Wi-Fi Alliance, Monday unveiled a new low power and long range Wi-Fi solution, Wi-Fi HaLow incorporating the IEEE 802.11ah technology that operates in the 900 MHz band. The new WiFi HaLow enables low power connectivity necessary for applications such as sensor and wearables and caters for a wide variaty of use cases such as the Smart Home, connected car, and digital healthcare, as well as industrial, retail, agriculture, and Smart City environments.
According to WiFi Alliance, Wi-Fi HaLow's range is nearly twice that of today's Wi-Fi, and will not only be capable of transmitting signals further, but also providing a more robust connection in challenging environments where the ability to more easily penetrate walls or other barriers is an important consideration. Many devices that support Wi-Fi HaLow are expected to operate in 2.4 and 5 GHz as well as 900 MHz, allowing devices to connect with Wi-Fi's ecosystem of more than 6.8 billion installed devices, said WiFi Alliance.
Edgar Figueroa, President and CEO of 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.
Phil Solis, ABI Research
Wi-Fi Alliance programs have been instrumental in shaping and guiding the industry. Wi-Fi's portfolio of technologies continues to address market needs, and Wi-Fi's evolution will allow it to address a variety of new use cases.
