Introduction
The term wifi is not entirely new in this era. At least we have heard of it and we may have already known that it is the transmission of data and/or signals using radio waves (hence the name "wireless"). But there has arisen another alternative for the transmission of data using the visible light spectrum; and that is the LiFi. In this survey, we will be looking at the comparison between the wifi and LiFi, and of course their strengths and weakness.
[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 Licensed]
For a clearer understanding, I will lead us briefly through the concept of both of them, starting with the wifi; as this is the one we are majorly familiar with.
Concept of WiFi
If you've ever been in some public places like; schools, train stations, even airports, you would agree with me that you can connect to the internet just by switching on your wifi in your device and tapping into the hotspot. But have you ever wondered the tech behind this? That's what we will discuss here.
Wifi (Wireless Fidelity) is also called the "802.11 network" (you will find out soon why it is called that). As it were, wifi is majorly a local area network (LAN), which allows the distribution of data within a small geographical area. But there are exceptions in which repeaters are added intermittently to extend the range of coverage, and also to checkmate attenuation or loss of signals; but I won't bore us with so much technicalities in this post. In wifi, the transmission is void of physical cabling, like; the Copper Twisted Pair, Coaxial cable, and Fibre optic cables. This transmission medium is the radio wave.
[Image of people logged on to wifi. Source: Wikipedia. Author: Shaunleeyh. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]
How does Wifi work?
Now you would be wondering, "how da heck can you send something over radio wave?". Okay let me try to explain it like this: Have you used, or have seen someone use the walkie-talkie? If you have, then you have already known part of what I'm about to say. These devices send and accept radio waves. But here's how they do it: Remember that the information/data generated by these devices are in form of binary codes (zeros and ones), but before sending the data, these devices translate these binary codes to radio waves, but on reception, they convert it back to the machine-understandable code (binary code).
The same principle applies to wifi, but in a rather different format, which distinguishes the radio frequency of wifi from the radio frequency used in the traditional walkie-talkie I sighted as an example. Here's the difference: The transmission frequency of wifi ranges between 2.4-5.0 GHZ, with the speed range of 11mb/s for the lower limit to 54mb/s for the upper limit.
This frequency supersedes that which is obtainable when using your walkie-talkie. And at this frequency, more data can be transmitted (which includes video data, voice data, and textual data). These frequencies are being standardized using the 802.11 (which is a form of media access control; MAC standardization by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; IEEE). This standardization also works in the physical layer of the network. That's how the name "802.11 network" came to be. Like I said before, I won't bore you much with codes and terms; so even the uninitiated can flow along with this survey.
Like I mentioned earlier; the lowest limit of wifi transmission is 11mb/s, and this is for the 802.11a. But as it were, a newer advancement in this have seen the transmission of over 450mb/s; that is the 802.11c (which is also the 5G wifi).
Okay! Now to be able to transmit the wifi signals, there must be an installed wifi hotspot for the signals to be generated. Then on the part of the receiving device, it must be equipped with a wireless adapter to be able to access the signals being sent. Also not forgetting the use of wireless modems for network reception.
[Image of Wireless Adapter for PC. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: CyberXRef. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]
Okay, you've seen a brief concept of the wifi, but it is worthy to note that the maximum effective data transfer rate of the wifi without much attenuation is 450mb/s (5G wifi); but there is another option that can go way beyond that. This leads me to my next sub-section; the LiFi.
Concept of the LiFi
LiFi (Light Fidelity) is a data transmission medium, but unlike the wifi that uses radio waves, this particular medium uses the visible light. No doubt, there are some places that you can stay and it would be almost impossible to run the wifi; maybe because of electromagnetic interference (example: In nuclear plants, and aeroplanes), then the feasible option would be the LiFi.
Talking of the rate of data transmission; we all know that the spectrum of the visible light is many thousand times bigger than the spectrum of the radio wave. That is why the upper limit (of the transmission rate) of a LiFi can go as high as 224Gbit per second; now that's super fast. Newer tech of LiFi, however, can make use of the infrared and the ultraviolent rays.
[Image of lifi. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Ahmadamro. CC BY-SA 4.0 licensed]
Here's how LiFi works
The LiFi works with the Visible Light Communication (VLC) technology. In other words, it is incorporated with a photo-transmitter (in form of an LED bulb), which streams the data and also provides an access point. That means, the data will be fed into the transmitting LED bulb as shown in the image I used above.
And for you to be receptive of the signals, your device must be equiped with a LiFi photo-receiver, and would also be in the area of coverage. But unlike the wifi that has a wider coverage; LiFi is majorly line-of-sight. But the good news is, you can have as many access points (LED photo-transmitter) as you can possibly set up.
Just like the principle of the wifi, the LiFi generates data in form of machine language (zeros and ones), but it converts them to streams of data which can be sent over the LiFi access point. Then on reception, the photo-reciever translates them back to binary codes for easier recognition by the web.
