Posted by
Hemos
on from the making-wireless-really-work dept.
LupeROD writes "Here's a story that shoulders the responsibility of trying to convince us all that the spectrum wars between 802.11 and Bluetooth are bogus and the truth, be it obscured, is that 802.11 and Bluetooth are really compadres.""
But Bluetooth does nothing I want to do
by
Zeinfeld
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
The big idea of bluetooth appears to be to make my cell phone talk to my laptop. Rather than stick a bluetooth card in my laptop, buy a new $600 cell phone and then try to get the two to talk I would get a GPRS card for the laptop. Calling plans will soon adapt to that use, they have in Europe.
In the home there are very few devices that I would want to have on a wireless network that do not have an AC cord attached - so power consumption is not a big issue.
The other problem with Bluetooth is that it tries to define its own stack for everything. The developers appear to be part of some OSI holdout 'IP will go away' group.
On the security side 802.11b screwed it with WEP, only that does not matter that much because you can still use IPSEC. With Bluetooth the security model is homegrown as is the encryption algorithm. If someone wants to make a name for themselves in the crypto world go hack the Bluetooth crypto.
The author of the piece is a well known bluetooth developer. When a group like that suddenly starts saying 'we can work together' it is pretty much an admission that the other side has established a dominant market position that can't be reversed.
If there is genuinely a need for a low power Wireless lan then I would much prefer that someone do 'low power 802.11b' rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel.
--
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
As free as the air
by
Erris
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Communication over such distances requires relatively high-power transmissions, and, because of that, a license for a specific frequency band. Typically, carriers pay a fee for a license to transmit at certain power levels in a particular frequency spectrum.
Or so some would have it. Is anyone else getting sick of fees to do anything marginally useful? The ariwaves are public property and should be used for the public good, not simply to raise revenue for private companies. Whatever "standards" are adopted, let's see to it that the air itself is free.
-- DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Bluetooth and 802.11
by
SrlKlr
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Bluetooth not only lowers throughput in a 802.11b network, but if too many pico net form, it can actaully bring it down. Bluetooth started as a wire replacement, but it seems to have many more possibilities today. The best solution for Bluetooth and 802.11 is move 802.11b to 802.11a. 802.11b uses 2.4 GHz to communicate (thats also what microwaves use). Because of that, 2.4 is not regulated throughout the world. 802.11a can reach speeds up to 54 Mbps, so it will be replacing 802.11b, which can only do 11 Mbps. The good thing about 802.11a is that it tranfers at 5 GHz, so there is no interference with Bluetooth. This seems to be the best fix between the two protocols, if only 802.11a was a bit cheaper...
Re:Bluetooth does AT LEAST one thingI want to do
by
Nater
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Making a wireless LAN with Bluetooth is just a pointless as making an 802.11b enabled phone.
Yes, except that an 802.11b enabled phone would effectively be a VoIP cell phone. If the freenets have their way, you could set up your own VoIP gateway back at home on your broadband connection and have your very own cellular phone, sans air time charges. Naturally, it would be a little flaky and a little limited compared to the commercial cell networks, but you did hear me when I said sans air time charages, right? The same goes for contracts.
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In the home there are very few devices that I would want to have on a wireless network that do not have an AC cord attached - so power consumption is not a big issue.
The other problem with Bluetooth is that it tries to define its own stack for everything. The developers appear to be part of some OSI holdout 'IP will go away' group.
On the security side 802.11b screwed it with WEP, only that does not matter that much because you can still use IPSEC. With Bluetooth the security model is homegrown as is the encryption algorithm. If someone wants to make a name for themselves in the crypto world go hack the Bluetooth crypto.
The author of the piece is a well known bluetooth developer. When a group like that suddenly starts saying 'we can work together' it is pretty much an admission that the other side has established a dominant market position that can't be reversed.
If there is genuinely a need for a low power Wireless lan then I would much prefer that someone do 'low power 802.11b' rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
Or so some would have it. Is anyone else getting sick of fees to do anything marginally useful? The ariwaves are public property and should be used for the public good, not simply to raise revenue for private companies. Whatever "standards" are adopted, let's see to it that the air itself is free.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Bluetooth not only lowers throughput in a 802.11b network, but if too many pico net form, it can actaully bring it down. Bluetooth started as a wire replacement, but it seems to have many more possibilities today. The best solution for Bluetooth and 802.11 is move 802.11b to 802.11a. 802.11b uses 2.4 GHz to communicate (thats also what microwaves use). Because of that, 2.4 is not regulated throughout the world. 802.11a can reach speeds up to 54 Mbps, so it will be replacing 802.11b, which can only do 11 Mbps. The good thing about 802.11a is that it tranfers at 5 GHz, so there is no interference with Bluetooth. This seems to be the best fix between the two protocols, if only 802.11a was a bit cheaper...
Making a wireless LAN with Bluetooth is just a pointless as making an 802.11b enabled phone.
Yes, except that an 802.11b enabled phone would effectively be a VoIP cell phone. If the freenets have their way, you could set up your own VoIP gateway back at home on your broadband connection and have your very own cellular phone, sans air time charges. Naturally, it would be a little flaky and a little limited compared to the commercial cell networks, but you did hear me when I said sans air time charages, right? The same goes for contracts.
And besides, all those issues will be solved eventually.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer