How far can your home Wi-Fi network reach? Out in the boonies I can get a signal for perhaps 30 feet outside my small house. But in packed urban apartments I’ve seen it drop off completely just a couple of rooms away, hence the demand for mesh networks. But one company has managed to get a Wi-Fi network to stretch for almost 10 miles. If you’re waiting for the catch, here it is.
Morse Micro’s impressive setup uses the 802.11ah standard, also known as HaLow, using low-frequency radio bands to get extremely long range. So this is technically compatible with at least some hardware you can buy today…though Morse Micro’s system uses tons of proprietary tech to boost it even further.
Their access point system has already been tested in a conventional setting, achieving a stable video connection over 1.8 miles (2.9 kilometers) in San Francisco according to Tom’s Hardware. Which is undeniably cool. But a crowded metropolis swimming in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile connections every few feet isn’t going to show you the maximum potential of your hardware. For that, Morse Micro’s engineers drove out to Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert.
They set up one access point at the north end of the valley and started driving, stopping just before the system’s theoretical maximum range based on their electrical and physics data. With no buildings or major electronics in the area and a line-of-sight (technically) to the access point, the setup was as ideal as you can get without launching into orbit.
The HaLow connection managed to get through at 9.9 miles, 15.9 kilometers. Which is pretty darn impressive on its own. But the connection also managed to stay stable at two megabits per second. That’s not enough for a 4K Minecraft stream, but it should be more than enough to check your email or get a VOIP call.
The setup is a world record for a stable Wi-Fi connection. And if it seems a little ridiculous in a world where you can get LTE almost everywhere, then you’ve never tried to share a single expensive rural internet connection with your grandma’s house a quarter mile away. Morse Micro says it could be useful for peer-to-peer connections more or less anywhere, or long-range internet setups for farming, mining, or even resorts. Think of anything that covers a lot of acreage without ubiquitous internet access.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld
Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he's the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop "battlestation" in his off hours. Michael's previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he's covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he's always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.