Wi-Fi just got way more faster. A team of researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics just beat the previous record by a factor of 10.

The team prepares its transmitter. (Image: Photo Jörg Eisenbeis, KIT)

In order to achieve this feat, they used signals in the 71–76 GHz radio frequency band to send the data. This frequency is used mostly for terrestrial and satellite broadcasting. To make things even better, they achieved an impressive signal-to-noise ratio, avoiding bandwidth waste. According to Gizmodo, they devised a system of ultra-efficient transmitters and receivers. The transmitters are based on semiconductor chips made gallium-nitride, which provide a high-power signal that’s transmitted from a focused parabolic antenna. The team declared:

“Transmitting the contents of a conventional DVD in under ten seconds by radio transmission is incredibly fast – and a new world record in wireless data transmission. With a data rate of 6 Gigabit per second over a distance of 37 kilometers, a collaborative project with the parti­ci­pa­tion of researchers from the University of Stuttgart and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF exceeded the state of the art by a factor of 10.”

They transmitted the data between a 45-story tower in central Cologne and the Space Observation Radar in Wachtberg, 23 miles away.

This improvement in technology and infrastructure has obvious applications. We can all appreciate some faster internet, but it could be even more useful in places where wired connections simply aren’t possible, or for emerging technologies around the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0.