New HaLow WiFi Standard Offers Better Range, Battery Life

The Wi-Fi Alliance has announced a new standard for Wi-Fi connectivity, designated HaLow, and suited for products incorporating IEEE 802.11ah technology. HaLow operates in frequency bands below one gigahertz, which allows for longer range and lower power connectivity and will enable new power-efficient use cases in the Smart Home, connected car, digital healthcare, industrial, retail, agriculture, and Smart City environments.

HaLow extends Wi-Fi into the 900 MHz band, so connectivity can be accomplished for lower power draw and yet still has a range nearly twice that of regular Wi-Fi, with the ability to more easily penetrate walls or other barriers.

“Wi-Fi HaLow is well suited to meet the unique needs of the Smart Home, Smart City, and industrial markets because of its ability to operate using very low power, penetrate through walls, and operate at significantly longer ranges than Wi-Fi today,” said Edgar Figueroa, President and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi HaLow expands the unmatched versatility of Wi-Fi to enable applications from small, battery-operated wearable devices to large-scale industrial facility deployments – and everything in between.”

Wi-Fi HaLow complements existing Wi-Fi technologies and expands Wi-Fi Alliance’s overall portfolio with this low power solution. Wi-Fi Alliance is also developing a new secure and simple way to connect and configure devices without a display or input mechanisms, for use in the Smart Home devices market.

For more information on Wi-Fi HaLow, please visit: www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi-halow

With low-power Wi-Fi like this, it’s possible that Bluetooth and other shorter-range, but lower power, solution will become unnecessary. For my money, it doesn’t matter which connectivity standard comes out on top, as long as it can do what is needed, and can do it well and easily.

Looks like we’re getting there pretty quickly.