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David Coursey
Bluetooth vs. WiFi: Why it's NOT a death match

David Coursey
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Thursday, May 30, 2002
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Does the world really need two wireless networking technologies? Bluetooth and WiFi (aka 802.11b) have both been much in the news lately. Of the two, WiFi got the fastest start. But Bluetooth is gaining traction in the marketplace; Microsoft, for example, has announced that it will build native Bluetooth support into a future version of Windows XP.

Yesterday I wrote about a new Bluetooth printing kit, which lets me print from a laptop to my Epson inkjet without wires. Yet I already have a WiFi network, which I can use for printer sharing and other connected applications. The only limitation of that network: The PC that's connected to the printer has to be turned on before I can print from another device.

Which raises a passel of questions: Why should I pay for Bluetooth printing when I already have WiFi? Are the two technologies complementary or competitive? To go back to my original question, do we really need two different kinds of wireless networking that--on the surface, at least--seem to do many of the same things?

While it's still too early to answer these questions definitively, I can offer some observations and see what conclusions follow from there.

Speed: Bluetooth operates at about 720kbps, WiFi at 11mbps--a big speed difference. Bluetooth is too slow for video transfers, and probably too slow to move a bunch of large images off a digital camera. And you wouldn't connect a hard drive to your computer using Bluetooth--not if you're smart.

Applications: Bluetooth is a cable replacement, designed to connect devices point-to-point. WiFi is designed to hook up an entire network; it can be used to connect one computer directly to another, but that's not its real purpose. Yes, there will be Bluetooth access points to bridge the two networks, but they won't be the best choice in most applications. And there are already WiFi wireless print servers--I have one from Linksys--that work just fine.

Security: Bluetooth is probably--emphasize probably--a bit more secure than WiFi. For one thing, Bluetooth is designed to cover shorter distances than 802.11b; if someone hacks your Bluetooth network, how much damage can they do? Print to your printer? Also, Bluetooth offers two levels of (optional) password protection. WiFi has all the security risks associated with other networks: Once someone has access to one part, he or she can access the rest.

Ease of use: Bluetooth devices "advertise" their capabilities to others, and a single device can be connected to up to seven other devices at the same time. This makes it easy to find and connect to the device you are looking for or to switch between devices, such as two printers. WiFi is more complex; it requires the same degree of network management as any comparable wired network.

Power: Bluetooth has a smaller power requirement than WiFi, and devices can be physically smaller, making it a good choice for consumer electronics devices.

Compatibility: Bluetooth and WiFi share the same band of frequencies and could, therefore, interfere with one another. For a variety of technical reasons, Bluetooth is more likely to interfere with WiFi than vice versa. But while I haven't rigorously tested my own set-up for interference, so far I've been able to run Bluetooth and WiFi devices right next to one another without any noticeable problems. I'm going to keep looking, however.

BOTTOM LINE: Bluetooth is the choice for connecting single devices when speed isn't a major issue; it's best suited to low-bandwidth applications such as sharing printers, syncing PDAs, using a cell phone as a modem, and (eventually) connecting appliances to one another within a 30- to 60-foot range.

Bluetooth isn't a good replacement for all cables, including USB and 1394/FireWire connections. It's not a great way to connect high-bandwidth devices, such as external drives or digital video cameras and computers; nice as it would be, Bluetooth is probably not a good choice for downloading stills from your digital camera to your PC. And WiFi is the best choice for connecting your computers to one another and to the Internet.

If I could only have WiFi or Bluetooth, then Bluetooth loses. But it's not an either/or thing. The two wireless protocols do different things. As more Bluetooth devices come to market, I believe most of us will eventually have some of both. Just be glad you don't have to commit to one or the other right now.

What do you think? Would you bet on Bluetooth or WiFi--or neither--to win in the marketplace? Why? TalkBack to me, and take my QuickPoll below!

If you had to choose one wireless technology, which one would it be?
Bluetooth
WiFi
None of the above

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