Generally, most people have confused Bluetooth as being able to directly provide Internet access to computers once attached. This may have been due to them being confused by Bluetooth’s current capabilities. To clear things up, this article is here to define briefly what Bluetooth is and how exactly it provides internet access.

Bluetooth, generally speaking, works on the same principle as WiFi. Both use unregistered spread spectrum technology. Bluetooth is a device for connecting different devices, eg. mobile phones and computers, handsets and phones, etc., wirelessly. It is meant as a step up from the infrared technology that connected devices before. Bluetooth is more than capable than infrared in its capabilities such as being able to connect devices at greater distances and higher speeds.

Bluetooth is capable also, like WiFi, of providing wireless internet to computers. This can be done by turning a data-capable mobile phone into a makeshift modem for dial-up internet access. The connection is then provided to the computer via Bluetooth which is wireless.

The difference between the two is that WiFi provides higher throughput and covers larger distances at the expense of having higher power consumption and requiring the installation of more expensive hardware. Bluetooth can be used to replace a variety of applications while the purpose of WiFi is just that, to provide wireless LAN access to devices designed capable of hosting it.