vodafone or EE.