Can someone explain the differences between WI-FI, bluetooth, and connecting to the internet via Sprint etc?

Question

Can someone explain the differences between WI-FI, bluetooth, and connecting to the internet via Sprint etc?

Answer 1

Bluetooth differs from Wi-Fi in that Wi-Fi 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 can be thought of as wireless USB, whereas Wi-Fi is wireless Ethernet, both operating at much lower bandwidth than cable networking systems. 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.

Answer 2

Wi-Fi is a brand name of wireless Internet access, like Sony is of electronics.



Blue Tooth is a standard of wireless that is designed mostly for peripherals, to communicate short distances (less than 30 feet).



The 802.11 standard is for wireless networks.

802.11g will transmit 35 meters indoors at a speed of 54Mb/s

802.11n will transmit 70 meters indoors at a speed of 300Mb/s.







Let's cover what you need to get Internet access to more than one computer at home, via wireless LAN (local area network).

The concept is the same for Wired networks. Add Cat5 cables and NICs, instead of wireless adapters to each computer.



1. You order or use your existing Cable or DSL Internet access.



2. Your Cable or DSL company sets up your Internet access and typically either rents or sells you a Cable or DSL network bridge. They often refer to this as a Cable or DSL “modem”. Actually a complete misnomer since the device does NOT modulate or demodulate, nor does it convert analog to digital or digital to analog.



Prices for Cable or DSL Internet access vary from approximately $19 per month to $80 per month in the United States. This varies based on bandwidth, location, and provider.



At this point you have what is commonly called “Broad Band” or “High Speed” Internet access.



Now you want to share that high speed connection with more than one system. You want to be able to cart your laptop all over the house and stay connected to the Internet as you do so.



1. Confirm that your system has a wireless adapter or get one and install it. You need one of these for each computer. USB type are better. USB type that are 802.11n are best.



2. Get a wireless router. I recommend the D-Link DIR-655. Get D-Link n series USB wireless adapters if you get the D-Link wireless router. If you get a Linksys wireless router, get Linksys wireless adapters. They work BETTER together if they are the same brand. This isn’t a requirement, merely a suggestion.



3. Plug the wireless router directly into the Cable or DSL network bridge via an Ethernet cable.



4. Unplug the electrical cord from your Cable or DSL network bridge for 30-45 seconds.



5. Plug the power cable back in.



6. Check the Cable or DSL network bridge for green lights.



7. Make sure that the properties of TCP/IP are set to Obtain IP address automatically, and obtain DNS automatically on ALL of your computers.



8. Turn on or reboot your system(s).



Now you should be able to stay connected to the Internet with all of your computers.



If you can not access the Internet from every computer:



Attempt to log in to your wireless router via your web browser (internet exploder or Firefox) by typing in http://192.168.1.1/

Then log in using admin and admin typically. Be sure to change the password to something of your own choosing.

Enable DHCP by following the instructions in the manual for your wireless router.



You only need one wireless router for you wireless LAN. One wireless router can accommodate up to 253 wireless computers. You can use combinations of wired and wireless routers together but typically one wireless router is sufficient for all your needs.



For security:



1. Don't announce the SSID of your wireless router.

2. Use WPA2 if you can. WPA-PSK if not WPA2, or WEP at the very least.

3. Put the MAC addresses of all of your computers into the MAC routing table of your wireless router and ONLY ALLOW from the addresses in the table of the wireless router.

4. Turn the SPI firewall of the wireless router ON.

5. Filter anonymous or incomplete packets.



If this all seems too complex and complicated to do, use local.yahoo.com to find a wireless network professional near you.

