Wi-Fi HaLow Explained! Long-Range Camera Test up to 300m

 I recently needed to install a security camera at a relatively large distance from my home, more precisely at about 300m. Unfortunately, although there was power there, I could not physically install a network cable and also the distance is too large for a Wi-Fi connection. LoRaWAN cannot be used due to very low transfer speed which is not sufficient for multimedia transmission So, while searching for a solution, I came across information about Wi-Fi HaLow technology. Wi-Fi HaLow is a long-range, low-power version of Wi-Fi designed specifically for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Operating in the sub-1 GHz spectrum, it delivers connections up to 1 km away while passes through walls and obstacles much better than traditional 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi HaLow fills the gap between classic Wi-Fi and LoRaWAN – it offers significantly greater range and lower power consumption than Wi-Fi, but at the same time provides high enough speed for IP communication, audio, and video, something that LoRaWAN cannot provide. So I decided to purchase hardware (camera and router) that would best meet these needs.

Specifically, these are the ThinkNode G4 Wi-Fi HaLow Gateway and ESP32 Wi-Fi HaLow Module with 2MP Camera, products from Elecrow. ThinkNode G4 Wi-Fi HaLow gateway is a long-range, high-speed wireless communication device designed for IoT applications. It is equipped with a high-performance MCU and advanced RF front-end, supporting dual-band design for both Wi-Fi HaLow and 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and provides an Ethernet interface for flexible integration into existing network infrastructure. The product also contains two antennas, one for halow wi-fi, and one for standard 2.4GHz wi-fi. It is powered via a USB-C port. The ESP32 WiFi Halow module consist of several parts.

The camera module PCB with ESP32-S3 MCU, a wi-fi halo module, a TF card slot, and a 2MP camera. On the top side of the PCB there is a connector where a small antenna is connected, which is included in the kit along with the USB cable. There is also a  a Type-C interface and triple wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi + Bluetooth + Wi-Fi HaLow) and small antenna. On the PCB there is a connector for a lithium battery with a charging chip and an indicator LED as well as many I/O ports for connecting various external devices and sensors.
Now I will focus on the main task from the beginning of this project, which is to find the simplest possible way to put this small camera module + gateway into operation, i.e. to set up wireless transmission of a video signal over a long distance of up to 1 km. Let's start by setting up the gateway. For this purpose, the PC Ethernet card should be set to Automatic (DHCP), i.e. in the TCP/IP properties, should be checked the "Obtain an IP address automatically" box. Now I connect the gateway to the power supply and to the PC with a LAN cable. I hold down the CFG button for 3 seconds, and wait for the green LED to start blinking, which is a sign that the gateway is in configuration mode. I type the address 10.42.0.1 in a web browser. In this way I enter the configuration web interface.

For presentation purposes, I will not enter passwords now, except where necessary. Otherwise, in real use, of course, you need to use strong passwords for protection. Now we are on the "select wizard" page and here we need to select "Standard WiFi Halow".

Next, then again password and now we need to choose between Access point and client. We select Access point and Next.

Here is the name and password that should be used by a device that needs to connect to this gateway, in this case it is the camera module.

Now Next, and on upstream network display, need to select "none".

In this mode the Gateway will create its own HaLow network and the ESP32 Camera will connect to it. No home router and internet is required. This is ideal for initial testing. The next page is the 2.4Ghz wifi access point (enable or disable), the default is disable, and I have left it in case you don't need standard Wi-Fi. Next, here we press "Apply" and the green LED should go out and here we have finished setting up the Gateway.  With these settings, the router gets a different static address that we can find out by typing IPCONFIG in the CMD window.
In my case it is 192.168.12.1. Now we type that address into the web browser, then login and the status display appears. 

Now, we need to connect the Halow device to this AP and that's the camera halo module. Next is the setup of the ESP32 WiFi Halow Module with Camera: First of all, let me mention that this module comes factory pre-installed with the camera web server firmware needed for this particular example. However, if we connect the module, we will notice that the blue LED on the gateway remains off, which means that it is not connecting to the gateway. We will see the reason for this below.
I connect the device with a USB cable to the PC. In the Device Manager, I look at which port the device is connected to (in my case it is COM6). Now I start Arduino IDE and select COM6, then activate the serial monitor with Baudrate 115200.

There appears a longer text that shows that the camera is trying to connect to the Gateway with the name: "ThinkNode-G4_2a94" and password: "elecrow.com", and as we saw previously when setting up the Gateway, the name was different from this. So the simplest thing to do is to change the name of the Gateway through the wizard and confirm the password "elecrow.com". After this change, the camera should automatically connect to Gateway.
  In the web browser, enter the address 192.168.12.1 and in the menu go to "Wizards" and select "Standard WiFi Halow". There we change the SSID to "ThinkNode-G4_2a94" and enter the password "elecrow.com". After pressing Next, select NONE again, then next, next, and apply. Now I connect the camera module to power and for a short time the blue "Link" LED on the Gateway should light up.

This means that the camera is connected to the Gateway. Now we just need to open the serial monitor in the Arduino IDE, reset the camera module, and read what address the camera module is getting. In my specific case, the address of the camera is: 192.168.12.195. Now enter http://192.168.12.195/ in the Web Browser and the camera image appears on the screen.

If we have an SD card installed on the module, by pressing "save image to SD Card" we save the current image. Now on the Wi-Fi Halow module, I mounted a Lithium battery that can be charged via the USB-C connector.

If we have an SD card installed on the module, by pressing "save image to SD Card" we save the current image. Now on the Wi-Fi Halow module, I mounted a Lithium battery that can be charged via the USB-C connector.

 
And finally, I will mount the camera at a distance of 300m from the Gateway, with a note that I am mounting it in an urban environment with several buildings, vegetation, and other obstacles between the camera and the Gateway. After these tests, I conducted several experiments in different places with different configurations and obstacles, I can tell you that the range of the camera depends on several factors, including the distance, such as the number and type of obstacles, but also the placement of the gateway. It is best for the gateway to be placed in a high place without many obstacles around it. To achieve video transmission at maximum distances of up to 1km, the basic condition is that the camera and the gateway "see" each other, i.e. that there is no obstacle between them.
  And finally a short conclusion. Wi-Fi HaLow successfully bridges the gap between traditional Wi-Fi and LoRaWAN by combining long range, low power consumption, and enough bandwidth for real-time video streaming. It is a promising technology for the next generation of IoT and smart surveillance systems.