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What are the top 10 largest commercial mesh network deployments globally?
Hello! Thanks for asking Wonder for the top 10 largest commercial mesh network deployments globally.
In short, most companies do not advertise the number of nodes in their mesh networks, so providing a top ten list based on this metric proved extremely challenging. Undagrid suggests that it can accommodate up to 400 million devices in its mesh network, but they do not offer a specific number for their current network reach. Veniam has more than 600 connected vehicles in Portugal and over 780,000 Wi-Fi users in its expanding network offerings. Sentient Energy claims to be the largest mesh network with "25,000 sentient sensors deployed." As requested, I have provided the available data in the attached spreadsheet. Below, please find the results of my research, along with my methodology.
METHODOLOGY
I began by searching for existing lists of mesh network companies. VentureRadar offers a list of the top companies in this sector, so I visited each company's website in search of data on the number of nodes, end points, or deployments they offer. However, after scouring the company websites for this information, I found very little data specific to the number of nodes. I also searched for terms such as edges, endpoints, access points, devices, and deployments in hopes of finding data I could use to answer this part of your question. Therefore, I have provided information on five companies for which I could find the requested metric (number of nodes) or a similar metric.
FINDINGS
While I found a lot of companies working in this sector, I found almost none that made data on their specific network size or reach publicly available. Most companies only make reference to their scalability, but that usually doesn't offer a number. I found data specific to the number of nodes, or a similar metric, for five companies.
Undagrid claims to have a potential reach of up to 400 million devices in its mesh network. It is largely used by the aviation, maritime, and logistics industries.
According to a January 2017 article at Medium, Veniam has more than 600 connected vehicles and over 371,000 Wi-Fi users in Porto, Portugal. However, the company's website states it has over 780,000 unique users and over 43 million connected km. Their company focuses on providing mesh networks for fleets of vehicles, such as buses or taxis.
According to their website, "Firetide’s network easily scales up to several hundreds of mesh nodes for city-wide deployment." It does not offer any data for the number of total nodes or communities served. They offer solutions for public safety, transportation, industrial automation, and digital signage industries. The company partners with companies such as Sony, Axis Communications, and AirPatrol.
Sentient Energy claims to have "the largest mesh network line sensor deployments in North America, and partnerships with leading utility network providers including Silver Spring Networks, Landis + Gyr, Cisco, and AT&T." They have "25,000 sentient sensors deployed."
While different from the other offerings in this list, Firechat consistently appeared in my searches as an example of the potential of mesh networks. Firechat is a mobile app that uses mesh networking to allow its users to exchange text messages without using data or the internet. It had about 5 million users, as of September 2016.
POSSIBLE CONTINUED RESEARCH
Since the data regarding the number of nodes in each mesh network proved largely elusive, you might consider sending us a new request that focuses on a different metric to define the largest companies, such as revenue.
SUMMARY
To sum up, most mesh network companies do not publicly provide data regarding the number of nodes in their networks. However, I was able to learn that Undagrid claims it can accommodate up to 400 million devices in its mesh network. Veniam has over 600 connected vehicles and over 780,000 Wi-Fi users. Sentient Energy claims to be the largest mesh network with "25,000 sentient sensors deployed." I have provided the available data in the attached spreadsheet, as requested.
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