Black Box Explains… Bluetooth.
If you use low-power radio communications to wirelessly link phones, computers, and other network devices over short distances, it’s likely those devices use Bluetooth® technology.
Bluetooth, named for a Danish king who ruled more than 1000 years ago, is a technology that primarily supports simple wireless networking of personal devices and peripherals like wireless headsets, mobile phones, and PDAs. Bluetooth devices generally communicate at speeds less than 1 Mbps and are divided into three power classes.
Class I Bluetooth devices are considered long-range units. They have a range of up to 100 meters (328 ft.) and a maximum power output of 20 dBm.
Class II Bluetooth devices have a standard range of up to 10 meters (32.8 ft.) and a maximum power output of 4 dBm.
Class III Bluetooth devices are definitely built for short-range communication, with a range of up to 10 centimeters (3.9 in.) and a maximum power output of 0 dBm.
Bluetooth networks feature a dynamic topology called a piconet or PAN. These networks contain a minimum of two to a maximum of eight Bluetooth peer devices that use protocols that are part of Bluetooth standard. The current Bluetooth standard is version 2.0, and it’s actually the specification’s third version, following its 1.1 and 1.2 incarnations.
Although the Bluetooth standard uses the same 2.4-GHz range as 802.11b and 802.11g, it’s much slower than Wi-Fi, more limited in range, and supports fewer devices.