The widespread use of Internet of Things (IoT) in various wireless sensor networks applications has increased their importance in recent years. IoT is a smart technology that connects anything anywhere at any time. These smart objects, which connect the physical world with the world of computing infrastructure, are expected to permeate all aspects of our daily lives and revolutionize a number of application domains such as healthcare, energy conservation, and transportation. As wireless networking expands, the disadvantage of wireless communication is clearly obvious. People's apprehension over the IoT's dependability has therefore skyrocketed. IoT networks' key requirements are dependability, channel security, fault tolerance, and reliability. Monitoring the IoT networks depends on the availability and correct functioning of all the network nodes. Recent research has proposed promising solutions to address these challenges. This article systematically examines recent articles that use meta-heuristic and nature-inspired algorithms to establish reliable IoT networks. Eighteen articles were analyzed in four groups. Results showed that reliable enhancement mechanisms in IoT networks increase fault node detection, network efficiency, and lifetime and attain energy optimization results in the IoT concept. Additionally, it was discovered in the literature that the current studies focus on how to effectively use edge network capabilities for IoT application executions and support, along with the related needs.