What is bluetooth and wi-fi?

Question

I'm shopping for a laptop computer and I don't know anything about them. I travel alot so I want to be able to get on the internet anywhere. How do I do that? I've been reading things about blue-tooth but I don't really know what that means. With it can you use a computer anywhere or just places where there's wi-fi? Do I have to connect to a cell phone to use bluetooth? I'm very confused. I haven't bought a computer in 5 years, alot has changed since then. Help me please.

Answer 1

Bluetooth is a wireless transfer format. (like infrared but broader in terms of uses and usage).

Wi Fi is wireless internet.



Thats what those 2 are in a nutshell.



Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, personal computers, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. The Bluetooth specifications are developed and licensed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group.



Wi-Fi (pronounced wye fye, IPA: /ˈwaɪfaɪ/), a wireless-technology brand owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance, promotes standards with the aim of improving the interoperability of wireless local area network products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Common applications for Wi-Fi include Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and network connectivity for consumer electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.



Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi in networking

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi have slightly different applications in today's offices, homes, and on the move: setting up networks, printing, or transferring presentations and files from PDAs to computers. Both are versions of unlicensed spread spectrum technology.



Bluetooth differs from Wi-Fi in that the latter provides higher throughput and covers greater distances, but requires more expensive hardware and higher power consumption. They use the same frequency range, but employ different modulation techniques. While Bluetooth is a replacement for a variety of applications, Wi-Fi is a replacement only for local area network access. Bluetooth is often thought of as wireless USB, whereas Wi-Fi is wireless Ethernet, both operating at much lower bandwidth than the cable systems they are trying to replace. However, this analogy is not entirely accurate since any Bluetooth device can, in theory, host any other Bluetooth device—something that is not universal to USB devices, therefore it would resemble more a wireless FireWire.





Bluetooth

Bluetooth exists in many products, such as phones, printers, modems and headsets. The technology is useful when transferring information between two or more devices that are near each other in low-bandwidth situations. Bluetooth is commonly used to transfer sound data with phones (i.e. with a Bluetooth headset) or byte data with hand-held computers (transferring files).



Bluetooth simplifies the discovery and setup of services between devices. Bluetooth devices advertise all of the services they provide. This makes using services easier because there is no longer a need to setup network addresses or permissions as in many other networks.





Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is more like traditional Ethernet networks, and requires configuration to set up shared resources, transmit files, and to set up audio links (for example, headsets and hands-free devices). It uses the same radio frequencies as Bluetooth, but with higher power resulting in a stronger connection. Wi-Fi is sometimes called "wireless Ethernet." This description is accurate as it also provides an indication of its relative strengths and weaknesses. Wi-Fi requires more setup, but is better suited for operating full-scale networks because it enables a faster connection, better range from the base station, and better security than Bluetooth.



All articles courtesy Wikipedia. (Searches: Bluetooth & Wi Fi)

Answer 2

Well you see the Bluetooth option on the lap-top is a tool to transfer data from the PC to the phone and in reverse. That wont do you much good for acquiring Internet access, unless you have Internet GPRS activated on you phone and trough your bluetooth to connect to Internet. Wi-Fi is the connection you need. Wi-Fi is wireless connection to Internet that works where Internet wireless signal is emitted. There are a lot of places where this signal exists, so you can use it when you travel. But i recommend to buy a lap top that has the both options (bluetooth and wi-fi), because in these days they are rather cheap.



Good Luck in the choise, i hope i helped!

Answer 3

Bluetooth: is the name given to a radio technology making transmission of signals over short distances between telephones, computers and other devices, like household appliances, without the use of wires.



WiFi: is short for Wireless Fidelity and is the term used generically when referring of any type of 802.11 network, which is the current technology being used to provide wireless access today.



The Break-Down:

Ok , so you're getting a laptop. Most laptops today come with a Wireless NIC (network interface card) built into it. This is how you will connect to WiFi areas and "Hot Spots" like in some places (like StarBucks, Hotels, etc) have some WiFi/Hot Spot areas. To connect to these Access Points, all you will need to do is turn on the laptop, go to a WiFi enabled area (McDonalds, StarBucks, etc), and your laptop will automatically find this connection and will ask you would you like to connect to the network. All you have to do is say "yes" and there you have it.



If you purchase a laptop w/o a wireless NIC, you'll have to purchase a Wireless USB Network Adapter in which you would connect to the laptop via USB.



The Summary:

Bluetooth are usually for devices like your wireless mouse, keyboard, phones, handhelds, PSP's, etc and are limited access based on the distance and location of the Bluetooth device. We call the Wireless Personal Area Networks.



Wi-Fi-enabled device such as the laptopyour trying to get, game console, cell phone, MP3 player or PDA can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network/hot spot connected to the Internet.

Answer 4

Bluetooth is way to plug devices into a computer without using wires (effectively wireless USB). Typically this is things like keyboards, mice, mobile phones and headphones / microphones.



WiFi is a short range (aprox 75m) networking system that is also wireless.



To connect to the Internet you can:



(a) be in range of a WiFi access point

(b) connect to a physical Internet connection

(c) connect to a mobile phone (while in range of a cell tower that provides Internet access) via bluetooth or a cable (note that this can work out to be very expensive and is usually quite slow)

(d) Invest in something along the lines of http://threestore.three.co.uk/broadband/?id=1201

Answer 5

Wi-Fi

Short for wireless fidelity and is meant to be used generically when referring of any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. The term is promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Any products tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a "Wi-Fi Certified" product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is certified. Typically, however, any Wi-Fi product using the same radio frequency (for example, 2.4GHz for 802.11b or 11g, 5GHz for 802.11a) will work with any other, even if not "Wi-Fi Certified."

Formerly, the term "Wi-Fi" was used only in place of the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, in the same way that "Ethernet" is used in place of IEEE 802.3. The Alliance expanded the generic use of the term in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.

Answer 6

you can get an Internet card that slides into the card slot on the left side of the laptop it uses satellite to give you Internet anywhere but it also has a service charge so first decide what you really need