Wi-Fi HaLow is a potential game-changer for broadband service providers needing to extend their signals to hard-to-reach places. It’s a long-range Wi-Fi technology based on the IEEE 801.11ah standard. Example applications range from single-family residences with massive yards to homeowner associations with sensor needs, to commercial and industrial buildings to the unique IoT needs of sprawling farms.
As heard in the above interview, Morse Micro achieved approximately 2 Mbps over 16km or 9.9 miles in perfect, low-noise, line-of-sight conditions. Wi-Fi HaLow uses sub-gigahertz frequencies (902-928 MHz in the U.S.) and narrow-band OFDM channels to achieve this incredible range. The Wi-Fi Alliance suggests an approximately 1km real-world range, which accounts for noise, walls, and obstacles that block higher frequencies.1
Morse Micro’s new MM8108 System on a Chip promises even better performance. It has better throughput, compared to Morse Micro’s earlier SoC with lower power consumption even though it includes an integrated power amplifier. At CES 2025, Morse Micro also demonstrated a stand-alone USB device that provides Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity to devices such as personal computers or smartphones.
Some benefits of Wi-Fi HaLow include
- No more dead zones: It blankets an entire property with reliable, relatively high-speed wireless coverage. As seen at CES2025, Yarbo is using WiFI HaLow to ensure reliable GPS for its autonomous lawnmowers/snowblowers/leafblowers.
- Massive networks: The access point supports up to 8,191 devices.
- New service offerings: Connect remote areas, power smart city initiatives, and support large-scale events. In the above video, Morse Micro CEO indicates that a farmer in Australia is using Wi-Fi HaLow to connect a WiFi hotspot on his tractor so he can have connectivity in the middle of his farm.
Compared to other unlicensed, wireless IoT networking technologies, WiFi HaLow serves higher bit-rate applications while employing standard IP and Wi-Fi security.2 3 Wi-Fi HaLow provides another tool for broadband service providers to expand their coverage, offer innovative services, and improve the customer experience.
Notes:
- The Wi-Fi Alliance suggests an approximately 1km range, while Morse Micro suggests a 1.5km range ↩︎
- The comparison table was created by Google’s Gemini with editing from Viodi, from the following sources; Wi-Fi Alliance: https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-halow, IEEE 802.11ah standard: https://standards.ieee.org/standard/802_11ah-2016.html, Z-Wave Alliance: https://z-wavealliance.org/, LoRa Alliance: https://lora-alliance.org/, Zigbee Alliance: https://zigbeealliance.org/ ↩︎
- See this article that provides a comparison between the LoRaWAN and Wi-Fi HaLow https://www.wi-fi.org/beacon/y-zachary-freeman/wi-fi-halow-and-lorawan-how-do-the-technologies-compare
and this article by Michael De Nil in IoT Insider comparing Wi-Fi HaLow to other unlicensed wireless technologies https://www.iotinsider.com/iot-insights/technical-insights/wi-fi-halow-what-is-it-and-why-you-might-need-it/ ↩︎
The relatively new DECT NR+ (New Radio), which, according to the DECT website, is the world’s first non-cellular 5G technology standard. It is recognized by WP5D of the International Telecommunication Union’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) as IMT-2020 technology It supports star and mesh network topologies with up to 4 billion devices. It supports frequencies from 450 MHz to 6 GHz; it typically uses unlicensed 1.9 GHz frequencies. It features ultra-low latency and excellent range (mesh configuration). It supports relatively low bit rate applications, such as smart metering/grid, building management, industrial IoT, and professional audio (e.g., live shows for the artist to monitor her performance).
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