Li-Fi: The New Wi-Fi
- RD
- May 18, 2020
- 2 min read
The concept of Li-Fi is less than a decade old, but it is a new concept and a rather revolutionary one if applied to be an everyday medium for us to utilize the internet. But what is Li-Fi? Let’s explore this.
What is Li-Fi?
So the only thing required to do to connect to the internet is by simply switching on a light and having your respective device get exposed to the light.
Wi-Fi is wireless fidelity... in case you wanted to know ;-) .
The Advantages.
It can be really fast, by fast meaning 10-20 movies-downloading-a-second fast. According to Oxford researchers, they have reached speeds of up to 224 Gbps in the lab.
Just hearing this statistic makes us wonder how a lot of things will change, the ability to stream uninterrupted 4k gaming on the online gaming platforms like Google Stadia, clear quality video conferencing & instant transfer of data (which also exists currently in 2020, but will be able to transfer more bigger files much quickly).
"It can be really fast, by fast meaning 10-20 movies-downloading-a-second fast ,".
Li-Fi also provides a sense of more privacy, this is because when you use wi-fi, especially in a public area, the connection passes around many other devices in the way, making your device accessible by another device.
This is eliminated since the router is literally your bulb and does not pass other devices to meet your device. Also more data can be transmitted via a light beam in a shorter span of time compared to radio waves, in fact Light can go up to 790 THz (Terahertz) compared to the 300 GHz (Gigahertz).
The Disadvantages.
A constant light beam is required to power the internet, so if you are using it during a secret mission where the lights are off in the server room and you want to access the wireless network in the server room or when you are checking your social media at night (I’m sure most of you do the latter rather than the former) you won’t be able to connect to the internet without the light beam.
And also especially power-cuts, there is obviously no light for you to access the internet.
However, if some wireless infrastructure is present with Li-Fi, it could be of some backup for the internet, so users are constantly connected.
A company called Trulifi might have a solution for the light issue check the link here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALaS2xgeMes.The Conclusion.
I myself found very little cons as a result of using Li-Fi, and surely the advantages over-weigh the disadvantages, but as I mentioned earlier, if wireless systems co-exist with Li-Fi, it could allow for uninterrupted connectivity to the internet.
Here are some useful reference links if you want to read more on this exciting topic!
Do share this featured article if you find this interesting, new knowledge should be spread right!
As always, we'll be making more articles to Feed Your Curiosity!
Comments