Li-Fi or an alternative to the traditional Wi-Fi that uses LED lightbulbs could soon be the future of wireless Internet, which would be faster and cheaper.
UK scientists have revealed that Li-Fi transmits data using the spectrum of visible light, with potential transmission speeds of 10Gbit/s, more than 250 times faster than 'superfast' broadband.
According to the Independent, experts in Germany and China have also claimed to have achieved speed of 3Gbit/s, and produced a 150Mbp/s connection with the use of Li-Fi.
Wi-Fi utilizes radio waves, while Li-Fi uses visible light and there is a distinct advantage that the visible light is far more plentiful than the radio spectrum and can achieve far greater data density.
The Li-Fi signals work by switching bulbs on and off incredibly quickly, not noticeable with human eyes and the recent tests build upon this by using tiny micro-LED bulbs to stream several lines of data in parallel.
However, there is one drawback that the data receiver would have to be in sight of the transmitter-bulb as visible light does not penetrate solid materials.
The makers of Li-Fi pointed that this quality makes Li-Fi more secure than Wi-Fi with hackers unable to access unsecured internet connections from out of sight of the transmitter, the report added.
