BLE V.S Wi-Fi
The IoT business has evolved dramatically over the last decade, and one subject that has been revolutionised by IoT is wireless communication. Among the different forms of wireless communication, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) stand out as not only the most extensively used but also strong competitors. A simple comparison of these two technologies would provide greater insight into how BLE is gaining an advantage over Wi-Fi.
1. Accuracy
Bluetooth Beacons have a +/-1m accuracy. In retail, for example, Bluetooth technology allows you to tell the difference between a customer looking at suits and a customer looking at swimwear, which changes the way you interact with them. Due to the high power levels of WiFi signals and the spread of WiFi access points, good precision from Wi-Fi is uncommon. Even in the best of circumstances, accuracy is unlikely to be greater than +/-10m and is frequently closer to +/-15m.
2. Power Consumption
When compared to Wi-Fi devices, Bluetooth devices consume less power. This is most likely due to the broadcasting range of both technologies. BLE beacons have generally range upto 30 feet, while Wi-Fi signals can travel up to 10 times farther requiring more power as compared to BLE. Wireless communication that takes places between smart phone and BLE beacon consume approximately 4% less power as compared to the Wi-Fi,resulting in extended battery life.
3. Offline Access
BLE Beacons are basically designed for detecting proximity without the use of data connection, Wi-Fi and phone signal. So without any internet access, user can be navigated, which is a unique way to enhance in-venue visitor experience plus sometimes Wi-Fi gets overloaded when we have a lot of users connecting to it.This thing also puts the weight to BLE Beacon side.
4. Cost
BLE Beacons are much cheaper and easy to deploy.But on the other hand, Wi-Fi routers are expensive and their cost may vary depending upon manufacturer and configuration etc.However,to get Wi-Fi into working,we need to configure and connect the router to a power source. Beacons, on the other side are available at as low as $10 with a battery that last long from 6 months to 2 years. In a nutshell, BLE Beacon clearly gets an upper hand when it comes in term of cost.
Conclusion
wireless communication between smart devices can happen when a number of good technologies remain in concert with each other. BLE is probably the most commonly used one, and more capabilities are added to it to enhance its performance. It is more suitable when you want to exchange simple data, not any large files or videos.
