Ultrafast internet access using LED light could gain ground in 2016

AFP Relax

22 December 2015

• ricky l3 seconds ago

  Li-Fi though have many advantages over Wi-Fi - namely higher bandwidth and less health hazardous as it is not using radiowaves and not emitting EMC - it require line-of-sight.

  
  

  Wi-Fi have the advantages of bouncing signals through radio waves and penetrating doors, windows and even walls - which will be useful in accessing the network by users within a house or an office (of course it is subject to risk of man-in-the-middle attack via the air.)

• ricky l3 seconds ago

  With line-of-sight requirement, if someone walk past or use some objects to block the light, the signal will be cut off.

  
  

  Wi-Fi don't have this limitation.

  
  

  Li-Fi is quite similar to FSO (Free-Space Optics) except it is using LED light.

ricky l3 seconds ago

But Li-Fi will need end-to-end encryption - because as light is transmit via the air - the data carried by the light source is in clear text - and the light source can be intercepted.

Eg. of end-to-end encryption is site-to-site IPsec VPN.