After years of anticipation, Wi-Fi HaLow appears to be transitioning from promise to practice
In sum – what to know:
From pilots to production – As IoT use cases shift from low-data sensor “pings” to data-rich, real-time applications such as video, audio, and edge AI, Wi-Fi HaLow is beginning to scale.
The middle ground – HaLow’s value lies in delivering long-range, low-power connectivity with Wi-Fi-class security and IP-native networking, while avoiding the cost and complexity of cellular and the limitations of LPWAN.
Ecosystem maturity – The Wi-Fi Halow system is maturing, with deployable, standards-based products enabling simpler network designs, fewer access points, and lower total cost of ownership.
For much of the past decade, Wi-Fi HaLow has been positioned as a promising but underutilized IoT technology. Defined under IEEE 802.11ah and operating in unlicensed sub-GHz spectrum, it has long offered extended range, better penetration, and Wi-Fi-class security — yet adoption lagged behind cellular and LPWAN alternatives.
That dynamic is beginning to shift. Over the past 12 to 24 months, Wi-Fi HaLow has started moving out of pilots and into production deployments, particularly across industrial, infrastructure, and edge-AI environments, and some projections put the number of Wi-Fi HaLow devices at more than 100 million by 2029.
According to Andy McFarlane, vice president of marketing at Morse Micro, the turning point has less to do with a single technical breakthrough than with broader changes in how IoT systems are being designed and deployed.
IoT is evolving beyond “small data”
Early IoT deployments were largely built around infrequent, low-bit-rate sensor transmissions — a model well suited to LPWAN technologies such as LoRaWAN and NB-IoT. But newer use cases increasingly demand real-time, data-rich connectivity, including audio, video, edge AI, and closed-loop automation.
“The next generation of IoT solutions requires much more data, higher speeds, more interoperability, and stronger security, so a more advanced connectivity approach is required,” McFarlane told RCR Wireless News. Those requirements expose structural limitations in many legacy IoT networks. Extremely low data rates and higher latency make LPWAN technologies a poor fit for interactive or bandwidth-intensive applications.
Wi-Fi HaLow occupies a middle ground. With newer silicon delivering data rates above 40 Mbps, it supports significantly richer data flows while maintaining far lower power consumption and infrastructure costs than cellular for fixed, local deployments. Just as importantly, it preserves familiar Wi-Fi attributes: IP-native networking, WPA3 security, and interoperability with enterprise IT systems.
An ecosystem ready for deployment
Equally critical is the maturation of the HaLow ecosystem itself. Early deployments often relied on proprietary gateways and protocol translation layers, increasing cost and complexity. Today, HaLow solutions are increasingly delivered as standards-based components that integrate cleanly into existing architectures.
That shift is reflected in a recent announcement from Gateworks Corporation, which introduced a Wi-Fi HaLow M.2 module built on Morse Micro’s MM8108 chipset. Designed as a drop-in component for standard embedded platforms, the module runs as plug-and-play hardware rather than a bespoke networking stack.
The broader implication is that Wi-Fi HaLow deployments are starting to resemble traditional Wi-Fi rollouts — just operating at far greater range. “In practice, Wi-Fi HaLow behaves like an extended-range LAN rather than a WAN,” noted McFarlane. “Sub-GHz propagation dramatically improves range and penetration, allowing networks to be built with far fewer access points and far fewer coverage fixes.”
That familiarity lowers barriers for system integrators and helps customers move more easily from trials into production. Furthermore, because the network is IP-native, operators can eliminate proprietary gateways and translation layers, reducing costs and operational complexity through fewer powered sites, uplinks, and managed devices — especially in large-scale industrial, campus, and infrastructure deployments.
Retail technology provider Gatekeeper Systems, which is building its next-generation in-store infrastructure on Wi-Fi HaLow, said the reliability of the network exceeded expectations even under demanding conditions — underscoring HaLow’s viability beyond controlled pilot environments.
A complement to Wi-Fi and 5G
Wi-Fi HaLow is not positioned as a universal replacement for existing wireless technologies. Cellular remains essential for applications requiring wide-area mobility without local infrastructure, while LPWAN continues to serve ultra-low-power sensors transmitting minimal data.
For HaLow, remaining challenges are less technical than market-driven: awareness, availability, and turnkey reference designs. Regulatory fragmentation in sub-GHz spectrum also remains a gating factor: “Wi-Fi HaLow is designed for unlicensed sub-GHz operation and is anchored in the broader Wi-Fi standards and certification ecosystem,” said McFarlane, adding that frequency rules vary by region. Still, McFarlane argues that global operation is achievable through region-specific configurations within a common Wi-Fi certification and security framework.
Looking ahead, Wi-Fi HaLow is increasingly positioned as connective tissue between traditional Wi-Fi and WAN-class technologies. It is not meant to replace high-throughput indoor Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 7, nor to compete directly with private 5G for mobile use cases.
Instead, its role is emerging as infrastructure for IoT 2.0 — delivering long-range, low-power connectivity with enough throughput to support real data, while preserving the economics and simplicity of local networks.
After years of anticipation, Wi-Fi HaLow appears to be transitioning from promise to practice.
