Differences between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in home automation
You can have many devices home automation in your home. Some are simply sensors, such as temperature, while on other occasions they are more sophisticated devices, which in turn allow connection with many other devices. An example of the latter can be a smart oven or a television.
Those devices are going to use some kind of connection. You will be able to control them via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi technology. But you must bear in mind that there are differences and it may be that for what you are looking for one or the other option will not work for you. Therefore, you must choose very well in case you have both options. Of course, there are other protocols such as ZigBee or Z-wave that may also be present, although they are less convenient to be able to control them by mobile.
Let’s take as an example a digital thermometer that we want to put in our home. Maybe you even have several satellites that we can spread out. There may be with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection. In the first case, to be able to read the data or give some kind of order, such as turning it on or off, we need to connect the mobile via Bluetooth to that device. This means that we must be in the reach rangeso we need to be physically at home.
On the other hand, if a thermometer or any other device has a Wi-Fi connection, they can connect directly to the router. In this way, by configuring the corresponding mobile application, we can access it remotely through the Wi-Fi router and, thus, control that device. We do not need to be at home, but simply have an Internet connection. Therefore, here is the first difference.
Another point to highlight is the ability to send and receive data. Perhaps in the previous example it is not so important, since we are simply going to send or receive information about the temperature, humidity and time. But think of another device that is going to send much more data. For example, it can be a smart speaker, to which we can send audio, as well as a video player. In these cases, it is undoubtedly much better that they work over Wi-Fi, since Bluetooth is slower.
As you can see, in those first two cases Wi-Fi clearly wins. It is more advantageous to have home automation devices that use this technology over Bluetooth. But as often happens, not everything is always positive. It should also be mentioned that devices in a home that connect via Bluetooth will consume less battery than if they connect via Wi-Fi. For example, a small thermometer with a button battery can be working perfectly for a year.
conclusions
As you can see, you can find smart home devices that work both via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The objective of both cases is to be able to control them from the mobile, but you must take into account the differences in terms of distance, energy consumption and ability to send data.
Therefore, choosing one or the other option will depend on what type of device you are going to use and what you need. In this way you can choose the one that suits you best and you will not have problems of limitations.
