Rick,
Bluetooth is spec'd as Class I (~100m), Class II (~10m), or Class III (~1m).
It's primarily targeted at connecting peripherals, like a printer, scanner,
PDA, keyboard, mouse, etc., which are commonly within such range. While you
may find some Class I devices, most are class II. Even so, we're talking
line-of-sight here.
It's been a while since I saw a Bluetooth adapter, but beware, even if you
could find a decent Bluetooth Class I device, throughput is typically less
than 1mbps (plenty for most pheripherals, but less than ideal for file
transfers or the Internet). That's pretty bad compared to even good ol'
802.11b, which itself is dirt cheap these days (thanks to replacement by
802.11g in many places).
But the killer for Bluetooth (as of today) is the lack of Windows
integration. Because it isn't integrated as a network device (like 802.11x
is), Bluetooth devices require proprietary software to accomplish even the
most rudimentary and mundane tasks! Unlike like a PCI ethernet card or
802.11b/g wireless card, something as simple as transferring files requires
THEIR application(s) (and these are not standardized among vendors either).
It's not as if the device shows up in your list of Network Connections, and
for good reason, Windows doesn't KNOW it *is* a network device. Thus, you
can't implement Windows networking/shares, can't use DUN (dial up
networking), can't access ICS (Internet Connection Services, for Internet
access), etc. Whatever Windows networking functions are available is
totally dependent on bridging applications provided by the Bluetooth device.
Perhaps with the next release of Windows (Longhorn?) such integration may be
added and all these proprietary apps will go bye-bye, but right now, it
doesn't exist. The following is a typical review of such a device, note the
emphasis on applications, and the lack of discussion concerning Windows
network integration (
http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review_print.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD0zODI= ). Notice how even darn thing you want to do had better have a Bluetooth
app, or you're out of luck!
I'm sure Bluetooth has its usefulness even today, but I think a lot of
people are under the misimpression that these devices are comparable to
other devices, like 802.11b/g, they're not, not until Windows integrates
Bluetooth (assuming they ever do). Until Windows becomes Bluetooth "aware",
use of Bluetooth will remain very clumsy. That's why the Bluetooth
advocates are egging MS to get on-board w/ Bluetooth support, so this
clumsiness can be eliminated. But regardless, it will NEVER compete w/ the
802.11x products performance-wise for one simple reason -- it's not spec'd
to.
Have a look at this review (
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/bluetake/bluetake_usb_dongle/video_review.htm ),
it's a little old, but it illustrates my points.
Jim
