Meet Li-Fi: The new, superior, wireless technology

A new wireless technology known as Li-Fi has been tested in a real world setting and is 100 times faster than Wi-Fi.

According to reports, it won't be long until Li-Fi is used in place of, or alongside, traditional Wi-Fi.

Li-Fi works through what is dubbed visible light communication (VLC) and uses visible light from 400 to 800 terahertz to carry data at high speeds.

It works by flicking an LED on and off at extreme speeds to write and transmit messages in binary code, and has been described as functioning as a very advanced version of Morse Code.

Li-Fi was created in 2011 by Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Haas demonstrated, for the first time, that flickering light from a single LED could transmit far more data than a cellular tower.

Now, Li-Fi has been tested out in Tallinn, Estonia, in offices and industrial environments by tech company Velmenni.

During the trial, scientists reached a data transmission speed of 1GB per second. Earlier this year, the fastest recorded transmission speed was 224 gigabits per second.

According to Deepak Solanki, Velmenni CEO, Li-Fi is not only faster but it's more secure than Wi-Fi as it doesn't pass through walls.

In an interview with IBTimes UK, Solanki said, "Currently we have designed a smart lighting solution for an industrial environment where the data communication is done through light.

"We are also doing a pilot project with a private client where we are setting up a Li-Fi network to access the internet in their office space."

Replacing Wi-Fi technologies with Li-Fi is improbable due to expense, so scientists are currently working on new solutions that enable people to use their current devices with Li-Fi.

Furthermore, they are exploring the possibilities of combining Wi-Fi and Li-Fi for more secure wireless technology, according to reports.