Wi-Fi HaLow: Hands on with AsiaRF’s IoT network gateway

Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) is a relatively new standard that provides extended range and penetration through walls and other obstacles, but the tradeoff is low throughput. HaLow’s sweet spot is industrial IoT, building automation, security, access control, utility smart meters and intelligent grids. 

The HaLow standard was approved in September 2016 and published in May 2017. Uptake was initially slow, with few products certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Lately Wi-Fi HaLow has been seeing increased adoption, and among the vendors with Certified Wi-Fi HaLow products is AsiaRF. Here’s our hand-on assessment of working with AsiaRF’s Wi-Fi mesh gateway, which features a star topology that enables 8,000 connections for industrial IoT use cases.

AsiaRF Wi-Fi HaLow IoT network gateway

AsiaRF’s dual-band Wi-Fi mesh gateway (ARFHL-AP) is primarily designed for industrial IoT connectivity. AsiaRF claims a robust data rate of 150Kbps over distances exceeding 1 km (or 0.62 miles), ideal for transmitting critical data in expansive industrial areas. AsiaRF says each gateway (priced at $206 per unit) can support over 8,000 stable connections with their innovative star network topology.

What’s unique about this AsiaRF gateway is that it supports simultaneous use of both 2.4GHz and Sub-GHz HaLow frequencies, so users can take advantage of the HaLow radio for long-distance links and at the same time the 2.4GHz radio can connect closer Wi-Fi devices that don’t support HaLow.

AsiaRF

The gateway supports IPv4 and IPv6. It can be a router with an optional firewall. It can act as a DHCP client, relay, or server. In Wi-Fi scenarios, it supports multiple SSIDs, up to WPA2 (PSK or 802.1X) security for Wi-Fi 4, and up to WPA3 security for the Wi-Fi HaLow.

Physical characteristics of the gateway

The main device has a plastic enclosure (indoor-rated only) and is relativity small for an access point. It measures about 5 inches x 3.5 inches x 1.2 inches. It has a detachable SMA dipole antenna for the sub-GHz, an Ethernet port for WAN/LAN connection, USB port (for storage or a camera), and a 12V / 1A power input.

AsiaRF

Although this model doesn’t have a weather-proof enclosure, AsiaRF does have an outdoor gateway model. Plus, they offer different antennas if you want a more directional or rugged antenna. For powering gateways that won’t be near electric outlets, they have a battery pack as well.

Inside the gateway, AsiaRF utilizes the Morse Micro MM6108 chipset for the HaLow. The HaLow radio supports flexible operation in worldwide sub-GHz ISM bands between 850 MHz and 950 MHz. The single-stream modulation and coding scheme (MCS) data rates range from 150 Kbps to 22 Mbps at 8MHz.

For traditional Wi-Fi, it has the MediaTek MT76X8 chipset, enabling 2.4 GHz wireless connections. Although it’s only supporting the old Wi-Fi 4 (802.11b/g/n), the HaLow technology would be a bottleneck anyway, if a newer and faster Wi-Fi standard were supported.

Deployment methods

One of the simplest deployment methods of this gateway is HaLow bridge mode. The HaLow connection serves as a means to provide a virtual Ethernet link between two points where running a physical cable may not be feasible. The use of HaLow is transparent to the rest of the devices on the network. This can be a convenient way to expand network coverage or connect networks in two separate buildings without isolating them into smaller sub-networks, especially when employing bridge mode.

It also supports router mode, connecting different IP network segments together, with each segment having its own range of IP addresses and subnet mask. The router forwards packets, allowing devices from different network segments to communicate with each other, while also providing network layer isolation and security controls (such as firewall rules).

It supports a mesh architecture to enable efficient data transmission across extensive areas that’s scalable, and enhances connectivity in environments where traditional Wi-Fi systems might be less effective. It supports three different mesh configurations:

• Mesh Point (MP): Acts as the backbone of the mesh network, ensuring seamless device communication. In Wi-Fi HaLow environments, it extends coverage using its low-power, long-range capabilities.
• Mesh Access Point (MAP): Acts as hybrid nodes that connect devices directly to the mesh network, and also interface with traditional Wi-Fi networks, enhancing network flexibility and access.
• Mesh Portal (MPP): Serves as the basic nodes that relay data between devices, helping to extend the network coverage over a wide area.

Setting up the AsiaRF mesh gateway

When you plug in the gateway, it starts broadcasting a default SSID and password. By default, it has a DHCP server enabled for clients, so you can simply connect to the Wi-Fi and access the web GUI via the default IP address. Then you can configure the IP addresses, select your region, and setup the Wi-Fi modes.

AsiaRF

We found the web GUI straightforward, easy to navigate and understand. However, it would have been nice to be greeted with some type of setup wizard to help configure the settings according to the wireless modes we desire. They do provide a user manual with steps on how to configure the basics of the wireless modes, but having a wizard or at least help links in the web GUI would be very helpful when you get started with their gear.

AsiaRF

Eric Geier is a freelance tech writer. He’s also the founder of NoWiresSecurity providing a cloud-based Wi-Fi security service, Wi-Fi Surveyors providing RF site surveying, and On Spot Techs providing general IT services.