My words on Bluetooth

[RommelS]

Again ...I am not saying Bluetooth is such a bad thing, and I have not said anything bad about the technology. Like you said that both has its own purpose. All I said that the problem of the acceptance of Bluetooth is 802.11. That is just the truth because more and more companies are implementing 802.11 than Bluetooth specially when connecting to the Internet.

Bluetooth is more designed to replace device that has wires ...keyboard, mouse, headset, and so forth. Granted that Bluetooth is trying to make it easy for people to connect to the Internet or to retrieve data, but its short coming is the range of the technology.

Heck right now I can do so some Airsnorting, Bit fliping and gain access on other people's wireless ...but I'm not just that type of person. That just shows you have far the range of Wi-fi.

[gardel]

Boy, this is one pointless debate. Your point is that Bluetooth is not widely accepted because of the existence of 802.11.

It's like saying the reason people don't use GPS is because of the availability of television. Of course more people use TV than GPS, but that does not mean that those usage patterns are interrelated.

If you agree that Wifi and Bluetooth are ENTIRELY DIFFERENT technologies serving ENTIRELY DIFFERENT purposes, then how, logically, does one have an impact on the acceptance of the other.

The existence of 802.11 has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the acceptance, or lack thereof, of Bluetooth. If there is greater use of wifi over bluetooth, it is because there is a greater demand for what wifi offers over what bluetooth offers, just like there is a greater demand for television programming than there is point-to-point GPS mapping assistance.

Wifi is used for ethernet connectivity. There is a great demand for ethernet connectivity today. I (and I would assume most others who use Bluetooth) do not use it for ethernet connectivity. I use it for mobility, for which it is much better suited than Wifi. Clearly, there is a greater demand on the part of the so-called "mainstream" for ethernet connectivity than there is for mobility. If I am at an airport, I pop in my Wifi CF card into the Axim and I have a speedy connection to the interrnet using the ethernet network available at the airport. If I am in my car, that Wifi CF does me no good. But if I pop in my Bluetooth CF card into my Axim and turn on my Sony Ericsson cell phone, I have access to the internet without the availability of an ethernet network.

It is simply bad advice to suggest that wifi negates the need for Bluetooth. If all you care about is connecting to an internal network over ethernet, then Bluetooth is NOT AS GOOD AN OPTION as wifi. However, if you want to maximize mobile wireless connectivity to the internet no matter where you are (your car, the beach, a Mexico City street, a hillside trail), and to maximize wireless connectivity between disparate devices (computers, handhelds, telephones, speakers, headsets, etc.), then bluetooth is, currently, your ONLY OPTION.

In other words, GET BOTH.

[Elyod]

I don't personally use Bluetooth, but my Sister-in-Law has it and I have played with it some. It isn't really that impressive yet.

I think that in the future it may be the best, but right now I find it just OK.

[RommelS]

...still thinks Bluetooth and wifi are the same thing

Here is a little bit of a Bluetooth overview

Bluetooth, a wireless networking technology that offers modest performance in a secure, energy efficient package, stands at the forefront of a new wireless age.

Bluetooth was envisioned by Ericsson, and later created with the help of other companies such as IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba, who intended to support and promote this new wireless standard.

Specifications of Bluetooth provide the limitations and possibilities of the technology. Bluetooth operates in the 2.4GHz frequencies, known as the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band. This range is free for use to everyone globally, however, it does contain a considerable amount of noise from other devices.

The Bluetooth network protocol employs five layers, each responsible for performing various functions on the data to be transmitted or received. These "layers" are implemented by software and hardware means. The top layer is the Application Program Interface (API) and allows applications on the computer or other device to access the Bluetooth system.

Bluetooth's wireless functionality, reliability, and security are achieved through its modulation and packet scheme. Bluetooth uses the 2.4GHz ISM band, specifically, 2.402GHz - 2.480GHz.

Bluetooth has the potential to connect many devices in the home, office, and on the road, effortlessly, increasing both productivity and entertainment. However, it is ultimately up to the consumers to decide the fate of this new wireless technology.

Same as 802.11b and 802.11g. Only difference it the protocol and its short range.

[gardel]

Originally posted by RommelS+Jan 28 2003, 11:45 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (RommelS @ Jan 28 2003, 11:45 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Same as 802.11b and 802.11g. Only difference it the protocol and its short range. [/b]

Excuse me? Could you please point to the link that you took the quote above from?

It contradicts everything you quoted above it.

For example:

Originally posted by -RommelS@Jan 28 2003, 11:45 AM
The Bluetooth network protocol employs five layers, each responsible for performing various functions on the data to be transmitted or received. These "layers" are implemented by software and hardware means. The top layer is the Application Program Interface (API) and allows applications on the computer or other device to access the Bluetooth system.

What are the "layers" in 802.11? What is the API in 802.11? Answer to both: they don't exist.

<!--QuoteBegin--RommelS@Jan 28 2003, 11:45 AM
Bluetooth has the potential to connect many devices in the home, office, and on the road, effortlessly, increasing both productivity and entertainment.[/quote]

Wifi cannot connect many devices in the home, office, etc. It can only connect a computer to an ethernet network. Nothing else. It cannot connect a computer (be it handheld, laptop, or desktop to a headset, or to a telephone, or to a speaker system, or to your car audio to play MP3s, or to hundereds of other applications.

