5 reasons "Why we choose MQTT"

The internet of things (IoT) has evolved from a futuristic concept to an essential part of daily life, powering smart homes, industrial automation, healthcare, smart cities, and autonomous vehicles. As IoT ecosystems grow, the need for secure, reliable, and scalable communication between connected devices has become more critical than ever.

With trillions of IoT devices expected to be online in the coming years, choosing the right communication protocol is crucial for ensuring efficiency, security, and seamless data exchange. After evaluating various options, we choose MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) as the backbone of our IoT communication system due to its lightweight nature, security capabilities, and reliability.

At Bevywise Networks, our mission is to develop cutting-edge IoT solutions that empower businesses and individuals to automate and optimize their workflows. We believe that "Quality and Reliability are not optional; they should be built-in".

Here are the five reasons why MQTT is the ideal choice for our IoT implementation:

1. Security

Although MQTT messaging operates over an unsecured TCP connection, it can be fortified using TLS/SSL encryption, ensuring robust security when implemented in mission-critical applications. By integrating these encryption protocols, we can protect data transmission from eavesdropping.

Additionally, MQTT supports authentication mechanisms such as username-password authentication, token-based authentication, and certificate-based authentication, further strengthening security. When combined with access control policies, this ensures that only authorized devices can publish or subscribe to specific topics, reducing the risk of cyber threats and unauthorized data exposure.

By leveraging these security measures, MQTT provides a reliable and scalable foundation for IoT networks, safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring seamless, trustworthy communication.

2. Central Broker

In an IoT ecosystem, where millions of devices continuously exchange data, managing communication efficiently is essential. An MQTT broker serves as a centralized hub, facilitating seamless message exchange between publishers (devices sending data) and subscribers (devices receiving data). Instead of direct device to device communication, which can lead to network congestion and excessive bandwidth usage, the broker optimizes message delivery, ensuring that data is only sent to relevant subscribers.

By reducing the computational load on individual devices, the broker enables lightweight communication, making MQTT an ideal solution for low-power and resource-constrained IoT devices. This is particularly beneficial for battery-operated sensors and remote monitoring systems, where minimizing energy consumption is a priority.

Moreover, MQTT's broker-based architecture supports the creation of a distributed network of interconnected brokers, ensuring scalability, load balancing, and fault tolerance. This interoperability allows devices from different manufacturers and platforms to communicate seamlessly, fostering a unified IoT ecosystem.

With its ability to streamline data flow, enhance efficiency, and ensure seamless interoperability, the MQTT broker plays a vital role in enabling reliable and scalable IoT communication across industries.

3. Quality of Service

MQTT offers three distinct levels of quality of service (QoS) , allowing messages to be delivered based on their importance and frequency in the network. These levels help ensure reliable communication in various IoT environments, from low-priority sensor updates to mission-critical data transmissions.

a. QoS 0 - At Most Once

Messages are delivered only once without acknowledgment from the receiver. There is no guarantee of delivery, making it suitable for scenarios where occasional data loss is acceptable, such as environmental monitoring or real-time sensor updates.

b. QoS 1 - At Least Once

Messages are delivered at least once, ensuring they reach the receiver but with the possibility of duplicates. The sender retains the message until it receives a confirmation (PUBACK packet) from the receiver. This level is ideal for applications requiring reliable delivery, such as remote commands for IoT devices.

c. QoS 2 - Exactly Once

This is the most reliable QoS level, ensuring that each message is received exactly once, without duplication or loss. It uses a four-step handshake process for guaranteed delivery, making it ideal for financial transactions, industrial automation, and healthcare applications, where data integrity is crucial.

By utilizing these QoS levels, MQTT provides a flexible and efficient messaging system, allowing IoT applications to prioritize reliability, minimize network load, and optimize device performance.

4. Last WILL & Retained Messages

The Last WILL feature helps determine whether a client is still active or has unexpectedly gone offline. Instead of waiting indefinitely for a response, subscribers can receive an automatic notification when a client disconnects unexpectedly. This ensures efficient resource management, allowing listener devices to enter power-saving mode and wake up at scheduled intervals to check for publisher availability.

On the other hand, retained messages ensure that new subscribers immediately receive the most recent message published on a topic, even if it was sent before they subscribed. This eliminates the need to wait for the next update, ensuring that subscribers always have access to the latest available data.

By leveraging these features, MQTT enables greater decoupling between publishers and subscribers, allowing devices to operate independently and asynchronously, making communication more efficient and reliable in IoT environments.

5. Flexible Subscription Pattern

MQTT allows clients to subscribe to multiple topics using wildcard patterns, enabling efficient data filtering and organized communication. Instead of subscribing to individual topics, a client can use pattern-based subscriptions to receive updates from multiple sensors or devices within a specific category.

For example, a kitchen monitor can subscribe to all sensor data within the kitchen by using the wildcard "+" , which represents various sensors:

The "+" wildcard can represent different types of sensors, such as a temperature sensor, motion detector, or humidity sensor.

Similarly, a client can subscribe to all temperature readings across different rooms in a house:

Here, "+" could represent rooms such as Bedroom, Hall, Kitchen, etc., allowing devices to efficiently manage multiple data streams without unnecessary overhead. It is particularly useful in large-scale IoT networks, such as smart homes, industrial automation, and environmental monitoring systems, where data organization and efficient transmission are critical.

Beyond these key advantages, MQTT protocol offers many other benefits, such as lightweight messaging, low bandwidth consumption, and seamless integration with cloud platforms, making it one of the most efficient protocols for IoT communication. Its ability to ensure secure, reliable, and scalable data exchange is essential for building smart and connected solutions across industries.

These are the core reasons why we choose MQTT as the foundation for our IoT solutions. It enables us to develop robust, energy-efficient, and high-performance systems that cater to diverse applications, from smart homes and healthcare to industrial automation and smart cities. As we continue to innovate, MQTT remains a key enabler in driving the future of connected devices and intelligent automation.

To learn more about MQTT, read the following articles.

• MQTT Basics
• MQTT Topics
• To get started with MQTT - For Beginners
• A deep tech view on MQTT Cliet Development