Thanks to some very scientific types across the pond at Oxford University, a new technology has been developed that can deliver ultra-high-speed Wi-Fi via light beams. And we’re not just talking along the lines of say, Google Fiber fast. A study published this week confirms that researchers have achieved connection speeds of up to 224 gigabits per second using a light fidelity (Li-Fi) connection, which uses light to send and receive data through the air.

To describe the technology as simply as possible, Li-Fi could essentially turn your lights or LEDs into the fastest internet connection ever created. According to Harold Haas, one of the pioneers of Li-Fi technology, in the future every LED lightbulb could potentially be used as an ultra-fast alternative to Wi-Fi. The idea, according to Haas, is to use existing infrastructures to deliver the new ultra-fast communication – hence the light bulb idea. Haas elaborated further on the notion, stating that “all we need to do is fit a small microchip to every potential illumination device and this would then combine two basic functionalities; illumination and wireless data transmission. In the future we will not only have 14 billion light bulbs, we may have 14 billion Li-Fi’s deployed worldwide for a cleaner, greener and even a brighter future.”

A simple explanation of Li-Fi technology makes it sound almost like magic; how it actually works is a little more complicated. Scientists have been hard at work developing Li-Fi as a possible alternative for Wi-Fi for years now, and the last big breakthrough was back in October of 2014, when a team of researchers working on the Ultra-Parallel Visible Light Communications Project reached transmission speeds of 10.5 Gbps via Li-Fi. The technology uses light from fiber-optic cables based in the ceiling of a room. A transmitter and receiver is outfitted with holographic beam steering technology, along with a programmable diffraction grating created using liquid crystals that would beam the light in a certain direction. Put simply, it functions in much the same way as a projector does. And just as with a projector, there are some limitations as to where the light can travel. Most importantly, since light cannot pass through opaque objects, Li-Fi will only work when within line of sight. In initial tests, the researchers were able to achieve a bandwidth of 224 Gbps with a 60-degree field of view; when that view was narrowed to 36 degrees, the bandwidth also dropped significantly, to 112 Gbps. Researchers are now working on developing and incorporating trackers that would essentially help the light locate the computer regardless of where it was placed in the room.

Just to put the full scope of what Li-Fi could do into perspective, consider what we can currently do with Wi-Fi versus what could be accomplished by Li-Fi. As it stands, a rare percentage of internet users in the United States have access to the 1 Gbps internet connection currently being offered in select locations. This is by no means the norm, we’re talking fastest currently available here. So at its current top speed, your internet could allow you to download a roughly 1.5GB movie in a second or two. With Li-Fi, using a 224 Gbps speed would technically allow you to download 18 movies of roughly the same size in just under a second – pretty amazing.