Bluetooth IS NOT THE SAME as 802.11. If you need to connect to an ethernet network wirelessly, you use 802.11. If you need to connect to disparate devices, such as a phone or a headset, use Bluetooth.

Just because Bluetooth has the capability to connect you to a network and that it uses the 2.4 GHz band, does not make it the same as Wifi.

A much better synopsis of what Bluetooth is can be found at www.bluetooth.com (where you can also see the thousands of bluetooth-enabled products that are available:

"When Bluetooth wireless technology connects devices to each other, they become "paired." Device pairings are constantly evolving, simplifying familiar tasks and developing new possibilities. Your wireless headset connects to the mobile phone in your briefcase. Your handheld automatically synchronizes with your personal computer when you walk in the office. Your mobile phone, handheld, and personal computer all share the same address book, schedule, and todo list...

Bluetooth Wireless Technology is now poised to enhance industrial automation, expand gaming possibilities and propel delivery-tracking innovation. A Bluetooth pen, a Bluetooth briefcase, a Bluetooth refrigerator - not only possible, but inevitable and real with Bluetooth Wireless Technology."

Bluetooth is not, as you wrote, the "same as 802.11b and 802.11g." Please refrain from giving bad advice.

[gardel]

Originally posted by DarkEmerald@Jan 28 2003, 07:40 PM
Can you add anything (again, for a newbie) on the use Bluetooth at home?

Actually, I do not use Bluetooth AT HOME with my Axim very much. However, because my cell phone (Sony Ericsson T68i) is Bluetooth-enabled, and I purchased the Jabra Freespeak Bluetooth headset, I do use Bluetooth always to speak on the phone (I make a ton of long-distance calls and my cell service's local area is the whole country).

I also use Bluetooth to synchronize my contacts and calendar between my cell phone and my desktop, as well as my Axim and my cell phone (though this becomes superfluous if you keep your Axim cradled to your computer and you simply sync the contacts between your phone and the computer).

I usually do not get online with my Axim much at home because I do prefer to use my laptop computer in that situation. However, when I do go online with my Axim and I am at home (infrequent bedtime reading), I usually use the Linksys Wifi 802.11b CF card. I really do believe if you have wifi and ethernet, it is a better choice (much faster and less costly) to go online with wifi.

On the road, it's a different matter. I do not spend a lot of time at Starbuck's and even though I live in the most connected area on earth (San Francsico Bay Area), wifi hotspots are still few and far between. The hotspot in every phone booth notion is still many many years away.

But with the Axim, the Ambicom Bluetooth CF card I got on eBay for $50, and my cell phone, I do have easy internet access with my PDA from anywhere I can get a cell signal. If you are interested in this, I believe that both ATT Wireless and T-Mobile offer GPRS web access on their services. I use ATT and their service is called mMode. They even have software available on the ATT site to facilitate connecting your PDA and cell phone via Bluetooth. It is actually very simple.

It is definitely not as fast (about 57 kbits) as using wifi on an ethernet network that has a broadband connection to the internet, but it is certainly very usable. If you are a commuter, it is the only way to connect because the technology to seamlessly jump from one wifi hot-spot to another has not yet been developed (Toshiba is working on it, but it will be a long long time, if ever, before it is rolled out in such a way that you can use wifi like you use your cell phone, switching cells as you move).

One thing I do covet is a Bluetooth-enabled car stereo so that I can play MP3s directly from my Axim, and to use the car stereo as a bluetooth hands-free unit for my cell phone. Those are still out of my price range, however.

There are a lot of other devices available that take advantage of Bluetooth technology. You can read a pretty comprehensive list at http://www.bluetooth.com/tech/products.asp.

On the PDA front, look for a combination wifi/bluetooth CF adaptor to be released in the near future. Aslo, it is rumored that Dell's Axim 7 (to be released later this year) will have built-in bluetooth and wifi (Toshiba already makes such a unit).

If you need help connecting (it's called "pairing") any two specific Bluetooth devices, I will gladly offer what I know. In the meantime, there's a lot of good reading on wireless technogies around. Check out http://www.dansdata.com/wireless2.htm for a great article on how Bluetooth and 802.11 work together.

[Computer Ninja]

Gardel, thank you for the Bluetooth information.

But I am not entirely thrilled with this tit-for-tat that you and RommelS have shown on this forum during the past two days. It's actually kind of ugly if you ask me.

Before you write, think. Before you think...ummm... think!

Do I need to close this topic?

[RommelS]

I say to keep the information that Gardel posted, and buried the rest. I admit that what happened here was not right.

I appologized to everyone that read the topic. It wasn't good for the site.
I do believe that this is in the past now.

All I wanted was to effectively help the members in this site.

Sincerely,
RommelS

[Computer Ninja]

Do you and Gardel think I should erase the heinous posts and keep the good stuff, and let it be a lesson learned?

[RommelS]

I think that since this particular part of the site is dedicated to Bluetooth, Gardel's last post should stay. Make a few modification from his last post, and I think it would be a good introduction.