How Do Smart Meters Communicate? Technologies Explained

Introduction:  

Unlike analog meters, smart meters are digital devices that automatically measure and transmit consumption data to utilities. They’re widely used for gas, water, and electricity. What sets smart meters apart is their ability to communicate data in almost real time, which relies on different types of communication technologies.

Smart water meters utilize a wireless network to transfer communication from the meter to the utility’s server, where data is analyzed for billing services, water conservation, and leak detection functions. Recording data from the meter, for example an ultrasonic smart water meter equipped with ultrasound technology and sending it remotely to the server via a network is what makes a meter smart. 

The first network-supported smart meter was Sigfox, which emerged in 2010. Prior to Sigfox, there existed the Ardis Network and GPRS; however, Sigfox was the first Low Power Wide Area (LPWAN) technology-based network suitable for IoT device communication. 

The main features of LPWAN’s include the ability to transmit small amounts of data over long distances while utilizing low power consumption and maintaining low latency. 

Today, LPWAN technology is widely used for smart metering (including smart gas and water metering), smart buildings, smart grids, agriculture, asset tracking, smart lighting, and other markets. LPWAN can be likened to transportation that can take you wherever you need to be. Whether you choose a plane, a car, a bus, a train, or a boat, you will reach your destination. However, as with any mode of transportation, there are pros and cons to consider when selecting the right method for your meter data transmission. Let’s delve deeper into each LPWAN technology. 

Smart Meter Communication Basics

Smart meters can transmit data using either wired or wireless communication. Each approach has its own set of advantages and limitations, and the choice often depends on the physical environment, infrastructure availability, and project scale.

At the most basic level, wired communication uses physical cabling (such as power lines or dedicated communication cables) to transmit data and Wireless communication transmits data using radio frequencies – no cables required.Neither approach is inherently better. The choice depends on site-specific requirements, including distance, density, interference, and infrastructure availability. Below is a comparison of each:

	Advantage	Disadvantage
Wired	Stable connection No radio interference No need for antennas or radio modules	Needs physical installation of cables or existing infrastructure Difficult to implement where meters are spread out or hard to access
Wireless	Easy to deploy over large, remote, or hard-to-access areas Flexible, with no trenching, cable management, or installation Scales well when utilizing many meters	Can be affected by interference, walls, distance, terrain issues May need repeaters or gateways Some options require cellular subscriptions

In wireless smart metering, most modern systems use a point-to-point (also called one-to-one or star topology) communication model. In this setup, each meter sends data directly to a nearby gateway, base station, or cellular network, which then forwards it to the central server or utility.

This architecture is widely used in technologies like LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and cellular metering. Unlike mesh networks, meters do not communicate with each other — each meter communicates independently, which reduces complexity and improves system reliability. It also enables two-way communication, allowing for remote configuration, firmware updates, and diagnostics without needing physical access to the meter.

Point-to-point communication can be implemented with both wired and wireless systems, but in smart water metering, it is most commonly wireless.

How Do Smart Meters Communicate: Main Communication Technologies

Smart meters communicate by sending consumption and status data from the meter to a utility or data collection system using either wired or wireless communication technologies. The communication layer is essential for transmission of meter readings automatically without manual intervention, but exactly how this is achieved varies depending on the specific device. Smart meters may use existing power lines, short-range radio, low-power wide-area networks or cellular networks.

Each approach balances the unique advantages and disadvantages of its chosen technology to meet its chosen compromises between cost, reliability, range, bandwidth, and power use. 

NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT)

NB-IoT is a low-power, wide-area network (LPWAN) technology that enables meters to send data directly to cellular networks. It’s optimized for very low power consumption and deep indoor or underground coverage and is specifically designed to enable an Internet of Things ecosystem. It can send packets of data over large distances, making it a practical choice for smart metering.

