Quectel Targets Long-Range Massive IoT Deployments with the New FGH200M Wi-Fi HaLow Module

Quectel has announced the launch of the FGH200M, a long-range low-power sub-gigahertz Wi-Fi HaLow module — delivering relatively high-throughput connectivity for remote Internet of Things (IoT) devices at ranges of up to a kilometer (around 0.62 miles) and supporting over 8,000 device connections per module.

"We're excited to unveil the Quectel FGH200M, says Quectel's Delbert Sun of the new module, unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. "This ultra-compact module combines long-range transmission with low power consumption, large capacity and good penetration performance for mass-scale IoT deployments. We look forward to supporting customers with the FGH200M's attractive blend of capabilities across network performance, efficiency and robustness."

The module is built around the Morse Micro MM8108 chipset, which connects to a host system via USB 2.0, SDIO 2.0, or Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and delivers IEEE 802.11ah Wi-Fi HaLow connectivity — an offshoot of the more common Wi-Fi standard that drops the frequencies used down into sub-gigahertz band, in the license-free 850–950MHz spectrum, in order to boost the range by up to ten times without increasing the power needed for transmission or reception.

The tradeoff of increased range at a very low power is, of course, in throughput: unlike modern Wi-Fi chipsets, even low-power ones, the FGH200M offers a maximum theoretical throughput of 43.3Mb/s. Channel widths can be selected from 1, 2, 4, and 8MHz, with a maximum output power of 26dBm. Despite being tailored for a low power draw — though, at the time of writing, Quectel hadn't publicly shared precise power statistics — the company claims the module can theoretically support up to 8,191 devices.

More information is available on the Quectel website, while visitors to Mobile World Congress can see the module in action at Booth 5A19. Pricing had not been announced at the time of writing.