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0 pointsmasklinn3y ago0 comments

> How is WiFi so much more reliable than Bluetooth?

WiFi uses near 10x the power Bluetooth does when active (and that’s before factoring in BLE which cuts that down in half). WiFi also has access to the much less crowded 5GHz band.

IIRC WiFi is also a much simpler protocol, it’s just a data channel (its aim being to replace LAN cables).

Plus in order to support cheap and specialised devices Bluetooth supports all sorts of profiles and applications. This makes the devices simpler, and means all the configuration can be automated to pairing, but it makes the generic hosts a lot more complicated.

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Reventlov3y ago

>IIRC WiFi is also a much simpler protocol, it’s just a data channel (its aim being to replace LAN cables).

I'm not sure what do you mean, but Wi-Fi covers the PHY layer and the MAC layers. It's not « only » a data channel. Modern Wi-Fi uses OFDMA, which is arguably more complex than what bluetooth uses (without even talking about the MAC).

kortex3y ago

I think WiFi is better abstracted and layer-delineated though. Wifi has a lot of complexity but it largely feels like necessary complexity, and the physical layer, data layer, and application layer all mostly stay in their lane. Bluetooth is a mishmash of accidental complexity with physical layer leaking data layer abstraction, and the application/data boundary is even more blurred. Instead of dumb pipes, you have to worry about codecs and the like, of which there are myriad vendor specific ones.

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