What is the next big thing after WiFi

Are you wondering what is the next big thing after WiFi? Well, it is Li-Fi.

Li-Fi is the common name for the technology created by physicist Harald Hass. The basic operation of this technology is the transmission of data at frequencies between 400 and 800 THz through the use of ordinary LED lamps.

Li-Fi is a technology that allows sending digital information invisible to the eye through LEDs. The latest estimates regarding the speed of data transmission ensure that it will be up to ten thousand times faster than that allowed by the radio waves used today in wireless networks.

Among the main strengths of Li-Fi technology, the fact that its implementation at all levels would be very simple stands out, since the LED is present in all areas of everyday life. Thus, any lighting source in offices and homes could itself be a Li-Fi router.

One of the most prominent practical uses of Li-Fi technology is transmitting data while lighting a room. Thanks to the fact that the information arrives through the beam of light from the LEDs, it is easier to control who the data reach. Thanks to this, short-range networks are presented as a safer alternative.

Also, thanks to Li-Fi technology we could, for example, send mobile data to television or copy it to a network hard drive simply by pointing the phone at the TV or hard drive for a few seconds.

Another example of the use of Li-Fi technology is that its use in conjunction with LEDs could allow highways in the not too distant future to have rows of LEDs that fulfill various functions: illuminate the road, show traffic updates, or transmit information.

The main advantages that Li-Fi technology provides over Wi-Fi are:

– It can be up to almost 5 times faster than the optical fiber used by Wi-Fi.

– It does not need cables and from the energy point of view, it is also more efficient.

– Electric light does not cause interference with other systems.

– Does not saturate the frequency bands used to transmit information via Wi-Fi

Li-Fi technology also has a number of limitations such as it does not work in direct sunlight, it cannot pass through walls and its transmission range is short. It is also necessary that the light is on and it would only work with those devices that had receivers capable of decoding the light signal.

From our point of view, Li-Fi technology is presented as a clear future alternative to current 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi connections, which have the main problem that they easily become saturated in places where there are large crowds of people. It is in this panorama where optical communications acquire special relevance as transmission technologies that, unlike those based on fiber, use air as a medium.

The main future challenge presented by Li-Fi technology is the integration of receivers in different devices such as Smartphones, Tablets, laptops, etc.