Bluetooth Wireless Networking
Bluetooth is an alternative wireless network technology that followed
a different development path than the 802.11 family of
standards. Bluetooth offers
more flexibility than 802.11b but on a smaller range and speed. Its
bandwidth is only 500Kbps, and its range is only 10 meters (30 feet).
Devices with a Bluetooth
radio and an antenna can speak to each other with little or no
preparation. For example, conference attendees can readily transfer
files across a table using
their Bluetooth-enabled notebooks. You can also send a file to a
Bluetooth-enabled printer without downloading drivers. Bluetooth may
soon be a standard interface
on many cell phones, handheld computers, and even home appliances.
However, it is going to take sometime before the hardware and software
issues are resolved
completely. Bluetooth operates at 2.4GHz, and is subject to the same
interference problems as 802.11b and 802.11g. Compare the WLAN
technologies.
