MENU

IoT Sensors

IoT Wiki & Glossary

What Are IoT Sensors?

IoT sensors are hardware components that detect changes in a physical environment — such as temperature, humidity, motion, or pressure, and transmit that data over a network to enable real-time monitoring, automation, and data-driven decisions. They are the foundation of every IoT system, forming the bridge between the physical and digital worlds.

At their core, IoT sensors convert real-world physical conditions into electrical signals that can be digitized and transmitted over wireless or wired networks. When connected via low-power, long-range protocols like LoRaWAN®, sensors can operate for years on battery power while reporting data from remote or hard-to-reach locations — making them essential for industrial, agricultural, healthcare, and smart building applications.

Industrial IoT Sensors, Wireless Monitoring & Smart Building Devices Explained

IoT sensors are connected devices that detect physical conditions; such as temperature, humidity, motion, pressure, vibration, energy usage, or leaks; and convert that data into digital signals for monitoring and analysis.

In industrial and commercial environments, IoT sensors enable predictive maintenance, energy optimization, remote monitoring, and operational visibility without requiring complex wiring or infrastructure upgrades.

This glossary explains the most important IoT sensor types, communication methods, and deployment strategies used in Industrial IoT (IIoT) systems.

What Are IoT Sensors?

IoT sensors are hardware devices that:

  • 1
    Measure
    Measure a physical condition
  • 2
    Convert
    Convert it into digital data
  • 3
    Transmit
    Transmit that data over a network

How Do IoT Sensors Work?

IoT sensors follow a consistent data flow pattern regardless of their type. The sensor detects a physical condition, converts it to an electrical signal, digitizes the reading, and transmits it over a network to a gateway or cloud platform where the data is processed and acted upon.

Sense

Sensor detects a physical condition — temperature, motion, moisture, pressure

Convert

Physical reading is converted to an electrical signal and digitized by onboard firmware

Transmit

Data is sent wirelessly (LoRaWAN, BLE, cellular) to a gateway or access point

Process

Gateway forwards data to the cloud for storage, analysis, alerting, and visualization

Common Types of IoT Sensors

IoT sensors come in a wide variety of types, each engineered to detect and measure specific physical conditions. The right sensor type depends on the application, environment, and the data you need to collect. Here are the most widely deployed sensor types across industrial and commercial IoT deployments.

Temperature Sensors

Measure ambient or surface temperatures. Used in cold chain monitoring, HVAC systems, industrial process control, and agriculture. Common types include thermistors, thermocouples, and RTDs.

Humidity Sensors

Detect moisture levels in air, soil, or other media. Essential for environmental monitoring, greenhouse management, HVAC optimization, and preventing mold or condensation damage.

Proximity Sensors

Detect the presence or absence of objects without physical contact using infrared, electromagnetic, or ultrasonic beams. Used in parking detection, assembly lines, and inventory management.

Motion & Accelerometer

Detect movement, vibration, and changes in velocity. Used for asset tracking, predictive maintenance, anti-theft protection, and monitoring utilization of critical equipment.

Leak Detection Sensors

Detect the presence of water or other liquids to prevent flooding and water damage. Critical for facility management, data centers, and basements or mechanical rooms.

Current & Voltage Sensors

Measure electrical current and energy consumption. Enable non-intrusive power monitoring on existing conductors for energy management and equipment status tracking.

Pressure Sensors

Detect changes in gas or liquid pressure. Used in water systems for leak detection, industrial pneumatics, weather stations, and HVAC duct monitoring.

Level Sensors

Measure the level of liquids, powders, or granular materials in tanks and containers. Deployed in fuel management, water treatment, waste management, and agricultural chemical storage.

Door & Window Contact Sensors

Detect open/close status of doors, windows, gates, or enclosures. Used in security systems, cold storage compliance, and building access monitoring.

Passive vs. Active Sensors

IoT sensors fall into two broad categories. Passive sensors detect changes in their environment without requiring a dedicated power source for the sensing element itself; a thermistor measuring ambient temperature, for example. Active sensors emit a signal (such as infrared or ultrasonic pulses) and measure what returns, requiring a battery or external power source to operate.

Both types are widely used in IoT deployments, and both can transmit data wirelessly when integrated with a radio module and microcontroller.

How IoT Sensors Communicate

IoT sensors use various communication technologies depending on range, power needs, and data requirements.

LoRaWAN® Sensors

  • Long-range (miles/km)
  • Ultra-low power (multi-year battery life)
  • Ideal for large buildings and campuses
  • Supports thousands of devices per gateway

Best for:

  • Smart buildings
  • Utilities
  • Energy monitoring
  • Leak detection
  • Environmental monitoring

Cellular IoT Sensors

  • Wide-area coverage
  • Independent of local networks
  • Higher bandwidth capability
  • Ideal for remote assets

Best for:

  • Remote infrastructure
  • Mobile equipment
  • Off-grid monitoring

Short-Range Sensors

  • Wi-Fi
  • BLE
  • Zigbee
  • Z-Wave

Best for:

  • Small indoor deployments
  • Smart home applications
  • Room-level connectivity

The Role of Gateways

In a LoRaWAN architecture, sensors transmit small data packets to a gateway (such as the MultiTech Conduit® series), which aggregates data from hundreds or thousands of sensors and forwards it to the cloud or a network server via Ethernet or cellular backhaul. Gateways with built-in intelligence can also perform edge processing;  filtering, aggregating, or analyzing data locally before sending it upstream.

