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Differences Between Wi-Fi HaLow and Wi-Fi
Traditional Wi-Fi enables users to stream movies and download files quickly using wide channels of radio frequencies in the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and even 6GHz bands in the near future. The effective distance for these connections is short and they drain batteries fast, requiring frequent charging or a power connection.
Wi-Fi 6 for example is still ideal for bandwidth intensive applications from 4K video streaming to augmented reality.
Wi-Fi HaLow builds on the robust security and spectral efficient OFDM foundations, while utilizing narrower channels of radio frequencies under 1 GHz to better penetrate through materials, allowing connections reaching up to 10 times farther, 100 times the area and 1000 times the volume of traditional Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi HaLow is perfect for IoT devices as it allows over 8,000 robust connections to a single access point, and can take advantage of new sleep modes that save power.
Wi-Fi HaLow enables a new class of products that can run off batteries for years, and still offers many Mbps of data throughput.
The network congestion, distance limitations and higher power usage of conventional Wi-Fi, along with the limited number of devices that can be connected to a single wireless access point, are no longer viable in a connected world of smart devices.
Such limitations impede new IoT-centric business models that are emerging across industries, which require greater capacity, range and battery operation while minimizing deployment costs and timelines — all of which are highly desirable attributes.
