An Experimental Field Comparison of Wi-Fi HaLow and LoRa for the Smart Grid

IEEE 802.11ah, or Wi-Fi HaLow, is a long-range Internet of Things (IoT) communication technology with promising performance claims. Being IP-based makes it an attractive prospect when interfacing with existing IP networks. Through real-world performance experiments, this study evaluates the network performance of Wi-Fi HaLow in terms of throughput, latency, and reliability against IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi n) and a competing IoT technology LoRa. These experiments are enabled through three proposed network evaluation architectures that facilitate remote control of the devices in a secure manner. The performance of Wi-Fi HaLow is then assessed against the network requirements of various smart grid applications. Wi-Fi HaLow offers promising performance when compared to rival technology LoRa. This study is the first to evaluate Wi-Fi HaLow in an authentic experimental way, providing performance data and insights that are not possible through simulation and modelling alone. This work provides the basis for further evaluation and implementation of this emerging technology.