100 times faster than Wi-Fi

| Technology

100 times faster than Wi-Fi

The future of Wi-Fi may soon come to an end and shift over to the super-fast Li-Fi.

Li-Fi is an alternative technology that scientists say can reach speeds of 1 Gbps (gigabit per second) which is 100 times faster than the average Wi-Fi speeds.

This means that you would be able to download high-definition movies within a matter of seconds!

The Li-Fi technology works by transmitting data using LED lights which flicker on and off within nanoseconds making it invisible to the human eye.

The technology was created in 2011 and during tests they have managed to reach speeds of an incredible 224 Gbps.

Now they have taken it out of the lab for the first time, testing it in offices and industrial environments in Tallin, Estonia where it was able to reach 1 GB per second (100 times faster than the current average Wi-Fi speeds).

Unfortunately, unlike Wi-Fi signals Li-F can’t penetrate walls as the technology is based on lights transmitting the signals, which means the range is somewhat limited. However, this does make it a lot more secure.

Li-Fi isn’t likely to completely replace Wi-Fi for quite some time but experts say that the two could be used together to achieve more efficient and secure networks.

Li-Fi also opens up a massive range of possibilities for home appliances and in the future LED lightbulbs may serve two functions, lighting up the room and creating a network in the house to connect all devices.

Several companies have already started bringing Li-Fi to customers; however none are quite as fast as the 1 Gbps. One of the companies, PureLiFi, offers kits to early adopters to install Li-Fi networks in the office or home and claims speeds of 10Mbps with its current offering.

It may be quite some time before we will be seeing Li-Fi marketed to the masses but you can definitely expect to hear a lot more about Li-Fi in the future. 

Luke Stanley