Resources you need to help build your next Wi-Fi HaLow innovation.

“Ordinary” Wi-Fi is designed to transfer data fast – enabling you to stream movies and download files quickly using wide channels of radio frequencies in the 2.4 GHz, 5 Ghz and 6 GHz bands. The effective distances for these connections are short and they drain batteries fast, requiring frequent charging or constant power. Wi-Fi HaLow uses narrower channels of radio frequencies under 1 GHz with connections reaching up to 10 times farther. Wi-Fi HaLow is perfect for IoT devices which require more robust connections at farther distances, and can take advantage of new sleep modes that save power. Wi-Fi HaLow enables a new class of products that can run off batteries for years, and still offers many Mbps of data throughput. The international standard that describes Wi-Fi HaLow is IEEE 802.11ah.

You may hear these terms used interchangeably, but here is the difference: IEEE 802.11ah is a technical standard from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, adopted in 2016. It is a large document of around 600 pages which was added to the 1000+ pages of IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN standards. It defines all the exact details of how to transmit and receive data over the air. 802.11ah was defined purposefully for IoT applications to add capabilities such as lower power operation, longer distances, and higher density of devices. There are other legacy IEEE wireless LAN standards such as 802.11a, b, g, n, ac, ax, and so on. The Wi-Fi Alliance (wi-fi.org) was formed by vendors of chips and devices who wanted to ensure compatibility between various IEEE 802.11 products through objective testing and certification. “IEEE 802.11” was not a very consumer-friendly name, so the Wi-Fi Alliance branded the general technology as “Wi-Fi”. The Wi-Fi Alliance has created the brand “Wi-Fi HaLow”, and is developing a certification program to test devices for compliance to IEEE802.11ah and other interoperability requirements. Other Wi-Fi brands, such as Wi-Fi 4, 5 or 6 refer to the IEEE 802.11 n/ac/ax technologies.

Conventional Wi-Fi operates in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands. Wi-Fi HaLow however operates in bands below 1 GHz. The lower frequency signal travels farther, using less power, and passes through objects better. Wi-Fi HaLow also operates with narrow channels than conventional Wi-Fi. The lower radio band and narrower channels mean that Wi-Fi HaLow travels 10 times farther.

There are several key features of Wi-Fi HaLow that save power compared to legacy Wi-Fi and other PAN, LAN and WAN technologies:

Narrower channels of radio frequencies below 1 Ghz travel farther and penetrate through building materials much better at lower power for Wi-Fi HaLow than legacy Wi-Fi or other technologies using 2.4GHz.

Multiple sleep modes allow HaLow sensors to conserve battery power without having to listen for frequent beacons, or to relay other device traffic used in mesh networks.

Listen-before-talk access scheme prevents unnecessary retransmissions due to collisions with other sensors.

One base station, or Access Point, can service up to 8191 nodes or client devices, which are also referred to as stations.

Yes, Wi-Fi HaLow devices connect to the internet via a Wi-Fi HaLow router. Any device connected to the internet will be able to communicate with Wi-Fi HaLow devices in the same method as traditional Wi-Fi. Mobile Products with Wi-Fi HaLow capability could be designed to connect directly to IoT devices or in Peer-to-Peer connection with each other, across very long distances.

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