Wi-Fi Alliance launches cert program for HaLow

AUSTIN, Texas – Wi-Fi Alliance introduces Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow – the certification program for products incorporating IEEE 802.11ah technology – to expand Wi-Fi applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). Wi-Fi HaLow operates in the sub-1 GHz band, enabling long range and low power connectivity, while providing a robust connection in challenging Wi-Fi environments. Wi-Fi HaLow will enable a variety of new, power-efficient use cases for IoT and Industrial IoT (IIoT) environments, as well as retail, agriculture, healthcare, smart home, and smart city markets.

Wi-Fi HaLow enables low power connectivity necessary for applications including sensors, personal wearable devices, and utility meters that require multi-year battery operation. Wi-Fi HaLow supports applications such as streaming compressed video from security cameras, even in challenging environments where the ability to penetrate walls or other barriers to provide a robust connection is an important consideration. In agriculture or logistics monitoring applications where long range is a priority, Wi-Fi HaLow delivers data at ranges exceeding one kilometer.

Wi-Fi HaLow adopts existing Wi-Fi protocols to deliver many of the benefits that consumers have come to expect from Wi-Fi, including multi-vendor interoperability, strong WPA3 security, easy setup, and seamless integration into IP networks.

Wi-Fi's expanding IoT portfolio

IoT connected devices in use worldwide are projected to exceed 30 billion units by 2025, more than doubling from 13.8 billion in 2021. The smart home IoT use case is a rapidly growing market, and more than 29 percent of businesses also use IoT technology to streamline processes and increase efficiency. Wi-Fi Alliance has a strong portfolio of technologies delivering low power, high performance, and secure Wi-Fi for a wide variety of IoT environments. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 is a strong complement to Wi-Fi HaLow for commercial, industrial, and residential IoT applications requiring fast data rates and low latency, such as AR/VR, home security systems with high-resolution video feeds, medical telemetry monitoring, and remote surgery. Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Easy Connect reduces the complexity of connecting devices to Wi-Fi networks, including the many IoT devices with little to no user interface, while simultaneously incorporating the highest security standards. All Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices support WPA3, providing cutting edge security protocols to protect sensitive data and provide strong protections to users.

Member companies providing interoperability test bed devices that are among the first Wi-Fi CERTIFIED HaLow products include Methods2Business, Morse Micro, and Newracom.

Read the full announcement here.

Wi-Fi Alliance