Li-Fi has been “the future of wireless communication” for about a decade now. Every few years someone asks me whether commercial lighting should be “Li-Fi ready” for the inevitable transition from WiFi.

Here’s my honest assessment of where Li-Fi actually stands in 2026.

What Li-Fi Actually Is

Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) uses visible light to transmit data. LED fittings modulate their output at high frequency—too fast for humans to perceive—to encode digital information. A receiver (typically USB or built into devices) decodes the light signals.

The appeal:

• Massive available bandwidth (visible light spectrum is huge)
• Doesn’t interfere with radio frequencies
• Inherently secure (light doesn’t pass through walls)
• Could use existing lighting infrastructure

The physics are real: Li-Fi can achieve multi-gigabit speeds in laboratory conditions. It works.

Where Li-Fi Makes Sense

There are legitimate use cases where Li-Fi has advantages:

Radio-Restricted Environments

Hospitals with sensitive medical equipment. Some manufacturing environments. Nuclear facilities. Places where radio frequency interference is problematic.

Li-Fi provides wireless connectivity without the RF emissions that can affect sensitive equipment.

Security-Critical Spaces

Light doesn’t pass through walls. A Li-Fi network is inherently contained to the illuminated space. For spaces requiring strict data containment—secure government facilities, financial trading floors—this has appeal.

Aircraft and Maritime

Aircraft cabins and ships have specific RF considerations. Li-Fi offers an alternative connectivity approach that’s been trialled in aviation.

Extremely High Density

WiFi congestion in very dense environments (stadiums, conference centres) might benefit from Li-Fi’s different frequency allocation. Each lighting zone is effectively a separate cell.

Why Li-Fi Isn’t Taking Over Offices

Despite a decade of predictions, Li-Fi remains marginal in commercial buildings. Here’s why:

WiFi Keeps Getting Better

WiFi 6 and WiFi 7 have massively improved capacity and efficiency. The congestion problems Li-Fi was meant to solve are often addressable with better WiFi deployment.

The Device Problem

Li-Fi requires receiving devices. Either specialised Li-Fi receivers (USB dongles) or devices with built-in Li-Fi capability.

Laptops, phones, and tablets don’t have Li-Fi receivers built in. Until they do, Li-Fi requires additional hardware that users must carry and manage.

Contrast with WiFi: every device already has it.

Line of Sight Requirements

Li-Fi requires unobstructed path between light and receiver. Put your hand over the receiver and the connection drops. Walk behind a partition and you lose signal.

WiFi’s ability to penetrate and reflect around obstacles is actually a feature, not a bug, for typical office use.

Backchannel Complexity

Li-Fi provides downlink via light. But how does the device transmit back to the network?

Options include:

• Infrared uplink (additional hardware)
• Using WiFi for uplink (then why not WiFi for everything?)
• Li-Fi uplink (requires device to have light transmitter)

Each solution adds complexity.

Cost vs Benefit

Li-Fi capable fittings cost substantially more than standard LED. The installation requires networking infrastructure integration. The ongoing management adds complexity.

For most commercial spaces, the benefits don’t justify the costs when WiFi and cellular networks work adequately.

What Vendors Are Actually Selling

The Li-Fi products actually in market (from companies like Signify/Trulifi, PureLiFi, and others) tend to focus on specific applications:

• Point-to-point links for secure data transfer
• Industrial connectivity in RF-sensitive environments
• Proof-of-concept installations
• Specialised defence and healthcare applications

They’re not selling general-purpose commercial building connectivity. They’re selling solutions to specific problems where Li-Fi’s characteristics matter.

Should You Specify “Li-Fi Ready” Lighting?

Clients occasionally ask whether new lighting should be “Li-Fi ready” for future upgrade.

My view: Unless you have a specific identified use case, probably not.

Li-Fi ready fittings are custom products with specific characteristics. They cost more. And if Li-Fi does eventually become mainstream, the products of 2026 may be obsolete by whatever 2035 standard emerges.

It’s like asking in 2010 whether phone lines should be “video calling ready.” The technology evolved differently than anticipated.

Better to:

• Install good standard LED lighting
• Ensure adequate electrical capacity for future technologies
• Include data cabling infrastructure that could support future Li-Fi controllers
• Accept that some technology predictions don’t pan out

Where I Think This Goes

My prediction (worth exactly what you’re paying for it):

Li-Fi will remain a niche technology for specific applications where its unique properties—RF-free, physically contained, high bandwidth—justify the cost and complexity.

WiFi and 5G/6G will continue dominating general commercial connectivity. They’re good enough for most purposes and keep improving.

Private LTE/5G networks are more likely to displace office WiFi for buildings wanting advanced connectivity than Li-Fi is.

Hybrid approaches may emerge—WiFi for general use, Li-Fi for specific high-security or high-bandwidth zones within buildings.

The Lighting Industry Perspective

From a lighting contractor’s perspective:

• Don’t feel pressure to offer Li-Fi expertise for general commercial work
• Be aware it exists for specialised applications
• If a client specifically requests Li-Fi, engage manufacturers who actually deliver it
• Focus on standard LED lighting with good controls—that’s what most projects need

The lighting industry has enough real trends to keep up with (controls, circadian lighting, energy efficiency, integration) without chasing technologies that may never go mainstream.

Conclusion

Li-Fi is real technology with real applications. It’s not vaporware. But it’s also not replacing WiFi in commercial buildings.

If you have a specific use case where Li-Fi’s properties solve a real problem, investigate it. If you’re asking whether to future-proof for general Li-Fi adoption—save your money.

The future of commercial building connectivity is probably advanced WiFi, private cellular, and improved wired infrastructure, not light-based networking.

James Thornton has been working in commercial lighting for 18 years and is based in Australia.