Nexcomm Systems, a Tampa, Florida manufacturer of IoT gateways and solutions, is pleased to announce the release of the ConnectPoint line of Wi-Fi HaLow bridges.
Wi-Fi HaLow is best described as “sub-GHz long-range Wi-Fi”. Released by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 2017, it takes the features that have made Wi-Fi one of the most successful wireless protocols and brings it into these lower frequency bands. This gives it much better range than Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 radios while offering much better data throughput than protocols like ZigBee, Thread and LoRa.
The ConnectPoint AP is the access point and controls the HaLow network. The ConnectPoint Station is the end point in the network. They have both Ethernet and serial RS-485 ports. Any data presented on a port on one side is passed out the port on the other side. They do not decode or decrypt the data in any way. This makes them suitable for any application or protocol using these physical transport layers, such as Modbus 485, Modbus TCP, BACnet, PROFINET, PROFIBUS and others. No programming is required.
Pairing a Station to an AP is as simple as a button press. When the button is pressed on both sides, they automatically find each other. The AP sends the network credentials to the Station and they begin normal operation.
Power is on a 3-pin female M8 connector, the 485 port is a 4-pin female M8 connector, and the Ethernet port is a waterproof RJ-45 jack. Housed in an IP66 extruded aluminum enclosure, the ConnectPoint products are ruggedized for harsh industrial and outdoor environments.
“We believe that Wi-Fi HaLow is going to be a game changer in industrial communications.” said Nexcomm Systems Director of Marketing Justin Hopper. “We are committed to bringing rugged products to the market in support of this new technology and make them as easy to implement as possible.”
Demonstrations of the ConnectPoint products are available now. Full production will be in Q3 2023. More information can be found here.