Answer 3

I will explain the difference between wifi and bluetooth

Both use the same frequencies as standard cordless phones and lots of other things

wi fi is used to transmit network computer signals ( usually now the itnernet)

Wi fi goes 300 feet indoors, 1000 feet outdoors ( as a simple rough idea)

Bluetooth also uses those same cordless phone frequencies

It is short range - 30 feet and slower

The beauty is its supposed to be standardized

Before if you got a logitech mouse , it might be different than a wireless whatever

Bluetooth was used in europe for tons of things but never really caught on in the us until cell phones started to use it to connect the cell phones to computers

The last thing i thing you are referring to is wimax

It is wireless internet that covers whole areas

Only available in some places and very expensive to set up

By the way the biggest problem with wifi is neigbours signals drifting in. The boxes are set by default all at channel 6.

You will get a signal but no internet.

Simply change the channel



If you want to learn get a router and a wireless adapter /.s

You can get the adapters for desktop computers - usb are best and easy to install and a wireless router. Laptops can have cards built in ( newer) or a pcmcia credit card slot card

Any brand will do.

Even an older b card ( g is a souped up b) is always faster than the internet



Several places to go read



http://www.seattlewireless.net/



http://groups.google.com/group/alt.internet.wireless/topics?lnk=sg



If you are handy I would get a Linksys WRT54GL router and apply the 3rd party firmware

You can play around plenty with that

All depends how handy you are



Its all here

The newer ( 2 years or so) Linksys g routers cannot do this anymore. The model wrt54gl is the older one





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G



http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php





also http://www.portforward.com/

Unless you have vista no need to get wireless n

Answer 4

wifi is the capbuility to connect to the internet wirelessly...yes you will neen a few wires such as the power adapter for the router and the eathernet cable other that that you will be pretty wireless....bluetooth is for example you have head phones that are blue tooth capable you can go a certain distance away from your computer wirelessly while you are listening to whatever.im pretty sure u would still need a eathernet cable to print if you are going to have wifi..so lets say you have a laptop...that will be totaly wireless...you could sit in a room across the house and get on the internet "totaly" wirelessly...but as for the printer you would need a eathernet cable to go from the router to the printer and a usb cable from the printer to the computer....well i hope that helps!!

Answer 5

wifi is over like a signal like a wireless phone, bluetooth is like haveing no cable, and things like sprint card works by getting a conenction to the nearest tower that supports sprint.



if you just want printing and internet, just wifi, perferably like a wireless/wired router so that printers could be hooked up.



bluetooth is really if u have a bluetooth phone to be able to have an internet connection when u are on the road. then again it's perfect for the bluetooth mice that GREAT range



wifi is enough, just depending on ur range of usage, get a pertaining letter

Answer 6

Hi Mark -



Okay - quick explanation:



(1) WI-FI is a wireless high-speed data connection (if you've ever been in a public place where they have internet access, like Starbucks, that's WI-FI);



(2) Bluetooth is a technology that lets one device take control of another - for instance, if you wanted to use a dial-up internet service, but your laptop had no modem, you could connect your computer to your cell phone and, using Bluetooth, make your computer dial up through your phone. Bluetooth can eliminate the need for wires between devices, but only if those devices are Bluetooth-capable.



(3) Connecting to the internet by Sprint, Verizon, etc. is a high-speed connection, but over that company's network - that means you have to pay for their service (as well as the card - an adapter that lets you connect). This service is separate from your cell phone service or any other internet service you may have (e.g., cable, DSL, dial-up, etc.).



Now, what this means for you: if you want to set up a home office, I don't recommend option 3 - that's best for when you need to be mobile (you'd have internet access anywhere in the company's service area, but only on the one computer with the adapter). The best setup I've found (that I use myself) is to have a home-based high-speed internet service, like cable or DSL. Then, connect the modem (this is provided by the cable or DSL company) to a wireless high-speed router (this you have to purchase yourself). Through this WI-FI connection, all the computers in your office (laptop, desktop, etc.) can share the same high-speed internet service.



If you're still confused or need more info, there is a book called "Networking for Dummies," available at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Networking-Dummies-Doug-Lowe/dp/0470056207/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-9643199-6362839?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188610410&sr=8-1



...or at your local bookseller.



Hope this helps!