What Is the Difference Between Bluetooth® and WiFi?
Bluetooth® and WiFi® are both wireless technologies that use radio frequency (RF) waves to create networks, but they’re used for fundamentally different purposes. Bluetooth®’s main purpose is to temporarily link an individual’s personal devices together over short distances, while WiFi’s purpose is to link multiple computers together over longer distances. Although Bluetooth® and WiFi both create networks, Bluetooth® creates a Personal Area Network (PAN) by generating low frequency radio waves that all Bluetooth®-enabled devices in the immediate area can join to be interoperable. You might think of this as a “shroud” surrounding an individual user. A Bluetooth® headset, for example, allows hands-free cell phone use for driving or working. Other types of personal devices can swap files, synchronize data and even share access to the Internet through an Internet-enabled laptop, cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA) or iPod®. A Bluetooth® network can also be used to send files from