Bluetooth is a technology that you have probably come into contact with before. It is useful for transferring data between smartphones and tablets, ideal for connecting portable speakers or even connecting wireless mice or keyboards to your PC or laptop. But how exactly does Bluetooth actually work?
What is bluetooth
You use wireless communication every day without probably realizing it. Your television and radio receive the current program via radio waves, cordless phones transfer calls from the base station to the handset and, thanks to WiFi, your computer sends and receives a steady stream of Internet data to and from a router. With all of these technologies, information is sent back and forth over radio waves rather than copper cables..
Bluetooth is a similar radio wave technology, but it was developed primarily for communication over short distances of less than 10 meters. You can usually use it to exchange media between smartphones, connect a wireless mouse to your laptop or connect a hands-free headset to your mobile phone. Electronic devices that communicate in this way have built-in radio antennas so that they can simultaneously send and receive wireless signals to other Bluetooth devices.
How does bluetooth work?
Bluetooth sends and receives radio waves in a range of 79 frequencies centered on 2.45 GHz, separate from radio, television and cell phones. The short-range transmitters are a big plus point of Bluetooth because they consume practically no electricity and are theoretically more secure than wireless networks that operate over longer distances..
Up to eight devices can be connected to each other at the same time without getting in each other's way. Because each pair of devices uses a different one of the 79 available frequencies. If two devices want to communicate with each other, they randomly select a frequency and, if it is already occupied, randomly switch to another. This technique is called frequency hopping. To minimize the risk of interference from other electronic devices, pairs of devices constantly change frequency - up to a thousand times per second.
Is bluetooth safe?
Wireless communication is always less secure than wired communication. Hacking or eavesdropping over the air is easier than wired connection because information is sent back and forth through the air. You only have to be within range of a radio transmitter to receive its signals. Therefore wireless networks are encrypted. There are also numerous security features that you can use to make your Bluetooth connection more secure: You can restrict devices so that they can only communicate with certain familiar devices. You can also restrict the type of activity a device can perform when connected to Bluetooth. Some devices, mainly smartphones, also have the option of not being visible to other Bluetooth devices when Bluetooth is activated,so that nobody can unintentionally establish a connection to your smartphone..
