The Wi-Fi Alliance announced the Wi-Fi HaLow designation for products incorporating IEEE 802.11ah technology. Wi-Fi HaLow operates in frequency bands below 1 GHz, offering longer range, lower power connectivity to Wi-Fi products. The Wi-Fi alliance said it expects the new standard to support a variety of Internet of Things applications in need of power-efficient connectivity, such as the sensors used for the smart home, digital healthcare, industrial systems and and smart city services.
Wi-Fi HaLow's range is nearly twice that of current Wi-Fi devices, and it also offers a more robust connection in challenging environments where the signal must penetrate walls and barriers. Many devices that support Wi-Fi HaLow are expected to operate in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands as well as 900 MHz, allowing HaLow devices also to connect with the current Wi-Fi ecosystem of more than 6.8 billion installed devices. Dense device deployments will also benefit from Wi-Fi HaLow's ability to connect thousands of devices to a single access point.
The 802.11ah protocol is an amendment to the IEEE's 802.11 standard for Wi-Fi. The protocol is expected in mid-2016, and products using the new protocol should reach the market by year-end.