Wired vs Wireless IoT Sensors

Feature

Wired Sensors

Wireless IoT Sensors

Installation Cost

High (labor + cabling)Lower (minimal infrastructure)

Scalability

Limited by wiringHighly scalable

Retrofit Projects

DisruptiveMinimal disruption

Flexibility

FixedEasily relocated

Ideal For

New constructionExisting buildings, New Construction & expansions

Wireless Connectivity Options for IoT Sensors

Choosing the right wireless protocol for your sensor deployment depends on range, power requirements, data volume, and cost constraints. Here’s how the most common options compare.

LoRaWAN®

  • Range: 1–10+ miles
  • Power: Ultra-low
  • Bandwidth: Low (0.3–50 kbps)
  • Cost: Low per device
  • Network: Public or private
Best for Industrial IoT

Bluetooth

  • Range: 30–300 ft
  • Power: Low
  • Bandwidth: Medium (1–2 Mbps)
  • Cost: Low
  • Network: Point-to-point / mesh

Cellular (LTE-M, NB-IoT)

  • Range: Carrier coverage
  • Power: Medium
  • Bandwidth: Medium–High
  • Cost: Per-device subscription
  • Network: Public carrier

Wi-Fi

  • Range: 100–300 ft
  • Power: High
  • Bandwidth: High (Mbps–Gbps)
  • Cost: Low (existing infra)
  • Network: LAN / enterprise

Why LoRaWAN® Is Ideal for Wireless IoT Sensors

Not all wireless protocols are equally suited to IoT sensor deployments. Many sensors transmit small amounts of data infrequently; a temperature reading every 15 minutes, a door open/close event, a daily tank level report. For these use cases, the combination of long range, ultra-low power consumption, and low cost makes LoRaWAN the standard of choice for large-scale sensor networks.

LoRaWAN: Built for Sensors

LoRaWAN® (Long Range Wide Area Network) is an open LPWAN protocol standardized by the LoRa Alliance®, of which MultiTech is a founding member. It operates in unlicensed sub-GHz ISM bands, enabling deep indoor penetration, immunity to interference from consumer Wi-Fi networks, and the ability to support thousands of sensors on a single gateway.

Unlike cellular IoT, LoRaWAN networks can be deployed as private infrastructure giving organizations full control over their data, network, and costs without recurring carrier fees per device.

Line-of-sight range
0 mi
1-3 mi Deep indoor range
1 mi
Sensors per gateway
5 +
5–10 yr Battery life
5 yr

Frequently Asked Questions About IoT Devices

Below are some of the most common questions we get around IoT Devices – if you still have questions, reach out – our technical support team can help answer any questions you may have or get you to someone that can. Contact Us

What is the difference between a sensor and an IoT sensor?

A traditional sensor measures physical conditions locally. An IoT sensor includes network connectivity to transmit data remotely for monitoring and analysis.

How long do wireless battery IoT sensors last?

Battery life depends on the sensor type, transmission frequency, and wireless protocol. LoRaWAN sensors are specifically designed for ultra-low power consumption and can typically operate for 5 to 10 years on a single battery when transmitting data at intervals of minutes to hours. Sensors using Wi-Fi or cellular protocols consume significantly more power and have shorter battery life.

Are IoT sensors secure?

Industrial IoT sensors use encrypted communication, device authentication, and secure firmware processes to protect data integrity.

How many IoT devices are there in the world?

According to IoT Analytics’ 2024 report, there are billions of connected IoT devices currently in use, with projections exceeding 41 billion by 2030. Growth is driven by 5G adoption, AI-enhanced edge computing, smart home expansion, and healthcare IoT applications.

Are IoT devices secure?

Industrial IoT devices include encryption, authentication, and secure firmware controls to meet enterprise security standards.

What is the difference between a sensor and an actuator?

A sensor detects and measures physical conditions (like temperature or motion) and converts them into data. An actuator does the opposite; it receives a signal and performs a physical action, such as opening a valve or switching a relay. IoT systems often combine both: sensors collect data, which triggers actuators to respond automatically.

What is the difference between LoRa and LoRaWAN

LoRa® refers to the physical radio layer, the modulation technology that enables long-range, low-power wireless communication. LoRaWAN® is the network protocol and architecture built on top of LoRa, defining how devices communicate with gateways and network servers, including security, data rates, and device management.

Together, they form a complete sensor-to-cloud communication stack.

Can I deploy a private LoRaWAN network for my sensors?

Yes. One of LoRaWAN’s key advantages is that organizations can deploy private networks using their own gateways and network servers. This gives you full control over your data, eliminates per-device carrier fees, and allows you to optimize network coverage for your specific environment. MultiTech Conduit® gateways support both private and public LoRaWAN deployments.

How many sensors can a single LoRaWAN gateway support?

A single LoRaWAN gateway can support thousands of sensors, depending on the data transmission frequency and payload size. For typical monitoring applications where sensors report every 15 to 60 minutes, one gateway can comfortably handle many hundreds to several thousand devices.

What industries benefit most from IoT sensors?

IoT sensors create value in virtually every industry, but they’re especially transformative in agriculture (precision irrigation, microclimate monitoring), manufacturing (predictive maintenance, energy management), healthcare (patient monitoring, cold chain compliance), building management (HVAC optimization, leak prevention), and utilities (grid monitoring, water management).

MultiTech IoT Wiki

More results...