5. Bluetooth

Updated August 2002

This technology has had a rough birthing process, but manufacturers seem to finally be getting real products out that actually work! Bluetooth is not really intended to be a wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, but more aimed at providing nearly automatic connectivity among small groups of devices without a formal network infrastructure. Think of it as something that could wirelessly enable your PDA to print to a nearby printer, or your connect your cell phone to a headset. That being said, there a few Bluetooth Access Points available that can essentially connect a Bluetooth-enabled PDA or laptop to an existing Ethernet or even wireless LAN.

Although Bluetooth is picking up steam, it has some maturing (and price reducing) to do. One of the newer obstacles that may be holding things back is the mismatch in the connection profiles that various Bluetooth products support. As Bruce Brown points out in his excellent ExtremeTech Bluetooth article, not all devices support all thirteen of the connection profiles that the Bluetooth 1.1 standard specifies:

Generic Access Profile Service Discovery Profile Cordless Telephony Profile Intercom Profile Serial Port Profile Headset Profile Dial-up Networking Profile Fax Profile LAN Access Profile Generic Object Exchange Profile Object Push Profile File Transfer Profile Synchronization Profile

As you can see from the list, although some profiles may not make sense for certain devices, you'd better hope the Bluetooth adapter that you purchase supports them all! Note that some manufacturers have also developed proprietary profiles, which can complicate your Bluetooth-enabled life even further.

2002 started out to look like a make-or-break year for this technology, but as the year has progressed, Bluetooth has not switched gears. We've started to see more Bluetooth enabled products such as Bluetooth-enabled printers and print adapters, and Bluetooth cellular headsets. But prices are still high, and new Bluetooth-enabled products are still relatively few in number.

Recommendation: If you've got the money to spend (Bluetooth adapters can be two to three times more expensive than 802.11b), you might pick up some Bluetooth equipment to experiment with, but don't make it the basis of your WLAN.