The Rise of WiFi HaLow

With the end of 2025, WiFi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) moves further into focus as a key technology for long-term, energy-efficient IoT connectivity. Especially in the areas of Smart Agriculture, industrial automation and urban infrastructure, HaLow is becoming more widespread. Thanks to its Sub-1GHz spectrum, HaLow achieves ranges of up to 10 km and supports thousands of devices per Access Point – all with minimal power consumption, enabling a multi-year battery life. Yet this rise is hindered by regulatory gaps between the USA and the EU: while the USA offers flexible rules enabling broad civilian and commercial use, the EU’s strict Duty-Cycle restrictions hinder civilian applications and raise questions about state surveillance.

This article examines:

• the core technology of HaLow
• the regulatory differences between the USA and the EU
• comparisons to competitors such as LoRa and Meshtastic
• and introduces important innovators such as Morse Micro and Seeed Studio who, despite these hurdles, achieve progress in hardware development.

WiFi HaLow Technology: Redefining Long-Range Efficiency

WiFi HaLow sets new standards in the <strongIoT-Landschaftl> (NOTE: This line seems to be a stray mis-typed fragment in the original. Translating as intended.) With operation in Sub-1GHz bands, HaLow offers superior penetration through obstacles like walls and trees compared to higher-frequency WiFi. The technology uses OFDM modulation with channel bandwidths from 1 MHz to 16 MHz and achieves data rates from 150 kbps for simple sensors to 86 Mbps for demanding applications such as video transmissions.

Key features:

• Target Wake Time (TWT) for ultra-low power consumption (devices sleep 99% of the time)
• Relay modes for extended mesh coverage
• Scalability from up to 8,191 endpoints per Access Point

Compared to traditional WiFi, HaLow prioritizes range over speed, making it especially suitable for wide-area networks where LPWAN technologies are not sufficient.

In real-world tests in 2025, HaLow achieved speeds of 43 Mbps over more than 1 km, with low latency for robotics and telemetry. WPA3 security and IP compatibility ease integration, but global adoption depends on spectrum access restrictions. It is expected that by 2029 over 100 million devices will be based on HaLow as chip and module costs continue to fall.

Frequencies, Duty-Cycle and Regulatory Constraints: USA vs. EU

HaLow benefits from Sub-1GHz ISM bands, but allocations differ substantially:

• In the USA, the FCC allocates the 902-928 MHz band with 26 MHz of continuous spectral width. This allows channels up to 16 MHz, a transmit power of 1 W, and no strict Duty-Cycle restrictions. This fosters innovation, as frequency hopping avoids interference in dense environments.
• In the EU, HaLow is limited to the fragmented 863-868 MHz band (only 5-7 MHz) with channels of only 1-2 MHz and Duty-Cycle restrictions of 0.1-10% per hour. These limits – intended to prevent interference – complicate the use of live video transmissions and continuous transmission, as devices must sleep most of the time. Critics see this as a “spectral error” hindering the growth of IoT technologies.

Even Japan allows 10% Duty-Cycles, making the EU an outlier. Some view these restrictions as deliberately state-driven: certain institutional applications are exempt from the restrictions, fueling speculation that HaLow could be reserved primarily for state surveillance networks. In scenarios like disaster relief or Smart Cities, this could lead to state surveillance taking precedence over civilian resilience. While the USA pursues civilian-driven off-grid network initiatives and aim to build reliable, off-grid networks, this trend is suppressed in Europe.

WiFi HaLow in Smart City Surveillance: Control vs. Democratization

Smart Cities are a showcase for the benefits of HaLow, as EU rules appear to reserve this technology for surveillance applications.

These Duty-Cycle restrictions intensify the problem: without continuous transmissions, audio and video transmissions in the Sub-1GHz band are almost impossible. This hampers large-scale deployments in public safety networks, with looming fines for non-compliance.

Critics argue that these restrictions are not accidental but aimed at promoting state surveillance. The EU approach could result in only state actors being able to use HaLow for large-scale surveillance networks, while civilian applications are heavily restricted.

HaLow versus LoRa and Meshtastic: Off-Grid networks with high throughput for military, civil defense and SAR as well as disaster relief

Compared to LoRa, HaLow stands out with higher bandwidths. LoRa is well-suited for low-power data handling, but HaLow enables video transmissions and live control over similar ranges. Meshtastic, based on LoRa and designed for Off-Grid communication, excels at low-power text messages and GPS, but lacks the necessary bandwidth for media-rich mesh networks.

In military operations, HaLow demonstrates its efficiency: resilient mesh networks for Tactical video streams and drone feeds surpass LoRa limits. Civilian applications include disaster-proof networks, where paradoxically EU requirements hinder recovery after crises.

For Search and Rescue (SAR), HaLow offers the ability to stream live video over kilometers and coordinate teams in remote areas.

Innovators in Focus: Morse Micro and Seeed Studio

The Australian startup Morse Micro leads in HaLow chips and is developing a range of powerful SoCs (system-on-chips) specifically optimized for HaLow. The second generation of the <strongMM8108 chip enables data rates of 43 Mbps, a 37% efficiency improvement and a range that surpasses current industry standards.

Seeed Studio contributes to the democratization of prototyping. With the Wio-WM6180 Wi-Fi HaLow Mini-PCIe module developers can easily test and implement HaLow-based devices. These modules are ideal for IoT applications and support the open-source framework OpenWrt, enabling easy integration into Raspberry Pi-based gateways.

Conclusion: HaLow’s Future Despite Regulatory Hurdles

WiFi HaLow shows enormous potential in 2025 for transforming IoT, but the regulatory Duty-Cycle restrictions in the EU pose a significant obstacle. While Morse Micro and Seeed Studio drive development, EU reform of the guidelines is urgently needed to democratize access to HaLow for civilian applications.

With a more balanced regulation, Europe could become a leader in the next generation of wireless networks, fostering innovations in areas such as decentralization and Smart Infrastructure