Advantages:

• Low power use
• Excellent indoor/basement/underground penetration
• Existing telecoms coverage makes adoption easier in many regions, especially cities and dense urban environments

Limitations:

• Higher power than comparable LWPAN options
• Dependent on mobile network availability, especially in rural regions
• Can involve recurring SIM/data costs

LoRaWAN 

LoRaWAN is a low-power, wide-area network technology designed for long-range communication between low-power devices like smart meters. It operates on unlicensed radio frequencies, allowing cost-effective and scalable deployments over large geographical areas. Networks can be public, private, or a hybrid.

Advantages:

• Very low power consumption
• Huge network capacity 
• Long-range in urban and rural environments — up to 25+km when implemented correctly
• Can be privately deployed with no recurring subscription
• Robust protection from interference and good penetration
• Effectively balances power requirements, range, and cost

Limitations:

• Requires gateways
• Data rates are lower compared with cellular
• Network performance depends on proper gateway density and planning

Mioty

Mioty is LWPAN specifically designed to address the problem of large-scale IoT deployments using a patented telegram-splitting approach over the sub-GHz spectrum. The Mioty ecosystem is still evolving; despite its potential, it has some disadvantages that limit its adoption compared with mature and open LoRa systems like LoRaWAN.

Advantages:

• High scalability, 
• Good communication

Limitations:

• Requires Mioty-compatible base stations and backend infrastructure; as a newer technology, it might have limited support
• Proprietary nature may limit interoperability with other LPWAN technologies, leading to potentially increased deployment costs and complexity
• Uses licensed or sub-licensed spectrum arrangements depending on region
• Can be more expensive than solutions like LoRaWAN due to specialized hardware or software components

Sigfox

Sigfox was an early pioneer in LPWAN technology. Meters transmitted directly to Sigfox base stations on licensed-by-operator or shared radio frequencies, and the provider’s cloud platform delivered data to the utility. Despite its promise, competition from other LPWAN technologies, limited scalability, and financial difficulties led to Sigfox’s bankruptcy. Sigfox demonstrated the importance of considering long-term implications, sustainability, and viability of IoT connectivity methods. Today, Sigfox is regarded as a dead technology: the company filed for bankruptcy in 2022. 

Advantages:

• Extremely low power
• Long-range data from ultra-narrowband modulation
• No need for gateways because of the operator-managed network

Limitations: 

• Very small payloads (e.g. 12 bytes) with limited daily messages
• Required subscription to Sigfox operator
• Coverage depends on the provider’s network footprint

Wireless M-Bus (wM-Bus)

Wireless M-Bus is a radio-based communication standard used for remote, wireless communications. It is a lower-power protocol that uses radio frequencies to send data from meters to a central gateway or collector. wM-Bus is based on the European standard EN 13757-4 and typically operates on the 868 MHz ISM band in Europe, and the 169 MHz band in some others.

Advantages:

• Low power
• Flexible deployment
• Good interoperability between manufacturers

Disadvantages: 

• Limited range compared with low power wide area networks (LPWAN)

