Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi in networking

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi both have their places in today’s offices, homes, and on the move: setting up networks, printing, or transferring presentations and files from PDAs to computers. Both are versions of unlicensed spread spectrum technology.

 Bluetooth

Bluetooth is implemented in a variety of new products such as phones, printers, modems, and headsets. Bluetooth is acceptable for situations when two or more devices are in proximity to each other and don’t require high bandwidth. Bluetooth is most commonly used with phones and hand-held computing devices, either using a Bluetooth headset or transferring files from phones/PDAs to computers.

Bluetooth also simplifies the discovery and setup of services. Bluetooth devices advertise all services they provide. This makes the utility of the service that much more accessible, without the need to worry about network addresses, permissions and all the other considerations that go with typical networks.

 Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is more analogous to the traditional Ethernet network and requires configuration to set up shared resources, transmit files, set up audio links (for example, headsets and hands-free devices). It uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but with higher power output resulting in a stronger connection. Wi-Fi is sometimes called “wireless Ethernet.” Although this description is inaccurate, it provides an indication of its relative strengths and weaknesses. Wi-Fi requires more setup, but is better suited for operating full-scale networks because it enables a faster connection, better range from the base station, and better security than Bluetooth.

One method for comparing the efficiency of wireless transmission protocols such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi is spatial capacity, or bits per second per square meter.

Computer requirements

A typical Bluetooth USB dongle (BCM2045A), shown here next to a metric ruler

An internal notebook Bluetooth card (14×36×4 mm)

A personal computer must have a Bluetooth adapter in order to be able to communicate with other Bluetooth devices (such as mobile phones, mice and keyboards).While some portable computers and fewer desktop computers already contain an internal Bluetooth adapter, most PCs require an external USB Bluetooth dongle. Most Macs come with built-in Bluetooth adapters.

Unlike its predecessor, IrDA, in which each device requires a separate dongle, multiple Bluetooth devices can communicate with a computer over a single dongle.

 Operating system support

For more details on this topic, see Bluetooth stack.

Linux provides two Bluetooth stacks, with the BlueZ stack included with most Linux kernels. It was originally developed by Qualcomm and Affix. BlueZ supports all core Bluetooth protocols and layers.
Of Microsoft platforms, Windows XP Service Pack 2 and later releases have native support for Bluetooth. Previous versions required the users to install their Bluetooth adapter’s own drivers, which was not directly supported by Microsoft.^[7] Microsoft’s own Bluetooth dongles (that are packaged with their Bluetooth computer devices) have no external drivers and thus require at least Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Mac OS X has supported Bluetooth since version 10.2 released in 2002. ^[8]