What is LiFi Internet
Herald Haas, a University of Edinburgh professor, coined the term LiFi. During a TED Talk in 2011, he basically visualized light bulbs acting as wireless routers.
LiFi or Light Fidelity is a Visible Light Communications system. It runs in a bi-directional wireless communication technology, which is similar to WiFi and travels at very high speed. LiFi is not similar to Wi-Fi in terms of speed. In fact, when it was tested, LiFi had speeds of up to 100 times faster. That makes it far more fit to the needs of the future of information. With LiFi, what serves as your router is your light bulb. It works by using visible light from LED bulbs with a built-in special chip. This is because it makes use of the common LED light bulbs to allow the transfer of data. The speed of data transfer using LiFi can be as fast as 224 gigabits per second. As compared to LiFi, WiFi uses radio waves in transmitting data.
LiFi can be a revolutionary technological innovation for the reason that it can deliver data speeds much higher than any we are getting at present. In addition to that, LiFi, through some testing, has been proven to be safer and more reliable than the usual wireless technologies.
The major false impression regarding LiFi is that if there is no visible light that means there is no signal, as well. Clearly, if there is no power to a LED light bulb, then there would be no LiFi, too. But then again, LiFi technology can still run and transmit data at dim lights that are low enough for a room to appear dark. In fact, there is a steady performance from 10 to 90 percent light brightness.
How does LiFi Work
What makes LiFi and Wi-Fi quite the same is that they both electromagnetically transfer data. However, as mentioned earlier, LiFi uses visible light waves, whereas WiFi runs on radio waves.
To be more specific, LiFi contains a photo-detector to be able to receive light signals. Then a signal processing component converts the data into something that can be streamed. A semiconductor light source is an LED bulb. So that means that the continuous current of electricity that is received by an LED light can be dimmed up and down at very high speeds invisible to the naked human eye. The receiver converts the dimming of LED light bulbs into electrical signals. And then, the signal is transformed back into a binary data stream, such as audio, video, and web applications that operate on Internet-enabled gadgets.
Which is Better – LiFi or WiFi
With its data transfer speeds of 224 gigabits per second, some people believe that LiFi is better than WiFi. What they are not aware of is that LiFi fully uses visible light, which could also be one of its downsides. Wifi can also travel more distance than lifi which is why Tizeti opted for WiFi services in Nigeria and some other African nations.
This is because LiFi signals will not be able to go through walls. That means for full connectivity, LED lights will have to be set all over the house. In addition to that, LiFi needs all the LED bulbs to be turned on all the time in order to make connectivity available. So whether it’s daytime or nighttime, lights have to be turned on. Another thing is that in places where there aren’t enough light bulbs, there also would be no LiFi connection. So when choosing between WiFi and LiFi, speed must not only be the deciding factor.
With that being said, when waiting for LiFi to be more applicable, you can still enjoy high-speed Internet with WiFi. But in order to ensure that you will get the best connection, you need to do some research before committing to an Internet provider. Head to DailyWireless to check the ultimate reviews about CenturyLink – a reliable ISP that offers high-speed Internet plans.
