Bluetooth and 802.11b Work Side-by-Side

By Susan Hospod
iApplianceWeb
(12/11/01, 11:06:56 AM EDT)

In partnership with The Pennsylvania State University's Applied Research Laboratory, WIRELESS INFOTECH Education Services announces the preliminary results of the Bluetooth/802.11b Range and Interference Study.

The study sought to determine if the similar wireless network applications, Bluetooth and 802.11b, would interfere with one another while being used in close proximity. There is concern within the wireless industry about interference, because both technologies use the same unlicensed, 83 MHz wide, 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio frequency band. Another factor is that the greatest marketplace utilization potential for both technologies places them almost always in close proximity to one another.

Test results show the range of Bluetooth and 802.11b network devices stay the same regardless of their proximity to each other. In this study, conducted in a large manufacturing facility, the determined 802.11b range was approximately 284 feet with or without the presence of Bluetooth. Likewise, the Bluetooth network range was 64 feet regardless of whether the 802.11b device was active. This demonstrated that operating the two devices simultaneously had no effect on the range of the connection for either network device.

Both organizations agree additional tests with varying procedures are necessary to completely determine the likelihood of Bluetooth and 802.11b interference under all circumstances. However, CEO and founder of WIRELESS INFOTECH Education Services, Todd Snyder states that, “The results of this initial test are important because Bluetooth and 802.11 technologies offer tremendous potential for the wireless networking world. However, for the potential to be fully utilized the marketplace must completely understand the technical facts versus the marketing hype. This research simply aims to ease initial technical concerns about interoperability.”