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802.11G/N, bandwidth, powerconsumption VS bluetooth.

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ssjwizard

Has slightly less legible writing than Thideras
Joined
Mar 12, 2002
So I am working on a new device in my spare time, and initially I wanted to use BT4.0 standard for connectivity. However the 24mbit/sec limit is kinda an issue, and with distance and noise really its more like 12mbit/sec for design purposes and may not be suitable for my design.

So theoretical maximum bandwidth of the standards:

BT 4.0/5.0 24mbit/sec
802.11G 54mbit/sec
802.11n 54-600mbit/sec depending on implementation

Assuming a fair to low amount of interference and about half max distance lets assume for argument sake that all of the values are halved. Lets also assume I intend to broadcast a signal that will max out this halved value at all times. Also assume that everytime the bandwidth limit is reduced it increases processor load on both the server and client side of things which in turn will drain both batteries faster.

Broadcast range limits:

BT 30 feet
802.11 150 feet

Power requirements:

I am still looking into this, but I assume that 802.11 g,n,ac probably use around the same amount of power with the same antenna.
If anyone can provide numbers for this I would greatly appreciate it.

I was able to find a bit of information regarding 802.11 power consumption HERE its a very long and wordy read, but my takeaway is that peak power consumption on 802.11 is around 2W.

And with a bit of googling BT seems to have a peek power consumption of around 20mw.

What I do know is that BT broadcast uses a significant amount less power than 802.11 but in the grand scheme of things is this really relevant with current battery tech????

One of my concerns if I go with 802.11 is compatibility. I know these days its more about the transition to AC, so I assume that 90% of the tablets and phones out there made in the last 2 years or so probably equipped with 802.11N support, but I cant find any real statistics for this. It is also a backwards compatible standard so in theory if I were to equip my device with 802.11N and the broadcast device only supported 802.11G I could handle this in software, but the sudden change in bandwidth limits could really throw a wrench into my design...

Further if I do equip this device with BT capability and don't use it for the incoming stream that frees it up to be used for broadcasting to satellite devices. This is assuming that BT bandwidth is a lump sum and not a per channel thing. If in fact it is per channel then this point is invalid. If anyone knows and can point me to documentation that would be AMAZING
 
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