Morse Micro Unveils MM8108‑M20: A High‑Power Wi‑Fi HaLow Chip Set to Boost Long‑Range IoT

In a move that could tip the balance for many long‑range IoT projects, Morse Micro has rolled out its newest Wi‑Fi HaLow offering – the MM8108‑M20. The module isn’t just a marginal upgrade; it pushes transmit power up to 1 W, a figure that dwarfs most existing 802.11ah solutions and opens doors to kilometre‑scale coverage without the need for costly repeaters.

“We built the MM8108‑M20 with the idea that developers shouldn’t have to choose between range and power consumption,” said Mike Ware, CEO of Morse Micro, during the launch webcast. “Our customers can now deploy sensors, actuators, or edge‑computing nodes far beyond the reach of traditional Wi‑Fi, and still keep battery life within acceptable limits.”

The new module supports the full 802.11ah standard, including the latest 2 MHz and 1 MHz channel bandwidths, and is backward‑compatible with earlier HaLow devices. It ships with an integrated RF front‑end, a high‑performance baseband processor, and a flexible MCU interface that lets designers plug it into everything from Arduino‑style boards to rugged industrial gateways.

What makes the MM8108‑M20 especially compelling is its blend of high transmit power and low‑power sleep modes. In its deepest sleep, the chip draws less than 20 µA, meaning a battery‑powered sensor can sit idle for months and still wake up to transmit data at a range that was previously only achievable with cellular or LPWAN technologies.

From a practical standpoint, the module is already certified for FCC, CE, and a handful of regional regulatory bodies, shortening the time‑to‑market for OEMs. Morse Micro also announced early‑access programs with two major chipset distributors, promising volume pricing for customers who order at least 5,000 units.

Industry analysts see this as a crucial step toward broader HaLow adoption. While LoRaWAN and NB‑IoT have dominated the low‑power, long‑range niche, they suffer from limited data rates and higher latency. Wi‑Fi HaLow, on the other hand, can deliver up to 7 Mbps, making it suitable for applications that need more bandwidth—think video‑enabled security cameras in remote farms or real‑time analytics from smart‑city streetlights.

Early adopters are already testing the chip in the field. A smart‑agriculture startup in Queensland, Australia, has integrated the MM8108‑M20 into soil‑moisture sensors spread across 12 km of vineyards. Their preliminary results show a 30 % reduction in node‑count compared to a LoRa‑based deployment, translating into lower installation costs and fewer points of failure.

Another pilot, run by a European city’s traffic‑management department, is using the module to connect low‑cost air‑quality sensors to a central dashboard. The long‑range capability eliminates the need for a dense mesh of repeaters, while the higher data rate lets the system push both raw measurements and periodic firmware updates without choking the network.

Looking ahead, Morse Micro says the MM8108‑M20 is just the first of a family of high‑power HaLow solutions. Future variants will focus on integrated security features, such as hardware‑based WPA3 support, and on tighter power‑management for ultra‑low‑energy applications.

In short, the MM8108‑M20 could be the missing piece that finally lets Wi‑Fi HaLow compete head‑to‑head with the LPWAN crowd, especially in scenarios where higher throughput and lower latency matter. If the early field trials hold up, we may see a wave of new IoT products—ranging from smart‑farming gear to city‑wide sensor grids—relying on Morse Micro’s high‑power HaLow module.