Wi-Fi alternative Li-Fi proves to be 100 times faster

And interestingly enough, Li-Fi would actually lead to greater security without all of the interference of existing Wi-Fi solutions, as light (and hence data transferred) wouldn’t be able to penetrate walls. It is also piloting a Li-Fi network to access the Internet in a client’s office.

“We transferred serial data synchronously from a PC/Laptop screen to a micro-controller board using visible light”, the researchers wrote on their website. Outside of the lab, scientists reported speeds of 1 GB per second, which is a lot less than in the lab, but still represents speeds that are 100 times speedier than the average Wi-Fi delivery. It is called Li-Fi – a faster, low cost, and environment-friendly internet system.

According to IBTimes, Estonian startup Velmenni, which has developed smart LED bulbs that can implement Li-Fi tech, is testing the tech in offices and industrial settings.

While Cuthbertson says Li-Fi will probably not completely replace Wi-Fi in the coming decades, the two technologies could be used together to achieve more efficient and secure networks.

Li-Fi, a super-fast, light-based alternative to Wi-Fi, has been developing in research labs for years, but has thus far been considered theoretical.

To put that in context, a speed of 224 Gbps would allow users to download eighteen 1.5GB movies in a single second.

Li-Fi as a medium uses visible light between 400 and 800 terahertz to transmit data, working basically like an advanced form of Morse code. For now, the plan is to retrofit the devices we already have so they work with Li-Fi as well, and the two technologies can work in tandem in order to provide faster, more secure, and fully accessible internet. The inventor of Li-Fi, Professor Harald Haas, is optimistic about the technology’s future. Getting rid of Wi-Fi and installing Li-Fi technology would be too expensive so scientists are now working on ways to make devices work with Li-Fi, possibly combining Wi-Fi and Li-Fi down the line for a more secure wireless technology.

For the time being Haas and his team have launched a company aptly named PureLiFi to get the technology up and running.

If applications like these and the Velmenni trial in Estonia prove successful, we could achieve the dream outlined by Haas in his 2011 TED talk below – everyone gaining access to the Internet via LED light bulbs in their home.

“In the future we will not only have 14 billion light bulbs”, explained Haas “We may have 14 billion Li-Fis deployed worldwide for a cleaner, greener and even brighter future”.