LoRa vs 4G for Farm Sensor Networks: Which Actually Costs Less Over 5 Years?
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When you’re putting sensors across a farm — gates, water troughs, tanks, fence lines — every device that needs a SIM card is a device with a monthly bill. Ten sensors at $5/month is $600/year before you’ve read a single tank level. Over five years, that’s $3,000 in connectivity alone.
LoRa changes the arithmetic. Here’s the real cost comparison.
The hardware
| LoRa (OGLAS) | 4G/NB-IoT sensor | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor board | $15–30 (readily available LoRa board) | $40–80 (SIM7000-based) |
| Hub | $30 (low-cost wireless board) | None (each device phones home) |
| SIM card | None | $2–5/month per device |
| Enclosure + power | $10–20 | $10–20 |
| Per-sensor cost, year 1 | $55–80 | $100–160 |
The connectivity
Here’s where it gets ugly for the 4G approach.
Ten sensors on a $5/month IoT SIM plan:
- Year 1: $600
- Year 5: $3,000 cumulative
- Year 10: $6,000 cumulative
The LoRa hub? One low-cost wireless board. No SIM. No plan. The sensors talk to it over LoRa, and the hub is the only device that needs internet — and only if you want remote access.
The hidden costs
4G coverage. Most farms have dead spots. That back paddock with the trough? No signal. You’re either moving the sensor closer to the tower (and further from the thing you’re monitoring) or paying for a repeater.
SIM management. Ten SIMs means ten accounts to manage, ten renewals to track, ten “why is this one over its data cap?” investigations. It’s administrative overhead dressed as a product.
End-of-life risk. 4G modems get discontinued. 2G and 3G shutdowns have already bricked thousands of agricultural sensors. LoRa is a physical layer — the radio doesn’t care what network generation we’re on.
The LoRa trade-off
LoRa isn’t magic. You need a hub within range (typically 2–10 km depending on terrain). You’re responsible for the infrastructure. But on a farm, you already own the infrastructure — the shed, the pole, the solar panel. Adding a $30 hub is a one-time cost.
Five-year total: 10 sensors
| LoRa | 4G | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardware | $750 | $1,100 |
| Connectivity | $0 | $3,000 |
| Total | $750 | $4,100 |
The gap widens with every sensor you add and every year you run them. That’s not a pricing strategy — it’s physics. LoRa is your radio, on your property, carrying your data.
We build OGLAS to make this choice easy. Sensors talk LoRa. The hub lives in your shed. No subscriptions, no telco, your data stays local. Browse sensors →