If you use a laptop, phone, or any modern electronic device, you may see the Bluetooth and WiFi symbols. WiFi and Bluetooth are two different standards for wireless connection. What is the difference between Bluetooth and WiFi? Read this post focusing on Bluetooth vs WiFi and MiniTool Solution will show you many details.
Is Bluetooth the same as wireless? Certainly not. Let’s see what these terms mean.
What Is WiFi?
WiFi is a wireless Internet technology and it is used to connect your devices like computers, mobile devices, and other devices in the LAN to the Internet. To use WiFi, you need to use a wireless router and type in a WiFi password.
The WiFi signal strength depends on how good your router is. Usually, your device can access a WiFi signal from up to 300 feet away. That is, the device can be connected to the Internet wirelessly when in a WiFi hotspot.
What Is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is a wireless technology that is usually used to exchange data between fixed and mobile devices within a short amount of distance. For most Bluetooth devices, the maximum connectivity range is about 30 feet. When there is an obstacle like a wall, the distance is reduced.
Usually, you can connect head units, speakers, keyboards, headsets, and printers to a phone, tablet, or computer via the Bluetooth connection. The devices connected through Bluetooth are secure.
WiFi VS Bluetooth: What Is Difference?
What is the difference between Bluetooth and WiFi?
From the definition, you know WiFi needs a password but Bluetooth won’t need it. The distance of Bluetooth is shorter than WiFi. Bluetooth allows you to exchange data while WiFi is used to connect to the Internet. The purpose of its design is different.
Besides, as for Bluetooth VS WiFi, you should also think of the speed. Usually, Bluetooth is slower than WiFi and offers less bandwidth. This is why Bluetooth audio quality is low. But WiFi allows you to stream high-quality video content, music, and large data.
Furthermore, there are some other differences, and let’s see a table.
WiFi VS Bluetooth: A Comparison Form
| Bluetooth | WiFi | |
| Cost | Low | High |
| Bandwidth | Low | High |
| Security | Less secure comparatively | The security feature is better but there are still some risks |
| Power consumption | Low | High |
| Flexibility | Supports a limited number of user | Supports for a large number of users |
| Hardware requirement | Bluetooth adapter on all the devices connecting with each other | Wireless router |
After reading this part, you know what the difference between Bluetooth and WiFi is.
In conclusion, they are wireless technologies used to connect your devices but Bluetooth is only used to connect your devices to each other while WiFi is mainly used to connect your devices to the Internet.
Bluetooth is best suited to low-bandwidth applications and it is used for short-distance wireless communication while WiFi provides a long-range and cost-effective way to connect to the Internet and it supports a large number of users.
Final Words
What is the difference between WiFi and Bluetooth? After reading this post that focuses on WiFi vs Bluetooth, you know much information. We hope this post is helpful to you.
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Vera is an editor of the MiniTool Team since 2016 who has more than 7 years’ writing experiences in the field of technical articles. Her articles mainly focus on disk & partition management, PC data recovery, video conversion, as well as PC backup & restore, helping users to solve some errors and issues when using their computers. In her spare times, she likes shopping, playing games and reading some articles.