Goodbye Wi-Fi, Hello Li-Fi: New Wireless Technology Is 100 Times Faster

 

New wireless technology has been tested that is 100 times stronger than Wi-Fi.

It is called Li-Fi and it could revolutionise the way we interact online.

The technology, which transmits information using visible light communication, is being tested in offices and other workplaces in Tallinn in Estonia.

Tests in the lab have revealed that Li-Fi can be up to 100 times quicker than Wi-Fi - it uses visible light and transmits messages through binary code.

Because visible light cannot pass through walls, it is thought the system will be more secure.

But there are no plans to replace the Wi-Fi we know and love and sometimes hate just yet - researchers want to combine the two technologies together.

Li-Fi was invented in 2011 by Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh; he showed that more data could be transmitted than a cellular tower by flickering light through a singled LED.

Researchers have reported that, in recent tests, Li-Fi has achieved data transmission of 1GB per second, making it 100 times faster than Wi-Fi.

Its lab record of 224 gigabits per second mean it could download 18 movies of 1.5GB each every second.

“We are doing a few pilot projects within different industries where we can utilise the VLC (visible light communication) technology,” Deepak Solanki, chief executive of Estonian tech company, Velmenni, told the International Business Times.

“Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communications is done through light.

“We are also doing a pilot project with a private client where we are setting up a Li-fi network to access the internet in their office space.”

Other companies, including one created by Professor Haas and a French firm, are working to bring Li-Fi to the public.