With reference to ‘LiFi’, recently in the news, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It uses light as the medium for high-speed data transmission.
2. It is a wireless technology and is several times faster than ‘WiFi’.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

The correct answer is Both 1 and 2.

Both statements about LiFi (Light Fidelity) are correct. Let us examine each statement carefully to understand why.

Understanding LiFi — The Basics

LiFi, which stands for Light Fidelity, is a cutting-edge wireless communication technology that was first conceptualized by Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh in 2011. It represents a fundamentally different approach to wireless data transmission compared to conventional technologies like WiFi.

Statement 1: "It uses light as the medium for high-speed data transmission." — ✅ CORRECT

This statement is entirely accurate. LiFi uses visible light, ultraviolet (UV), and infrared (IR) portions of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit data at very high speeds. Here is how it works:

• A LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulb acts as the transmitter. It flickers at extremely high frequencies — far too fast for the human eye to detect — encoding data in these rapid on/off pulses of light.
• A photodetector (light sensor) on the receiving device picks up these light signals and converts them back into electronic data.
• This process is called Visible Light Communication (VLC), and it enables data to be carried on beams of light rather than on radio waves.

This is fundamentally different from WiFi, which uses radio frequency (RF) waves (typically 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands) as its transmission medium. LiFi's use of light gives it several unique physical advantages, especially in environments where RF interference is a concern (such as hospitals or aircraft cockpits).

Statement 2: "It is a wireless technology and is several times faster than 'WiFi'." — ✅ CORRECT

This statement is also correct on both counts:

• It is wireless: LiFi transmits data without any physical cables, using light waves traveling through the air (or any transparent medium). Like WiFi, data is transferred wirelessly between a transmitter (light source) and a receiver (photodetector). Hence it is fully a wireless technology.

• It is significantly faster than WiFi: This is one of LiFi's most remarkable properties. The visible light spectrum is approximately 10,000 times larger than the entire radio frequency spectrum used by WiFi. This enormous bandwidth allows LiFi to achieve dramatically higher data transfer speeds.

In laboratory conditions, LiFi has demonstrated speeds of up to 224 Gbps (Gigabits per second), while standard WiFi (even the latest WiFi 6/6E standard) typically delivers speeds in the range of 1–9.6 Gbps under ideal conditions. This means LiFi can be tens to hundreds of times faster than WiFi in controlled environments.

Even in practical, real-world deployments, LiFi consistently outperforms WiFi in speed, making the claim that it is "several times faster" a conservative and accurate statement.

Summary: Why Both Statements Are Correct

| Feature | LiFi | WiFi |

• Transmission Medium: LiFi uses light (visible/IR/UV); WiFi uses radio waves
• Wireless: Both are wireless technologies
• Speed: LiFi is far faster (up to ~224 Gbps in labs); WiFi is slower (up to ~9.6 Gbps)
• Range: LiFi has a shorter, line-of-sight range; WiFi can pass through walls

Since Statement 1 correctly identifies light as LiFi's transmission medium and Statement 2 correctly identifies it as wireless and faster than WiFi, both statements are individually and jointly correct. Therefore, the answer is Both 1 and 2.