Mobile Computing Tips: Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi FAQ

Feature: Mobile Computing FAQ, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Mobile computing is a big name for a bunch of small gadgets, portable devices, and wireless technologies that enable you to polish your PowerPoint presentation about volcanoes while flying over Mount St. Helens, or to e-mail your attorney an update to your will from the back seat of a careening taxicab.

Like any area of technology, mobile computing has its ever-changing standards, buzzwords, and acronyms designed to utterly confound you. Not to worry; the new Mobile Computing FAQ is at your service. Periodically, this newsletter will answer your questions about notebook computers, PDAs, wireless services, and other technologies that help you stay productive out of the office. Submit your questions to me at james_martin@pcworld.com.

In this inaugural installment of the Mobile Computing FAQ, you'll learn that Bluetooth isn't something you get from eating too much licorice and Wi-Fi has nothing to do with your stereo system (at least not yet).

Q: What's the Difference Between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi?

A: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are both wireless networking standards that provide connectivity via radio waves. The main difference: Bluetooth's primary use is to replace cables, while Wi-Fi is largely used to provide wireless, high-speed access to the Internet or a local area network.

Bluetooth

First developed in 1994, Bluetooth is a low-power, short-range (30 feet) networking specification with moderately fast transmission speeds of 800 kilobits per second. Bluetooth provides a wireless, point-to-point, "personal area network" for PDAs, notebooks, printers, mobile phones, audio components, and other devices. The wireless technology can be used anywhere you have two or more devices that are Bluetooth enabled. For example, you could send files from a notebook to a printer without having to physically connect the two devices with a cable.

A few notebooks, such as the IBM ThinkPad T30, now include built-in Bluetooth connectivity. And $129 will buy you a Bluetooth card for expansion-slot Palm PDAs, allowing you to connect to printers, notebooks, mobile phones, and other devices without cables.

Despite the promises of Bluetooth, however, hardware makers have been slow to incorporate it into their products. Some experts believe it could be eight years before Bluetooth is commonly used. They attribute the technology's lagging adoption rate to poor usability and confusion about what Bluetooth is and does. For more on that topic, read "Why We're Still Waiting for Bluetooth."

Wi-Fi

Short for Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi is a user-friendly name for devices that have been certified by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance to conform to the industry-standard wireless networking specification IEEE 802.11b. Wi-Fi began appearing in products in late 1998. The standard currently provides access to Ethernet networks such as a corporate LAN or the Internet at super-fast speeds of up to 11 megabits per second.

Wi-Fi connections can be made up to about 300 feet away from a "hot spot" (slang for a Wi-Fi networking node). When your notebook or PDA has a Wi-Fi networking card or built-in chip, you can surf the Internet at broadband speeds wirelessly. Wi-Fi networking nodes are proliferating globally; many Starbucks locations, for instance, offer access to Wi-Fi hot spots for a fee. (See the Notebooks section in this newsletter for information on finding Wi-Fi hot spots.)

Many notebooks today have IEEE 802.11b built-in; those that don't can be adapted via Wi-Fi connectivity PC Cards. Wi-Fi is also the basis for some home networking products, allowing you to share high-speed Internet connections without cabling. Late last year, products featuring a newer wireless networking specification, IEEE 802.11a (called Wi-Fi5 by WECA), debuted. This standard provides transmission speeds of up to 54 mbps. Wireless networking is expected to grow in popularity as a practical, flexible way to replace some LANs. With wireless networking, for instance, workers can carry their notebooks from cubicle to conference room and stay connected to the corporate network.

For information about setting up a wireless home network, see "How to Set Up Your Home Network."

For more about the first IEEE 802.11a-based products, see "Wireless LANs Gain Speed at Comdex." In addition, Socket Communications, a network connections provider, has posted a helpful white paper that compares Bluetooth with Wi-Fi.