http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34942685

Nobody is explaining how the computer sends information out to the internet (which, you know, is pretty important) or whether someone walking past blocks the internet completely. Just can’t see how it’d work in practice.

I thought it seemed quite clear. The lightbulb flickers very very quickly to send the information to a sensor that would convert the flicker back to a signal computer can handle. It is only one way so a second link would be needed for two way. But think of it as Bluetooth rather than WiFi. Short distance connection to a device. And they do mention the problem of it not going through walls and there fore people. Maybe in an area with bright walls it wouldn’t have to be pure line of sight. Sounds interesting.

When you have 15 computers in a room, how will the sensor identify the signals from the laptop back to the lightbulb?

I suppose you could frequency multiplex, but every laptop is going to have a fairly wide range LED array on top…

It will be child’s play to intercept other peoples data.

Edit: Actually, thinking about it more – it won’t be that different to wifi in the interception stakes…

But the technology also has its drawbacks – most notably the fact that it cannot be deployed outdoors in direct sunlight … initial use is likely to be … in congested urban areas

So perfect for Glasgow, then? 😀

I can’t see Glaswegians swapping their candles for fancy light bulbs.

*takes burning stick out of wall holder and goes outside to poo in a hole*

It is only one way so a second link would be needed for two way.

So I need to plug a lightbulb into my laptop then, that’s what I meant. It’s fine for sending info to a device but shitty for anything going outbound. So it has a load of disadvantages but given a theoretical max of 7Gbps for wifi,who’d want to tolerate the disadvantages for a speed which is pointless given the bottleneck with wifi is already the connection to the outside world and, if that was fast enough, the speed of HDs.

7Gbps for wifi,who’d want to tolerate the disadvantages for a speed which is pointless given the bottleneck with wifi is already starting to be the connection to the outside world

it would work for an open plan office for example. Remember that the 7gbs is shared amongst everyone. Also only some of the traffic is internet, the rest might be printing, local file services etc.

It’s not new really. I remember playing with this back on the days of 1200 baud modems. The difference is that now your light bulb might be made up of different coloured leds so it is easier to filter out the to and from stuff

Yeah nothing very new. Before the rise of Bluetooth and micro-USB you would see various gadgets that downloaded stuff to a PC using infra-red light.

Could be quite useful though in areas with heavily congested wifi.