The New Wi-Fi Will Reach Twice As Far

The New Wi-Fi Will Reach Twice As Far

Cars, blenders, fitness trackers, doggie bowls — there’s a connected version of basically any object you can name. It’s like the new Rule 34. There’s even a “smart” menstrual cup. Many of these objects rely on Bluetooth connections, but someday, they may run on a juiced-up version of Wi-Fi.

Your standard Wi-Fi wasn’t built for this obsessively connected world. It’s better for connecting a laptop or phone, not 85748684358349053 moving sensors. It takes a lot of power to run, and walls screw up connectivity. That’s what the Wi-Fi certification non-profit Wi-Fi Alliance is trying to fix.

Wi-Fi Alliance has approved a new “longer range, lower power connectivity” Wi-Fi standard called the Wi-Fi HaLow™. It expands Wi-Fi to the 900MHz band of spectrum. As The Verge points out, it’s an alternative to Bluetooth that they’re not explicitly calling an alternative to Bluetooth.

It could be a great solution! There’s one big catch: The companies that make connected gadgets and sensors will have to decide to use Wi-Fi HaLow™ instead of Bluetooth, or at least in addition to it. Is it really better? We’ve never tested it, and it’s still a ways away from being deployed in the real world.

[Wi-Fi Alliance]

Image via Shutterstock / Gizmodo


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.