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The Impact of Wi-Fi Technology on IoT

January 15, 2025

IoT devices have evolved from simple data collectors into intelligent systems, leveraging technologies like Edge AI to process data locally. This shift has enabled faster decision-making, greater autonomy, and new functionality for various sectors, such as healthcare and industrial automation.

Central to this growth is the connectivity framework underpinning IoT ecosystems. While there are various connectivity standards like cellular networks, low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN), and wireless protocols such as Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Z-Wave, Wi-Fi remains one of the most widely used, powering over 31% of global IoT connections.

Wi-Fi’s importance continues to grow with advancements like Wi-Fi 6E, which delivered faster speeds, lower latency, and greater energy efficiency to more than 473 million IoT devices shipped in 2023.

Now, with the rollout of Wi-Fi 7 in 2024, IoT applications will benefit from even higher performance, making it possible to support demanding use cases like advanced Edge AI processing and real-time automation. These innovations are setting the stage for the next wave of IoT growth.

Historical Development of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi has been instrumental in the growth of IoT technology. Early IoT solutions used Wi-Fi primarily for its ubiquity, high data rate, and ease of deployment. However, these initial implementations often faced limitations like network congestion, high power consumption, and inconsistent performance in dense device environments.

Now, Wi-Fi has undergone significant evolution, transitioning from Wi-Fi 4 and Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6, 6E, and now Wi-Fi 7. Each new generation has introduced features designed to enhance IoT performance.

Evolution of Wi-Fi Generations

Wi-Fi Generation Year Introduced Key Features
Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n)
2009
MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) for improved signal reliability and range, suitable for IoT.
Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
2014
MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO) for simultaneous connections, reducing device power consumption in IoT applications.
Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah)
2016
Operates in sub-1 GHz bands for long-range, low-power communication. Ideal for battery-operated IoT in industrial and agricultural settings.
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)
2019
OFDMA for efficient multi-device communication, minimizing power usage. Target Wake Time (TWT) for extended IoT device battery life.
Wi-Fi 6E
2020
Access to the 6 GHz spectrum, reducing interference and enhancing IoT efficiency. Retains TWT for optimized power management.
Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be)
2024
Multi-Link Operation (MLO) for seamless multi-band communication, reducing power usage. Advanced interference management for battery-powered IoT applications.

Impact on IoT Devices

Advances in Wi-Fi technology are transforming the capabilities of IoT and enabling them to operate more efficiently. Let’s explore the impact Wi-Fi has on IoT devices:

1. Solving the Latency Challenge for Real-Time Intelligence

Low latency, or the delay in data communication, is a critical factor in edge AI applications where precision and timing are essential. Wi-Fi 7 introduces deterministic latency, a feature designed to deliver minimal delays. While not the sole solution, it provides a robust framework for applications that demand reliable, real-time performance.

For example, autonomous drones inspecting power lines or bridges can greatly benefit from these advancements. As these devices roam across coverage areas, environmental factors such as obstacles and interference may affect the performance of certain frequency bands.

Wi-Fi 7’s Multi-Link Operation (MLO) enables seamless transitions between bands, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity. This allows drones to adapt dynamically to changing conditions, maintaining reliable communication even in challenging environments.

It’s important to note that real-time performance in edge AI devices also depends on the broader ecosystem, such as optimized hardware, software algorithms, and complementary connectivity protocols. Together, these elements enable the low-latency, reliable operations demanded by modern IoT applications.

2. Enhanced Network Capacity for Dense IoT Deployments

As IoT networks become denser, especially in industrial settings, handling a large number of connected devices within the same environment is a critical challenge. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 address this challenge not just through wider bandwidth channels but also through advanced technologies designed for more efficient handling of multiple devices.

While wider communication channels (160 MHz in Wi-Fi 6E and up to 320 MHz in Wi-Fi 7) help with data-heavy applications, technologies like Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) and Target Wake Time (TWT) are more directly responsible for optimizing the capacity to handle many devices.

These features allow Wi-Fi networks to support simultaneous communication between numerous devices without congestion, ensuring reliable performance even in environments with high device density.

For example, in a smart city, where traffic sensors, Wi-Fi hotspots, and connected surveillance cameras operate side by side, Wi-Fi’s ability to efficiently manage this large number of devices allows for uninterrupted data flow, even during peak usage.

Similarly, industrial IoT networks, such as those in factories with autonomous robots and predictive maintenance sensors, can rely on Wi-Fi to enable real-time data sharing without compromising performance.

This shift towards greater efficiency, coupled with advancements in multi-user support and seamless coordination across devices, ensures that Wi-Fi is an ideal choice for high-density IoT deployments, particularly in urban environments.

3. Power Efficiency

Power efficiency is a critical challenge for IoT devices, especially those deployed in resource-constrained environments where battery replacement or frequent maintenance is impractical. Modern Wi-Fi advancements address this issue by introducing innovative strategies and chipsets tailored for ultra-low power consumption.

An example is Silicon Labs’ new SiWx917 ultra-low-power WiFi 6 IoT chipset, which delivers significant improvements in energy efficiency, enabling battery life of up to two years in specific IoT applications.

