On Tuesday, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced the start of certification for WiFi HaLow. This new feature supports long-range, low-energy Wi-Fi transmission on the sub-1GHz spectrum, promising a range of more than 1km through walls. The feature is primarily aimed at smart home devices, and the number of cloud-connected devices worldwide is expected to surge to more than 30 billion by 2025, more than double the 13.8 billion IoT devices currently in use.

That’s good news for smart home sensors, security cameras and industrial or agricultural IoT devices, and it’s good news for Wi-Fi, especially on Amazon Sidewalk, said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO of Wi-Fi Alliance. and Matter as new standards try to gain a foothold in the smart home category.

“The Wi-Fi-certified HaLow further extends Wi-Fi’s leadership in IoT to address a range of new secure and interoperable devices that require greater range and lower power,” Figueroa said in a statement. Use Cases: In the growing IoT market, where there are more and more opportunities to simplify connectivity, Wi-Fi HaLow builds on the foundation of universally trusted Wi-Fi, paving the way for emerging IoT applications that enable homes, businesses, and Industry benefits”.

Wi-Fi HaLow claims longer range and lower power consumption because it transmits at sub-1GHz frequencies, which is much lower than the 2.4 and 5GHz bands used by most home Wi-Fi networks. While higher frequencies are better for moving large amounts of data, lower frequencies provide better range, which makes the Sub-1GHz spectrum seem like a good fit for sensors and other devices that might need to send tiny amounts of data over long-distance Wi-Fi networks equipment.

In addition, Wi-Fi HaLow also has a very good performance in terms of battery life, and the Wi-Fi Alliance promises: “Including low-power connectivity for applications such as sensors, personal wearables and utility meters that require many years of battery operation. Wi-Fi HaLow leverages existing Wi-Fi protocols and offers many of the benefits consumers have come to expect, including multi-vendor interoperability, robust WPA3 security, ease of setup, and seamless integration with IP networks.”