Home security systems are essential for the peace of mind of homeowners. People want their homes to be safe from invaders, burglars, or unwanted visitors. Still, the costs of implementing a durable, secure, and easy-to-maintain home security system are often too high.
More often than not, you’re either left with a considerably lighter wallet or a sub-par home security system. There is also the problem of using these systems for an extended period.
When one element malfunctions, you might need to replace the entire system. Not all security systems work together, resulting in replacing the whole system if one part breaks.
Reinventing home security systems
Over the last few decades, innovative technologies have been developed to implement several types of security and automatization systems. However, the technology wasn’t nearly so easy to manage and implement in residential real estate at the time.
Nowadays, this type of technology can be implemented to improve everything from home security systems to information transmission. And the best part about it is that it’s operated by an unlicensed spectrum that does not require a subscription, which means low maintenance fees.
This alternative technology is the long-range, low-power wide-area network commonly known as LoRaWAN.With smart homes becoming more and more a thing of the present and not the future, this home security system will not only ensure your family’s safety but also help your property maintain its value.
This system is also easy to maintain, easy to install, and affordable. While the LoRa technique has many advantages, the most important ones are its long-range capabilities and affordability. Up next, we’ll discuss how this new technology works.
Understanding LoRa
To understand LoRaWAN technology, we must first understand what LoRa is because this technology cannot exist without it. LoRa is a technique of radio modulation that manipulates radio waves to encode information through a chirped, multi-symbol format, also known as packets.
The most common application for this technology is through sensors and monitors that can be spread across a large area, for example, in a smart city, and send small packets of data to a centralized administrator, known as a hub.
The LoRaWAN protocol
Now that we have the basics of the LoRa transmission technique, the LoRaWAN is the wide-area networking protocol that uses this transmission technique. As already mentioned, it uses radio waves to connect devices wirelessly.
Now, the most annoying thing about wireless technology is that it is limited to a particular area. For example, if you have a wireless router in a room built entirely out of concrete, the signal won’t get out.
LoRaWAN doesn’t have a problem with that, and also, it is a lot less restrictive when it comes to the area it covers, as the long-range part of its name suggests.
This technology is relatively new, and many home security system producers aren’t using it. Thankfully, there hasn’t been much pushback from the industry regarding their applicability.
Not yet, at least. As Semtech LoRa has developed the technology and is used and applied in user-friendly home applications by their partners, the only home security kit available on the market that uses this technology is YoLink.
While a traditional home security system ranges from $100 to $600 with additional monitoring, usage, and maintenance costs, the YoLink option is only around $60.
LoRaWAN technology for home security
While the LoRaWAN technology can be implemented in several ways in residential, commercial, and industrial areas, and is ideal for smart cities, one of the most valuable methods can be seen in home security systems.
This technology is gaining so much traction due to its affordability, long-range coverage, and bi-directional communication protocols with meager power consumption. The technology sends small packets of information without running all the time, where its low energy consumption comes from.
When you think about a traditional home security system, you think about its connectivity. Most home security systems need Bluetooth, wireless or cellular connection, meaning they are connected to the internet. Also, traditional security systems use batteries that need to be changed or recharged, often increasing maintenance costs.
How does LoRaWAN work?
Many home security system companies provide 24/7 professional monitoring for a fee, increasing the cost of using them.
The cost of implementing and using traditional home security systems is high when you think about everything that each system needs to function. The least appealing part of these systems is that the sensors stop working once the internet is off because they cannot transmit data to the central administrator.
Now, the LoRaWAN technology home security system only uses the internet to send emails and notifications from the centralized administrator to your phone. If the internet is down or struggling, the sensors can still communicate and send information to automatization settings.
Instead of using the internet to communicate, which can be easily hacked, they use radio manipulation through radio waves that are encrypted and safe from hackers. Like this, the multiple sensors won’t affect your wireless connection by overcrowding it.
When you have a home security system where each sensor or device is connected to the internet, each is potential security, safety, and privacy risk.
LoRaWAN home security system application
The LoRaWAN technology uses one central hub, connecting the other devices to the internet and your smartphone app. You install the other devices or sensors into your home and connect them to the hub. The application is limitless, and the number of sensors connected to one hub can reach up to 200.
The most exciting part about this technology is that, while there are home security systems available on the market, sensors can be applied to just about anything for those that are tech-savvy. If you want to know the pollution levels in your home, this technology can do it.
If you want to be notified when your plants need watering, the technology can let you know. If you need to know when the air in your home is affected by toxins, the technology can offer that information.
The hub
The first thing necessary for a LoRaWAN home security system is a hub connected to all your devices and sensors. This equipment needs to be connected to a power source through a landline or a 2.4 GHz wireless connection.
It provides long-range communication to over 200 devices and sensors for an area of up to 1.4 miles. While the Hub does connect to the smartphone application through the internet, it uses a 923.3 MHz frequency (radio waves) to communicate to all the other devices.
The sensors and controllers
All the other devices connected to the hub are known as sensors, monitors, or controllers. The most important part about these sensors is their autonomy, as they are not connected to any electrical circuit or any other network except that of their own.
This close network is safe from hackers as the only device from the whole system connected to the internet is the hub. Seeing as they aren’t connected to electricity, they use batteries like most other current brands.
Still, unlike other brands, their low-power operation means batteries can work for up to 5 years or more, depending on the sensor and its use.
The most common functions of this technology in home security systems are:
- Contact sensors such as, doors, windows, gates, or anything else that can be opened, such as a mailbox.
- Water leak sensors.
- Motion sensors both outdoor and indoor.
- Gas leak sensors.
- Temperature and humidity sensors.
- Smoke sensors.
The devices that control specific functions are:
- Garage door kit. This is simpler to install and easier to use.
- Gas and water valves that can turn off gas and water in your home in case there’s a leak.
- Thermostat.
- Remote control: to control every device without needing the internet or a hub.
- Automatic locks: these can lock your front door if it detects movement, doors or windows opening, leaks, and so on.
The system has got it all, and installation and use don’t require any special skills. The only equipment necessary for any of these is a screwdriver.