This chipset integrates Target Wake Time (TWT), a feature that schedules communication intervals for devices, minimizing energy use during idle periods.

By reducing unnecessary network activity, TWT optimizes the power consumption of IoT devices like environmental sensors and wearable health monitors. The SiWx917 also includes advanced features such as a Cortex-M4 processor for on-device processing, reducing reliance on external compute resources and saving additional power.

Synergy Between Wi-Fi and Other IoT Connectivity Protocols

The IoT ecosystem thrives on connectivity diversity, with each protocol carving its niche to meet the unique demands of different applications. While Wi-Fi has earned its reputation as a backbone for high-bandwidth, low-latency environments, it does not operate in isolation.

Instead, it functions as part of a multi-technology ecosystem, complementing other protocols like Zigbee, Bluetooth, cellular networks, and LPWAN to address diverse IoT challenges.

Wi-Fi and Cellular: Powering Mobile and Large-Scale IoT

Cellular technologies like LTE-M and 5G offer unmatched wide-area coverage, mobility, and the ability to keep IoT devices “on the grid.” They are essential for applications such as connected vehicles, remote asset tracking, and large-scale smart city deployments. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, excels at localized high-speed data transfer, making it an effective complement to cellular networks.

In hybrid scenarios, devices use cellular connectivity for persistent tracking and visibility, switching to Wi-Fi when available to handle large amounts of data efficiently.

Applications include:

Wi-Fi and Zigbee: Collaboration in Smart Homes

Wi-Fi IoT collaborations in smart homes

Hybrid smart home systems use Zigbee for efficient local communication and Wi-Fi for seamless internet access, ensuring robust functionality with balanced power efficiency and speed.

Zigbee, a low-power, mesh networking protocol, is a popular choice for applications requiring long battery life and reliable operation across multiple nodes, such as smart lighting and home automation systems. Wi-Fi, on the other hand, delivers the bandwidth needed for streaming video feeds from security cameras or managing cloud-connected devices.

In smart home ecosystems, hybrid solutions often leverage the strengths of both technologies. For example, a Zigbee-enabled smart thermostat might communicate locally with sensors and switches while also using Wi-Fi for remote access via a smartphone app.

Some devices act as bridges, seamlessly speaking both Zigbee and Wi-Fi to connect low-power local networks with the broader internet. This synergy balances power efficiency and high-speed data transfer, ensuring robust functionality without compromising battery life.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: For Proximity-Based Applications

Bluetooth is synonymous with short-range, low-power communication, making it ideal for wearable devices, beacons, and proximity-based IoT use cases. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons have been used in retail to guide customers with personalized offers based on their location within a store. 

However, while initially touted as transformative, their adoption has been uneven. Challenges like privacy concerns, the need for dedicated apps, and competition from technologies such as Wi-Fi have limited their widespread impact. 

Even so, they remain valuable in niche retail applications, such as inventory management and targeted engagement in loyalty programs. Wi-Fi complements Bluetooth in such scenarios by supporting analytics platforms and transmitting aggregated data to centralized servers.

Wi-Fi and LPWAN: For Long-Range, Low-Power Needs

Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWAN) protocols like LoRaWAN and NB-IoT excel in applications requiring long-range communication and low power consumption, such as environmental monitoring, asset tracking, and smart agriculture. These protocols are ideal for deploying IoT devices in remote areas where power sources are scarce and cellular connectivity may be unreliable. Wi-Fi integrates with LPWAN systems by acting as a gateway between localized IoT deployments and cloud platforms. 

A hybrid Wi-Fi and LPWAN (LoRaWAN) system used in smart farming applications

LoRaWAN-enabled soil sensors gather data on parameters like moisture and temperature across the field. These sensors transmit their data using low-power, long-range LoRaWAN connectivity to a central Wi-Fi gateway, strategically placed within range.

The Wi-Fi gateway processes and forwards the data to a cloud-based analytics platform via a Wi-Fi connection. This hybrid approach leverages LoRaWAN for energy efficiency and extended battery life in field sensors, while Wi-Fi ensures high-speed, reliable transmission of aggregated data for real-time decision-making and insights.

Making IoT Work with embedUR

Wi-Fi has come a long way, evolving from a simple connectivity solution to a critical enabler of modern IoT ecosystems.

With the introduction of Wi-Fi 7, network congestion, latency, and energy efficiency issues are finally being addressed, creating new opportunities for smarter, faster, and more reliable IoT applications. However, technology alone is not enough. Success in IoT depends on making all the pieces work together seamlessly.

That’s where embedUR comes in. For over 20 years, we’ve been driving innovation in IoT connectivity, building the firmware and protocols that power some of the most advanced devices in the industry.

We understand that IoT is not just about getting devices to connect—it’s about making them perform reliably in real-world conditions. Our team specializes in tackling the tough challenges of wireless connectivity, helping companies like yours bring innovative, scalable IoT products to market.

If you’re ready to move beyond off-the-shelf solutions and need a partner who knows how to make IoT work, let’s talk. embedUR can help turn your vision into reality, ensuring your products are not just ready for today’s challenges but built to lead tomorrow’s market. Did you like this post? Then you’ll love reading about all the non-data transmission uses of Wi-Fi.