Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

When dealing with wireless devices, you will come across the words ‘Wi-Fi’ and ‘Bluetooth’. Wi-Fi is an abbreviation of Wireless Fidelity and a pun on Hi-Fi or High Fidelity. It connects computers and other devices, such as phones and tablets, to networks and the internet. Bluetooth can connect a limited number of wireless devices over a short distance. Table 2 compares Wi-Fi with Bluetooth.

Table 2: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth comparison.
Wi-Fi Bluetooth

Form of wireless communication that can connect any number of devices

Forms of wireless communication that can only connect up to seven devices to each other

Connection is secured through a router

Does not depend on a central device to work

Wirelessly connects devices to the internet

Pairs two devices together (such as a wireless speaker and a smartphone)

Wirelessly connects to a local area network (LAN)

Communicates between devices

Wi-Fi signal can be accessed up to 300 feet away

Permanent, short-range, secure connection

Wi-Fi enabled devices can connect to the internet wirelessly in an area with an accessible Wi-Fi signal

Does not usually require the internet

A wireless adaptor, sometimes called a Wi-Fi dongle, allows you to access hotspots. A hotspot is an area where Wi-Fi access is available. This may be through a home network or a public network in places such as restaurants or airports.

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A Wi-Fi sign with the tagline ‘use it anywhere’.

Many computers now come with a wireless adaptor built in. If you don’t have one, you can connect a wireless adaptor using a USB port. The image below gives you some idea of what it might look like, but there is no standard design.

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A wireless adaptor

Activity: A closer look at network connections

Timing: Allow about 5 minutes

Watch this short video from OpenLearn that shows the hardware that connects your home computer to the internet.

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Transcript

INSTRUCTOR
Hello. I’ve just been sending a few emails – one to my friend in Portugal, one to my sister who lives about four miles away, and one to my husband. He’s working upstairs in the study. Today, it’s my turn for the kitchen table. But we just needed to exchange a few diary dates.
I’ve also paid a few bills online. I’ve booked an airline ticket. And I’ve been looking up some information on the internet.
You know, I’ve been using this technology for years now. But I’m still in awe of the way it all works. And I wonder whether you are too. The way our emails get to the right destination. The way we can access information from almost anywhere. And the way all our devices will talk to each other. Somehow we take it all for granted, don’t we?
In this house, we got what I think is probably a typical home network setup. There’s a device that I’m going to call the home gateway now. It’s connected by cable into our telephone socket.
It’s this device that gives us access to the internet. So gateway is a good name for it. But quite often, it’s also referred to as a home router.
My husband and I have both got laptops. We can connect them directly into the home router, but more often than not, we connect them wirelessly. We’ve got a wireless printer. We’ve both got smartphones. We’ve both got tablets.
And all these devices can talk to each other from more or less anywhere within the house, though we do have a few dead spots. This collection of interconnected computing devices in a fairly small geographical area is known as a local area network, usually abbreviated as LAN. In this session, we’re going to take a closer look at that device that is at the heart of the home LAN: the home gateway, or home router as it’s sometimes called.
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Internet hardware

Searching on the internet