Now we talk about the difference between bluetooth and wifi. Now both of these are radio frequency technologies that are used for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. And certain devices will have both bluetooth and wifi functionality built into them. Now both of these do have certain things in common, but there are also some differences.
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Bluetooth
So let’s first talk about bluetooth. Now bluetooth was created to get rid of the hassle of dealing with wires and cables. Bluetooth is a low-power, wireless technology that uses a short-range radio that provides a way to connect nearby devices to each other. Bluetooth devices will have a computer chip inside of them that will broadcast a signal so that other bluetooth devices can connect to them, which is known as pairing.
And when the devices are paired, they will then be able to exchange information between them. Now the most common use for bluetooth is for wireless audio streaming. Such as pairing your cell phone to wireless earbuds, or an external speaker. It can also be used for pairing headphones to a TV or pairing a wireless keyboard and mouse to a tablet or computer.
But one of the most common uses is pairing your cell phone to your car’s audio system. Which enables hands-free use when you’re on the phone while driving. The range of bluetooth is approximately 30 feet or 10 meters.
WiFi
Now let’s talk about wifi. Now wifi is a wireless technology that uses radio waves that allows devices such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and cell phones to be able to connect wirelessly to the internet.
And the most common way that wifi devices access the internet is by connecting to a wifi router. Wifi routers will have a connection to an internet service provider that will broadcast a wifi signal so that nearby devices can connect to the signal and grant them internet access. And in addition to internet access, these devices can be configured to exchange information between them by creating a network.
And depending upon the surrounding environment, wifi has a range anywhere from 100 – 300 feet.
Differences Between Bluetooth and WiFi
So what are the differences between bluetooth and wifi? Well, the main difference is that bluetooth is for connecting devices to each other to exchange data. And wifi is used to connect devices to the internet.
And another difference is the range and speed. Bluetooth has a slower transfer rate and a shorter range and the reason for this is power. Bluetooth uses less power than wifi. So even though it sacrifices in range and speed, it also has an advantage with longer battery life with less frequent charging which allows bluetooth devices to be manufactured in a smaller size that doesn’t require large batteries.
But wifi on the other hand, is faster than bluetooth and has an approximate 10x longer range. Now both bluetooth and wifi operate at 2.4 GHz. But the thing is, a lot of other devices also operate at 2.4 GHz, such as microwaves and cordless phones and this could interfere with wireless signals. But bluetooth is less vulnerable to interference because it uses a technology called Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum, which uses a method of transmitting signals in a pattern that only the transmitting and receiving devices know.
The signal hops between 79 different channels and changes channels 1,600 times per second. Which makes bluetooth highly resistant to interference when compared to wifi. And bluetooth devices are also simpler to connect to because there’s no password required. So for example, let’s say you wanted to pair bluetooth earbuds to your cell phone.
You would just power on the earbuds and then turn on bluetooth on your cell phone. Then in your device settings on your phone, you just click on earbuds when they appear and then you’re connected.
