Analysing the Performance Gap in LPWAN Technologies for Agricultural IoT in Rural Nigerian Environments

Low-power wide-area network technologies including LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and Sigfox are theoretical candidates for agricultural IoT deployments in rural Nigeria, yet comparative empirical performance data for these technologies in Nigerian rural radio environments, which differ significantly from the European test environments that dominate the literature, are absent. This study empirically characterised and compared the performance of LoRaWAN (868 MHz and 433 MHz), NB-IoT on MTN Nigeria's network, and Sigfox on Connexin Nigeria's network across three rural agricultural environments in Kogi, Kebbi, and Nasarawa States. Field experiments measured received signal strength, packet delivery ratio, and end-to-end latency at sensor-to-gateway distances of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 kilometres in open farmland, dense vegetation, and valley terrain. LoRa at 433 MHz achieved the highest packet delivery ratio in dense vegetation at 79.3 percent at 10 km, compared to 868 MHz at 68.7 percent and NB-IoT at 91.2 percent but only where MTN coverage existed. Sigfox coverage was absent in all three rural test areas, eliminating it from practical consideration. NB-IoT showed superior reliability where coverage was available, but coverage gaps affected 43 to 67 percent of the tested agricultural areas. LoRa at 433 MHz emerged as the most practically deployable technology for off-grid rural agricultural IoT in Nigeria given its coverage reach and independence from operator network availability. The study provides the first Nigerian-context comparative LPWAN characterisation and recommends the findings inform IoT connectivity standards under the National Agricultural Technology Innovation Plan.

Keywords: LPWAN, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, agricultural IoT, rural Nigeria