Smart Meter Communication Technologies Comparison Table

Technology	Range	Cost	Data Rate	Reliability	Scalability
PLC	Depends on existing power lines and electrical topology	Low if existing infrastructure is available	Tens of kb/s up to several hundred kb/s	Sensitive to line noise and transformers	Good in dense, wired areas
RF Mesh Networks	Practical coverage depends on node density; nodes can hop to 1+km	Low when utility owns the network	Tens to hundreds of kb/s per link	High redundancy, self-healing in dense networks	Scales well in dense deployments
NB-IoT	City-wide or regional coverage	Subscriptions per device (SIM/plan), moderate device cost	From 66kbps to 159kbps in newer releases	High reliability for deep coverage/indoor	Highly scalable for many devices
LTE-M	Several km, good urban coverage	Operator subscriptions required. Relatively low cost.	100 kb/s up to 1000 kb/s	Reliable for higher payloads	Scales well under operator control
4G/5G	Several km	High SIM/data costs, moderate module costs	Very high: Mbps to hundreds of Mbps	Very reliable where coverage is good, unsuitable for battery-powered meters	Highly scalable, but not optimized for low-power, long-battery devices
LoRaWAN	Range varies, up to 25+km	Flexible costs with private/public/hybrid models available. Overall low cost for private deployments	0.3kb/s to 50kb/s	Robust, but resilience depends on gateway density	Scales well with flexible deployment options
Mioty	Several km	Tend to be high due to specialized software/hardware	Theoretically, more than 7mb/s	Highly resistant to interference	Designed for very high device density for base station
Sigfox	Up to 40km rural depending on base station placement	Recurring subscriptions per device	100bps	Long-range, but Sigfox network availability and business continuity represent risks	Operated scaled networks support many devices (subject to message/day limits and small payloads)
Zigbee	10 to 100m	Low device cost	250kb/s	Reliable at short range	Scales for local clusters, not ideal for city-wide deployment
Wi-fi	20 to 50m	Low per-device module cost, but high power requirements	Very high: 11 to 600+ Mbps	Robust in local scenarios, but can suffer from interference and high power demands	Scales for high-bandwidth, local networks. Unsuitable for others.

How to choose the right network? Factors that utility companies should consider: 

Choosing the right network communication technology for smart metering is an important decision for utility companies, as it directly impacts the efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of their operations. Several factors should be carefully considered before making a decision: 

Coverage and Range: Utilities must assess the coverage and range capabilities of different communication technologies to ensure that smart meters can reliably transmit data from various locations, including remote or challenging environments. Technologies like cellular 4G or LTE-M offer wide coverage, making them suitable for urban and suburban deployments, whereas LoRaWAN or NB-IoT, are more suitable for rural areas, could also offer advantages in indoor environments. These technologies often exhibit better penetration through walls and obstacles, potentially making them suitable for basement deployments. 

Power Consumption: The power consumption of communication technology is critical, especially for battery-operated smart meters. Low-power technologies like NB-IoT or LoRaWAN are preferred for applications requiring extended battery life, as they minimize energy consumption while maintaining reliable connectivity. 

Data Transmission Speed: The required data transmission speed depends on the frequency and volume of data generated by smart meters. Utilities should evaluate the need for real-time or near-real-time data transmission for monitoring purposes and then pick the right technology. 

Scalability and Capacity: As the number of connected devices increases, scalability becomes a key consideration. Utilities should choose a communication technology that can support large-scale deployments without compromising performance or network congestion.  

Interference Resilience: Utilities operating in densely populated areas or industrial environments must assess the interference resilience of communication technologies to ensure reliable connectivity. 

Cost: The cost of deploying and maintaining communication infrastructure is a significant factor in the decision-making process. Utilities should consider upfront costs, ongoing subscription fees, and maintenance expenses when evaluating different communication technologies to ensure that the chosen solution aligns with their budgetary constraints. 

Security and Compliance: Data security and regulatory compliance are paramount in smart metering deployments, particularly concerning sensitive customer information. Utilities should select communication technologies with robust security features, such as encryption and authentication protocols, to safeguard data privacy and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. 

By carefully evaluating these factors and considering their specific requirements and constraints, utility companies can make informed decisions when choosing the right network communication technology for their smart metering business. 

Conclusion:  

Smart metering utilizes many different communication technologies, but the most popular are LoRaWAN, NB-IoT.These technologies ensure two-way remote communication between IoT devices and utility servers. Each network has its own advantages and disadvantages, so before choosing the right communication technology for your business, evaluate factors such as coverage, range, scalability, security, compliance, power consumption, data transmission speed, and cost. 

One important consideration is that you don’t need to use only a single communications technology. It’s possible and sometimes more practical to utilize multiple technologies that best suit your unique business needs.  

If you want to learn more about smart meter deployment and how to best utilize communications technologies in your business, don’t hesitate to contact us for a consultation. 

If you’re interested in learning more about smart meters, our article on smart water meters and how they work is the perfect place to start.