Comparison between Wireless Fidelity and Light Fidelity (pros & cons)
- Data Speed: The rate of data transmission in LiFi is higher than that of wifi. This is because the spectrum of the visible light is stronger than that of the radio wave.
- Area of coverage: Wifi has a bigger bandwidth in comparison to the LiFi, and can cover as much as 30meters. LiFi works better in the line-of-sight of the light spectrum.
- Privacy: LiFi is not known to circumvent obstacles like thick walls, so LiFi offers a better privacy option than the wifi which can be hacked into. Also, classified files can comfortably be sent via the LiFi.
Conclusion
The technology of non-wired data transmission has been seen to advance much lately. This started from the wifi which is the transmission of data through the medium of radio waves, then LiFi came on the scene; thus utilizing the visible light to achieve the same purpose. Maybe in the future, we would see other cool forms of data transmission, but until then, let's just flow along with emerging technologies.
Thanks for reading
References for further reading: Ref1, Ref2, Ref3, Ref4, Ref5
All images are CC licensed and are linked to their sources
gif by @foundation
I have never had the chance to use any life network (for the simple reason I don't have any machine equipped with this technology). I am however very curious about it, due to its performance.
Maybe one day, who knows? :D
Yeah, LiFi technology is not yet as popular as wifi, but all that could change. I'm looking forward to when our mobile phones would be equipped with LiFi photo-receiver, as well as wifi, so we can have options of choosing which one to use. But again, we still need to install multiple LiFi access points for this to work well.
Thanks a lot sir for coming around
Could work within habitations. With at the end of the day, one access to the landline through optical fibers. No?
I very well agree with you :)
LIFI literally blows WIFI outta the water! I did make a post about it a long time ago. it was my first STEM post. ;-)
I love this qualifier:
I very well agree with you, literally :P
Lol, Sam.
With that comparison we can say lifi is better for home and offices, and is more secure also. Wifi more suitable for open spaces or outdoors where everybody wants to be connected. Applications like ads can be implemented in this way.
But what about PLC (power line carriers)?
Isn't a new tech either but you don't hear about. Why people do not know that tech?
Of course you need to be on line with a source of energy but have some advantages right.
What do tou think?
As cost-effective as power line communication is, it is not majorly used in communication tech (I mean, transmitting electrical power and data on a single line sounds like an idea), but the thing is, the frequency of the data transmitted are generally below 600KHz.
Ok, but what it does mean?
The 600khz isn't adequate? Noise? Interference? Rates?
Has been used for long distance transmission? Have you ever hear about ...
Well as surprising as it may look, I'm just hearing abt LiFi...Mehn, steemit has been my breakout platform in terms of learning..Thanks to wonderful authors like you..
Well, for the wide coverage of WFi, it still beats LiFi...Many wouldn't wanna be confined in a place to use LiFi..Esp when we are stealing it (lol)
Nice one sire
Well, I guess we learn everyday man. Glad you found it educative.
Lol. Sounds like you're tapping wifi mannn :)
Yeah, everyday
I'm tappingg nothing. Just 'connecting'
It's always intriguing with the way technology is improving day by day. Nice piece
Exactly bro. Tech can only get better
I've heard of LiFi before. Didn't know about its speed. Incredible!
Having it working in IR range is certainly a plus, tho I don't think they will purposefully change LEDs only for that, especially if there is no impact in operating in the visible light spectrum, like flickering and based on the speed of transmission there certainly ain't.
Sure it is incredible. But in my honest opinion, I think it's better suited for the visible light than the IR.
Thanks for dropping by
Interesting read. I learnt something new Lifi. I never knew the FI in WIFI meant fidelity.wow
Lol. Yeah we learn everyday :D
@samminator, I find this an interesting read. Wifi tech has really facilitated our living.
I just want to know if the Lifi tech is becoming a regular thing yet?
Thanks man. With time, it could become more popular than the wifi. Remember, it's still an emerging tech
True... But the issue still remains the line of sight necessity. I hope we can find a way to circumvent that.
Yeah. One of the ways to circumvent that is to have multiple access points
WiFi calling is convenient but has downsides. One major disadvantage of WiFi calling https://www.uctel.co.uk/blog/disadvantages-of-wi-fi-calling-in-the-uk-why-it-cant-replace-mobile-connection is unreliable connections, especially in areas with poor signal strength, causing dropped calls. Security concerns also arise, as data transmitted over WiFi can be vulnerable to hacking compared to traditional networks.
This a real great technology
Technology go far everyday by day
Exactly. Thanks for coming around
For reasons unknown, wifi is more popular than lifi. I heard of lifi before but i have never seen a real life use of it.
Are any of there tech connected to wireless charging devices?
Lol, yeah. Wifi is more popular than the LiFi.