Li-Fi As Fast As Possible

We've gotten used to the idea of light carrying data through fiber optic lines, but could we soon see it transmit wireless network signals, too?

[smithatkinson]

what if we want to use Internet in the dark??

[setoman]

Less susceptible to interference, *puts hand over phone* Right...

[waterlubber]

Wi-Fi is just light.

With a long wavelength.

[EposVox]

But... there's so many restrictions - you'd need transmitters out in open view of receivers, and if it can't penetrate walls, you need them in each room... etc.
And being X amount "faster than Google Fiber" doesn't mean much for average consumers who aren't even generally lucky enough to HAVE Google Fiber, nevertheless faster internet.

Could be VERY useful in certain internal networking scenarios, but that's about it.

I want them to work to cheapen up 10gb local networking.

[KadeGruszka]

Linus your jokes needed to be deployed against Isis because they kill

[Hami]

the biggest problem I see with this is how do you upload data. the one demo they showed was a video steam being transmitted to a laptop which only required a downlink. It wouldn't be so practical if you had to go around with a light bulb attached to your phone.

[LazerLord]

Ummmm... Wouldn't the higher data capacity be due to the speed of LED's and the wavelength of light, and not the condensing light thing you mentioned? It may work that way, but I doubt it.

Also, how would this be different than just re-transmitting what's on a fiber line? It doesn't seem like it will ever become mainstream in the way that it is currently being described.

[maniesh]

For a moment I thought it stood for Linus fidelity

[iAppleJailbreaker]

It is fast. So is Google fiber. But who's ready to pay too much for 1gb/sec

[GeertDelmulle]

In the category of “technologies that didn’t come to fruition”, we present: LiFi.

[drabberfrog]

Where is Li-Fi 6 years later? I've never heard anything else about it since.

[spikegorman]

Linus-Fi: Linus just runs from google’s servers to you computer with flash drives.

[atariman]

There is a very good reason that we utilize radio frequencies as opposed to the visual spectrum. The wavelengths of radio frequencies allow the passage through materials, whereas visible light is of a higher frequency, and therefore cannot pass through material. Furthermore, radio waves travel at the speed of light, and although data cannot be compressed as effectively due to the long wavelength, radio waves are more useful due to the fact that you do not have to have a direct line of sight. Furthermore, higher frequencies, i.e. infrared and visible light, are only advantageous for long-distance transmissions in which data compression is necessary as well as when there are no obstructions to the light. This is what we use to transmit some satellite data as well as that of future deep-space missions. The notion that visible-spectrum light is practical for widespread networking is absurd. Also, the technology Li-Fi demonstrates already exists in form of fiber optic cables, which have already seen widespread use. Fiber optics allows for data transmission more efficient than radio as well as traditional copper cables due to it's speed and frequency. However, one might consider using a frequency higher than radio to transmit data. Unfortunately we are already utilizing the upper frequencies of radio for WiFi, and the infrared frequency, which we use for remote controls, does not pass through materials. Radio is the only scientifically feasible wireless networking medium, and we have reached its upper limit. Most current generation routers already transmit on the 5GHz band, which increases bit rate, but decreases range and transmission clarity. Get real Linus.

On a side note, why stop at visible light? If I want to be able to stream content with a resolution of 64K, I could just invent GW-Fi, otherwise known as Gamma Wave Fidelity. I might have some problems with the FCC, though.

[warrensherwen]

The point is being missed completely why Li-Fi is being developed. Its main goal is for components and motherboards to hopefully offer speeds faster than the current wired and pcb setups

[mohammedal-alaw]

Dear LINUS this topic was ages before invented but it was open laser communication and I have also mentioned this in my lecture I gave in 2001 where both the sender and receiver would be placed on the roof tops and clear path communications is a must!

[suraj]

This tecnology is good but probably feasable only in Industrial application, as devices would probably need direct, stable line of sight which could be very difficult to achieve on mobile devices.

[rapidfire]

ITS JUST A PRANK BRO
CAMERA OVER THERE

[davidliddelow]

Infra red communication was fairly common in small cheap devices 10-20 years ago and I remember it wasn't particularly fast or reliable. The two devices also had to be stationary while transmitting or the connection would fail.

Also to use the internet you need to be both sending and receiving data which means your laptop will need its own li-fi transmitter to get the full speed and security benefits. (I don't really want a bright LED next to my laptop screen)

[RichardsWorld]

Seems so much different from infrared that has been used in remote controls for decades.

[thevizma]

He's actually got a good idea because having li-fi coming out of your lights it will solve the problem that the information can not travel through walls, so each of your lights will be and individual data sending point