Last January, Morse Micro had already broken a record by making a video call over a distance of 2.9 kilometers on a beach in San Francisco, using the Wi-Fi HaLow standard (802.11ah). The company went much further by achieving a range of 15.9 kilometers, almost five times more, during a test in Joshua Tree National Park. This test was carried out in ideal conditions, far from urban interference, which allowed the full capabilities of this technology to be exploited.
A breakthrough in Wi-Fi range
In this new experiment, the connection reached a speed of 2 Mbps at the maximum distance, compared to 11 Mbps at 500 meters during the initial test in San Francisco. This difference in speed is explained by the absence of electromagnetic pollution in the Joshua Tree desert, contrasting with the many sources of interference in a densely populated area like San Francisco. This record performance brings closer the theoretical maximum range of Wi-Fi HaLow, precisely set at 15.9 kilometers by the IEEE 802.11ah standard.
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HaLow Wi-Fi is distinguished by its low power consumption and ability to pass through obstacles, making it particularly useful for rural areas. These characteristics make it a suitable solution for connected devices, particularly in agriculture or for infrastructures such as surveillance cameras, IoT sensors, peer-to-peer communication systems or equipment in isolated sectors such as mining.
Morse Micro chose Joshua Tree for its vast expanses and low interference levels to test the limits of its MM6108-EKH01 evaluation kit, a battery-powered Wi-Fi HaLow reference module. According to the company, ” This test proves that we can achieve the theoretical maximum range of Wi-Fi HaLow while still providing significant and usable data throughput. ».
With a throughput of 2 Mbps over nearly 16 kilometers, this technology makes it possible to envisage very long-distance wireless communications. Wi-Fi HaLow could therefore find its place in remote areas where cellular coverage is often insufficient or too expensive.
While Wi-Fi HaLow may not be relevant in urban environments, where cellular signals and hotspots are ubiquitous, its potential in rural areas or for specific applications is very interesting. The adoption of this technology could facilitate the implementation of IoT on a large scale, particularly in the agricultural or industrial sectors, where long-distance wireless communications are crucial.
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