We’re living in a time when technologies are proliferating in every sector and smart inventions are at an all-time high. The demand for wireless networks that can meet the never-ending need for data communication is growing exponentially. With the emergence of new advancements such as the Internet of Things and 5G, the world needs a more convenient and faster way of communicating data, one that is away from the Radio Frequency Spectrum. Let’s talk about WiFi vs LiFi:

WiFi

The youngest of the crowd today know that we access the internet via WiFi, more so, it even serves as a tactical marketing approach to attract customers across industries — broadly retail, hospitality, and the F&B domains. WiFi might as well be deemed critical to routines of large markets and household lifestyles around the world.

Here’s the problem — the number of internet users in the world is growing too fast too soon.

Today, Wifi carries over 60% of the world’s internet traffic.

Since Wifi uses Radio Frequency as a medium to commute data, it already interferes with electronic appliances and regular installations that slow down the transfer. But with such great load of data and growing users, the eventual outcome is congestion and choking of bandwidth in the available RF spectrum.

Needless to say, the number of internet users also goes up by the second. The way we access the internet is on the cusp of changing forever.

LiFi

The world is being introduced to an entirely new technology; a confluence between two of man’s greatest inventions in recent centuries — Light and the Internet.

The future of wireless communication — LiFi, stands for light fidelity. It’s an emerging technology that enables faster data transfer with the help of visible light. And since it is independent of congested radio frequencies and interference from electromagnetic waves, it is capable of chasing 10 times the speed of current day data communication, through illumination. Interesting, isn’t it?

Also read: Busting Common Myths about LiFi

The simplicity of how LiFi works and how easy it is to retrofit light sources around the globe is what makes LiFi the ultimate alternative to WiFi. And since it transmits data via 1000 times more unlicensed and free spectrum of light, LiFi becomes complementary to all existing, coming-to-be and future technologies and inventions. Hence, resolving the crucial conundrum we face with WiFi in the present day — availability of bandwidth and potential of speed.

Why you should look forward to LiFi?

LiFi comes across as the optimum solution when it comes to data’s security. Since light cannot trespass the physical environment, LiFi enables a secure data passage keeping the privacy intact.

LiFi technology is environment-friendly and cost-effective. It requires visible light to transmit data and needs fewer components as compared to radio technology. Thus, LiFi is cheaper than WiFi and surely has the potential to take over the wireless communication market in near future.

What’s more fascinating is the magnitude of its application.

For starters, LiFi can help reintroduce indoor and outdoor light sources as the base for numerous IoT applications across enterprise/industrial environments and smart cities. The technology will also liberate hospitals, heavy industries, and educational institutions through safer and secure connectivity with no electromagnetic interferences whatsoever.

Apart from these domains, LiFi can be leveraged to power in-flight entertainment systems through Wireless Communication by simply using the wall/reading lamps. I think it’s safe to say that this technology’s areas of application are interminable.

This was nothing more than just a datum from the mega pool of discoveries and related inventions that are coming to be in the world of optical wireless communication. LiFi is one such discovery.