Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless for IoT Connectivity

The first step in getting your IoT project up and running is to choose a connectivity and IoT SIM provider. But with so many options on the market, it can be difficult to narrow down the best partner for your business. To make your life a little easier, we’ve compiled an in-depth comparison of two of those options, Telnyx and Sierra Wireless, in terms of features, costs, and developer experience to give you the information you need to make a decision.

To start, Telnyx and Sierra Wireless operate in different spaces within the telecommunications landscape. At its core, Telnyx is a CPaaS provider with certified carrier status in 25 countries. We provide a complete suite of communication services through our APIs, which allow businesses to embed voice, messaging, fax, WebRTC, networking, video, and wireless capabilities into their applications. Sierra Wireless, on the other hand, mainly focuses on providing hardware to enterprises, and their IoT SIMs have limited compatibility with non-Sierra Wireless devices.

As part of these offerings, both Telnyx and Sierra Wireless offer cellular IoT SIM cards and global wireless coverage. Let’s take a look at how these offerings stack up!

Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless Cellular IoT Feature Comparison

Telnyx and Sierra Wireless both offer IoT SIMs and connectivity, but there are a few key areas where they differ. Telnyx Wireless comes with out-of-the-box features to give you granular control over your SIM connections, allowing for more customization based on your specific IoT needs.

Let’s take a closer look at the important features, and what they mean for organizations implementing IoT solutions.

Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless: Cellular IoT Connectivity Features

	Telnyx	Sierra Wireless
Usage Based Activation	Yes	Yes
Over-the-air (OTA) steering	Yes	Not available on their standard SIM
Automatic Network Failover	Yes	Not available on their standard SIM
Private LTE	Yes	Yes
Public IP	Yes	No
Suspend SIMs	Yes	No
Session Reporting	Yes	Yes
International Roaming	Yes	Not available on their standard SIM

Key Wireless Cellular IoT Features Explained

Usage Based Activation for IoT SIM Cards

If you ever need to deploy a fleet of SIMs that will remain inactive for multiple billing periods, but need to be enabled on demand, Telnyx has you covered! Telnyx SIMs can be deployed and kept in an inactive “standby” state at a reduced monthly recurring charge ($0.20 vs $2 for an active device). As soon as 1MB of data usage is reached, the normal monthly recurring charge is triggered. This capability helps automate your cost saving measures, and takes away the need to manually activate inactive devices that may already be out in the field. Here’s how easy it is to activate this feature in the Mission Control Portal:

OTA Steering

Organizations building IoT solutions expect their devices to stay connected at all times, automatically switching between carriers when one network fails. While Sierra Wireless provides a premium “Smart Connectivity” SIM that connects to multiple carriers globally, this option is not available on their standard SIMs. Furthermore, their “Smart Connectivity” SIMs are only compatible with Sierra Wireless devices, which greatly limits usability. Their standard SIMs are US roaming only, and have access to one pre-selected network (Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile.)

In comparison, all Telnyx SIMs are connected globally to 200+ roaming partners around 60 countries across the world, with automatic carrier switching so you don’t have to worry about the complexity of managing multiple carriers. Telnyx SIMs intelligently select the highest quality available network, but users are also able to set specific network preferences in real-time via over-the-air (OTA) updates using either the Mission Control Portal or our APIs.

You can learn more about how to update the network preferences on Telnyx Wireless SIMs in the Telnyx Developer Center.

Private LTE networks

The number one barrier to IoT adoption is security. 86% of enterprises using IoT say their IoT deployments have been delayed or constrained by security concerns, and 50% cite security as their biggest challenge to successful IoT implementation.

IoT data is typically routed through the public internet, which makes it vulnerable to a wide surface area of attack from malicious actors. Private LTE networks are an ideal solution to address these concerns, connecting your devices securely and directly to your corporate network, bypassing the public internet altogether.

While Sierra Wireless offers private LTE networks, it’s a cumbersome process. With Telnyx, this is a self-service that you can set up easily in the Mission Control Portal or via API for frictionless enterprise security.

Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless Developer Experience Comparison

While Telnyx and Sierra Wireless both offer IoT connectivity, one difference is the level of self-service functionality that is available with each provider. Telnyx Wireless was built to allow businesses to move fast and have granular control over their IoT SIM configurations, so that they can build out applications to their spec without waiting for assistance.

That’s why Telnyx offers a wealth of resources for developers, and provides a simple, easy-to-use interface that allows you to configure everything about your IoT application. In contrast, Sierra Wireless is hardware centered, more enterprise facing, and offers connectivity and self service as two separate products.

Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless: Developer Experience Comparison

	Telnyx	Sierra Wireless
Self-service Portal	Available to all Telnyx customers	Add-on, purchased separately
API Control	Full programmatic configurability via our RESTful API	Limited API configurability
Developer Community	Access to technical support through a dedicated developer Slack channel	Not available

Here’s a deeper look at the Telnyx Mission Control Portal, where you can purchase and provision your SIMs in a click of a button:

Telnyx vs. Sierra Wireless Pricing Comparison

Transparent, flexible pricing is important for any business that’s getting their IoT solutions up and running. IoT connectivity providers usually charge for both SIM cards and data usage, which is the case for both Telnyx and Sierra Wireless. Telnyx offers lower costs for both of these components, because they have their own SIM cards, cutting out the middleman and passing the cost savings to customers. In comparison, Sierra Wireless sells whitelabeled SIMs owned by T-Mobile, AT&T, and other MNOs.

Telnyx has a single, pay-as-you-go plan for globally-connected SIMs, at a market leading price starting at 1 cent / MB. The data is broken down based on geographical zones, so you know exactly how much you’ll be paying based on where your IoT devices are deployed.

Sierra Wireless prices their data plans in bundles which start at 65 cents / 1 MB (Yes, that’s 65x what Telnyx charges for the first MB!). They also charge overage fees if your monthly usage exceeds the chosen bundle, which can make it difficult to scale and requires strict planning of data usage.

Now that you know how Telnyx and Sierra Wireless compare, you have the information you need to choose the right IoT connectivity provider. If Telnyx is your choice, getting started is easy — it takes a few clicks to order your Wireless SIM card today.

Have questions? Our sales team is always available to help.