Smart Devices with a Wi-Fi Range of 1 km Are Now a Reality

Recently, Wi-Fi Alliance announced the launch of the new Wi-Fi HaLow technology. Its main feature is the ability to operate and penetrate walls for more than 1 kilometer.

According to the company, the feature will be available for smart home devices such as sensors, security cameras, and baby monitors, as well as industrial and agricultural IoT devices.

From the company's press release, it follows that the company is indeed making a significant bet on the Smart Home category: "There are growing opportunities to streamline connectivity in the growing IoT market, and Wi-Fi HaLow builds on a universally trusted Wi-Fi foundation to pave the way for emerging IoT applications to benefit homes, businesses and industries."

This is not surprising, given the emergence of new technologies, such as the Matter standard, on the IoT market, which should give users even more opportunities for joint useща smart devices from different brands.

How does Wi-Fi HaLow work?

Such a large (by Wi-Fi standards) 1 km figure is achieved by supporting data transmission in the frequency range below 1 GHz. Most local Wi-Fi networks now use the higher 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. These frequencies are great for transferring large amounts of data, but the range of use of Wi-Fi with them is not very large.

Lower frequencies, on the other hand, provide a much wider range, which makes them the best option for all kinds of sensors, sensors, and other devices that may need to send small amounts of data to the network, but over a long distance. In addition, HaLow Wi-Fi does a good job with wall obstacles.

Another advantage of the new technology is its low energy consumption. This provides additional convenience when working in conjunction with smart devices that often run at a battery.

It is also important that for successful work with Wi-Fi HaLow, devices do not need their own radio modules. A standardized Wi-Fi chipset that supports this protocol is enough. The widespread adoption of technology for personal and commercial needs is predicted as early as 2022.

In a press release, a representative of Wi-Fi Alliance also assured users not only of the functionality of the technology but also of its security, ease of configuration, and the availability of seamless integration into an IP network.