Look out world ... here comes Li-fi! (100 times faster than wifi)

[Lynx-lynx]

Mate, am I'm looking forward to li-fi!

Internet 100 times faster than wi-fi may soon be available with revolutionary wireless technology — from a lamp.

Li-fi has been demonstrated by French start-up Oledcomm at the world's biggest mobile fair, Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona.

As soon as a smartphone was placed under an office lamp, it started playing a video.

Key points:

• LED bulbs fitted with microchip become hotspot with theoretical speeds over 200 gbps
• Apple may make iPhone 7 li-fi-compatible
• Device must be directly in light, cannot connect through walls but could be ideal in schools and hospitals

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-2...ion=technology

[Lynx-lynx]

Apparently in order to access li-fi one needs to be aware that: '.... li-fi also requires devices be equipped with additional technology such as a card reader, or dongle, to function. This gives it a "cost disadvantage'.

I'm sure that will only be a disadvantage until some bright sparks find another way to access li-fi!

[murg]

Sorry to cast a shadow over this enlightening dawn of a new technology, but it faces many hurdles.

Other than the technical ones, it has to reach some level of market penetration before it takes off. So we're in the classic chicken and egg period: devices need sensors and there has to be broadcast infrastructure. And in the cut-throat mobile device market, non one adds features just for the hell of it (except for maybe on the highest end of the market).

The biggest hurdle is that while it may claim to not need line-of-sight, in reality it does. Yes, signals may bounce off walls, but this severely restricts the bandwidth. While line-of-sight is necessary, you have to have your device visible to the LiFi source, and the emitter on your device must be visible to the LiFi source. So something as simple as having your phone upsidedown might break the technology. Or in your pocket or purse.

Line of sight, and this technology really does require line of sight for bidirectionality, is the major problem with it.

Another factor will be interference. The light bulbs will have to be slightly out of tune with each other, or they will interfere with each other.

Yes, there will be applications that this works for, but I don't think that it will hit general release. After all, from the point of view of the people who will pay for the infrastructure, there isn't that much need for the additional bandwidth, WiFi delivers all the bandwidth they need to deliver their data.

[wodin]

I believe I'll wait and see, do I need one or more of these Li-Fi light bulbs in every room? Will each light bulb have it's own SSID? Does my device have to be directly under the light bulb, or will it work across the room? What about someone standing outside the window, can they access my network? How about my home automation smart light bulbs?

Lotsa questions unanswered.

[Lynx-lynx]

So, can we see the day (soonish) when we'll be able to carry a small battery (or solar) generated light source in order for our device to access data?

I know nothin' about nothin' but why shouldn't that be possible .....

[fjtorres]

Actually, indoor bandwidth isn't the biggest bottleneck: it is the last mile.

Before the magical, miraculous LiFi can do you any good you need fiber to the curb, at least, and an ISP that doesn't meter, throttle, or charge an arm, leg, and firstborn for triple digit bandwidth speeds.

[murg]

Another factor is deliberate interference.

Radio transmission devices are heavily regulated, so having a WiFi jammer is illegal in many countries.

Light transmission devices are completely unregulated, so anyone can set up LiFi jamming devices. Or spoofing devices. Or...

[murg]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Actually, indoor bandwidth isn't the biggest bottleneck: it is the last mile.

Before the magical, miraculous LiFi can do you any good you need fiber to the curb, at least, and an ISP that doesn't meter, throttle, or charge an arm, leg, and firstborn for triple digit bandwidth speeds.

The other bottleneck is the server. You don't need blindingly fast speeds if the servers still take half a minute to load a page.

[Lynx-lynx]

I reckon all the associated bits and pieces required to support running li-fi, like ISP access and cost etc, will 'catch up' with the technolgy evolution caused by li-fi.

[HarryT]

This has been around for quite a while. I remember reading an article on it about a year ago.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

This has been around for quite a while. I remember reading an article on it about a year ago.

Yup. There's some nice demo videos on youtube.
But they are demos. In controlled environments.
It's neat tech but it doesn't exist in a vacuum.

[DuckieTigger]

What do you do at night when the lights are out and you need to check email?

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

What do you do at night when the lights are out and you need to check email?

Mmmmm ..... What about a torch?

[frahse]

So we will soon have the ability to download a full movie to a phone in a few seconds rather than a few minutes with the 5G networks, and now "Li-Fi."

Aren't we already overwhelmed with the influx of data?
To put it in a more literately, aren't we already drowning in data?

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Mmmmm ..... What about a torch?

Oh like a booklight? Have not needed one in years. And having self illuminated books I cannot possibly imagine going back in having to use a seperate booklight. Unless that torch is wired how is it supposed to get the data? Maybe over wifi, but wait, might as well use wifi to get it into my electronic device to begin with.

And like fjtorres correctly said, the problem is not the wifi, but getting internet into my house fast enough.