This article provides an impartial overview of the capabilities and limitations of LoRaWAN, one of the most adopted Low-Power Wide Area Networking (LPWAN) technologies. LoRaWAN is a network stack rooted in the LoRa physical layer, offering long-range communication with a raw maximum data rate of 27 kbps (50 kbps with FSK). It is designed for outdoor IoT applications, enabling simple star network topologies that simplify deployment and maintenance. However, the technology has limitations that need to be clearly understood to avoid inflated expectations. The article discusses LPWAN technologies, including cellular solutions like eMTC, NB-IoT, and EC-GSM-IoT, and compares them with LoRaWAN. It also explores other LPWAN technologies such as Ingenu, Weightless, and SigFox. LoRaWAN is compared with these technologies in terms of data rate, range, battery life, and cost. The article analyzes the network capacity and scale limitations of LoRaWAN, particularly due to duty-cycle regulations in unlicensed bands. It discusses how the maximum duty-cycle limits the number of end-devices that can be supported in a network. It also explores the impact of reliability and densification on network capacity. The article then discusses various use cases for LoRaWAN, including real-time monitoring, metering, smart city applications, smart transportation and logistics, and video surveillance. It highlights the suitability of LoRaWAN for these applications and the limitations that may affect their performance. Finally, the article lists open research challenges for LoRaWAN, including the need for new channel hopping methods, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) over LoRaWAN, geolocation of end-devices, cognitive radio, and power reduction for multi-hop solutions. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the limitations of LoRaWAN to ensure its effective deployment in various IoT applications.This article provides an impartial overview of the capabilities and limitations of LoRaWAN, one of the most adopted Low-Power Wide Area Networking (LPWAN) technologies. LoRaWAN is a network stack rooted in the LoRa physical layer, offering long-range communication with a raw maximum data rate of 27 kbps (50 kbps with FSK). It is designed for outdoor IoT applications, enabling simple star network topologies that simplify deployment and maintenance. However, the technology has limitations that need to be clearly understood to avoid inflated expectations. The article discusses LPWAN technologies, including cellular solutions like eMTC, NB-IoT, and EC-GSM-IoT, and compares them with LoRaWAN. It also explores other LPWAN technologies such as Ingenu, Weightless, and SigFox. LoRaWAN is compared with these technologies in terms of data rate, range, battery life, and cost. The article analyzes the network capacity and scale limitations of LoRaWAN, particularly due to duty-cycle regulations in unlicensed bands. It discusses how the maximum duty-cycle limits the number of end-devices that can be supported in a network. It also explores the impact of reliability and densification on network capacity. The article then discusses various use cases for LoRaWAN, including real-time monitoring, metering, smart city applications, smart transportation and logistics, and video surveillance. It highlights the suitability of LoRaWAN for these applications and the limitations that may affect their performance. Finally, the article lists open research challenges for LoRaWAN, including the need for new channel hopping methods, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) over LoRaWAN, geolocation of end-devices, cognitive radio, and power reduction for multi-hop solutions. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the limitations of LoRaWAN to ensure its effective deployment in various IoT applications.