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Wireless Technologies

About This Infographic

Compares the four wireless links you will meet in MicroPython IoT projects: WiFi (high-speed internet), Bluetooth BLE (low-power phone link), LoRa (kilometre range), and Zigbee (smart-home mesh). Click each column to compare range, speed, and power, then use Quiz Me to test which technology fits a given scenario.

Image Prompt

Prompt

Please generate a wide-landscape infographic.

Render all text exactly verbatim. Do not substitute any numbers, paraphrase labels, or invent extra rows/columns/stats. Where a cell says "None" or "N/A", render that exactly.

A clean, modern, flat-design educational comparison infographic poster, landscape 16:9, titled at the top in large bold sans-serif: "Wireless Technologies Compared", subtitle beneath: "WiFi · Bluetooth BLE · LoRa · Zigbee — choosing the right wireless link."

Layout: a four-column comparison table on a light off-white background (#F7F9FC). Each column is a rounded-corner card with a distinct accent color on its top edge and a simple wireless-symbol illustration at the top. A vertical row-label strip on the far left lists the nine attributes. Generous white space, thin divider lines, friendly textbook feel.

Column 1 (teal blue #1389A6): Header "WiFi 802.11 b/g/n"; Illustration: standard WiFi fan-arc symbol in teal with radio-wave arcs. Rows: · Frequency: 2.4 GHz (all three standards); also 5 GHz (802.11 n, not on Pico W) · Typical range: 30–50 m indoors; up to 100 m outdoors (open area) · Data speed: Up to 150 Mbps (802.11n); real throughput 5–20 Mbps typical · Power use: Medium–high — ~250 mA peak during transmit · Topology: Star — all devices connect to a WiFi access point (router) · Protocol stack: TCP/IP; HTTP, HTTPS, MQTT, WebSocket · MicroPython boards: Raspberry Pi Pico W (CYW43439); ESP32 (built-in) · Typical cost: Built into Pico W ($6) or ESP32 ($6–$10) · Best for: Web servers, REST APIs, streaming data, cloud IoT with MQTT

Column 2 (deep purple #6A3FB5): Header "Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.x"; Illustration: Bluetooth "B" logo with angular lines in purple. Rows: · Frequency: 2.4 GHz (40 channels, 2 MHz spacing) · Typical range: Up to 40 m (BLE 5.0 standard); up to 400 m (BLE 5 long-range mode) · Data speed: 2 Mbps (BLE 5.0); 1 Mbps (BLE 4.2) · Power use: Very low — ~15–20 mA TX; ~3 µA in sleep (BLE advertising mode ~0.1 mA avg) · Topology: Piconet — one central connects to up to 7 peripheral devices; also mesh (BLE 5) · Protocol stack: GATT profiles; iBeacon; BLE mesh · MicroPython boards: Pico W (CYW43439 BT 5.2); ESP32 (BT 4.2) · Typical cost: Built into Pico W ($6) or ESP32 ($6–$10) · Best for: Smartphone-to-device apps, wearables, beacons, low-power sensors

Column 3 (forest green #2D8A4E): Header "LoRa (Long Range)"; Illustration: tower with expanding concentric range rings, labeled "km" to show long distance, in green. Rows: · Frequency: 915 MHz (United States); 868 MHz (Europe); 433 MHz (Asia) · Typical range: 2–5 km urban; 10–20 km rural line-of-sight · Data speed: 0.3–50 kbps (chirp spread spectrum — lower speed = longer range) · Power use: Very low — ~40 mA TX; ~1.4 mA RX; < 1 µA sleep · Topology: Star (LoRaWAN via gateway) or point-to-point (raw LoRa) · Protocol stack: LoRaWAN for cloud; raw LoRa for direct P2P links · MicroPython boards: Requires LoRa module — RFM95W, SX1276 (SPI breakout), or LilyGO T3 · Typical cost: RFM95W module ~$5–$10; Pico + RFM95W breadboard setup ~$15–$20 · Best for: Agriculture sensors, weather stations, outdoor/remote IoT, long-distance alarms

Column 4 (warm orange #E07B39): Header "Zigbee 802.15.4"; Illustration: zigzag lightning-bolt style icon representing mesh networking, in orange. Rows: · Frequency: 2.4 GHz (global channel 11–26); 868/915 MHz regional channels · Typical range: 10–100 m per hop; mesh extends range to entire building · Data speed: 250 kbps (IEEE 802.15.4 physical layer) · Power use: Low — ~30 mA TX; ~1 mA RX; < 1 µA sleep (routers stay on; end devices sleep) · Topology: Mesh — devices relay messages for each other; self-healing network · Protocol stack: Zigbee Pro; Zigbee clusters; also used in Matter (Thread protocol) · MicroPython boards: Requires external Zigbee module — XBee, CC2530, or Zigbee USB coordinator · Typical cost: Zigbee module ~$10–$30; coordinator dongle ~$15–$25 · Best for: Smart-home automation, industrial sensors, mesh networks, home assistant integration

Typography: one clean geometric sans-serif (Inter/Roboto style), bold column headers, numbers bold so range and speed specs pop. Footer bar: "Sources: IEEE 802.11 standard · Bluetooth SIG BLE 5.0 core spec · Semtech LoRa datasheet · Zigbee Alliance 802.15.4 spec — verified June 2026." Overall: tidy vector flat-design infographic poster, four-column grid with wireless icon illustrations, suitable for a textbook or classroom screen.