Difference Between WiFi & Blue Tooth?

Both use radio signals to transmit data.  Bluetooth generally will talk to a specific device, i.e. cell phone to head set, wireless mouse and/or keyboard to pc, etc.  Wifi is more network oriented. Both methods use different signal protocols. 

I'm sure there are others on the list that can give a more detailed description.

Steve

See the short and succinct paragraph titled "Bluetooth vs WiFi" at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth

The most basic differences that set WiFi apart from Bluetooth are its greater range, much higher data transmission capacity, and security. As technology moves forward some of the features that formerly set Bluetooth and WiFi apart have become blurry - for instance:

- whereas WiFi has always been recognized as a method of connecting computers to a network, and Bluetooth was simply for low speed communication between a computer and peripheral devices (or a phone to a headset), it is possible for Bluetooth devices to be connected to a network as well.

- as the cost of implementing WiFi network access into devices has dropped, many "peripheral" devices can now provided with their own built in WiFi network access - even light bulbs.

Bill:

Good question.....

I will use a few examples to describe.

WiFi - it is used mostly to connect your PC or tablet to the internet.  In your house, the wifi may come from the box that your internet provider supplied.  It has a unique electronic address and you or others can access it by inputting a password.  Typically, you or the person who installed the wifi signal box will set it up so that the password is really long and only known to you.  That way others will not try to use it or hack into your computer devices.

Blue Tooth is typically used for your earpiece so that you can talk to people using your phone.  You can operate many of the call and receive functions of the phone with the blue tooth ear piece.  Many cars allow you to connect your phone through a blue tooth within the car.  It requires you to 'pair' your phone and the blue tooth together through a series of questions.

In either case, if using a phone or tablet there are menus on each of those devices to walk your through how to pair up the blue tooth or get the device onto a network.

Blue tooth, as Bachmann plans to use it, will also allow you to use your Apple product to communicate to your train.  You will have an application (called an "app") that you can download free onto your Apple device and using it then connect via the blue tooth signal to the train.  The app will have intuitive visuals to control the train.  and you can click on features (horn, bell, etc) as well as things you need to do (like connect it to the train).

Hope that helps.

I was wondering this myself.

So could an app (to run our trains) be developed for a Kindle?  I have a Kindle that is wifi capable (just downloaded "Arduino for Dummies").  This was my wife's kindle and now that she's gone (passed away in May) I thought I'd try to get some use out of it.  I had to "recover" the battery the other day since it's been sitting idle for several months but got it back fine.