I think the 802.11b and Bluetooth will become a VHS vs. Betamax
battle, with
Bluetooth well in the driving seat at present. Anyone disagree?

Hi Dennis,

When we built the device we considered both Bluetooth and 802.11. One
of our requirements was supporting multiple devices simultaneously
wirelessly (mainly laptops but also PDA's). Bluetooth can't do that
using the serial profile. You can only have one device (with the serial
profile) connected to the server at a time (like a virtual serial
cable).

At around the same time we were talking with some interested parties
(mostly in the US) and all of them already had laptops with 802.11 and
a few had wireless PDA's, the majority with 802.11. In the US Bluetooth
hasn't taken off nearly as much as I would have hoped. We also wanted a
strong transmitter for good reception on larger yachts and commodity
802.11 200mW transmitters and external antenna's are more readily
available in the US.

Anyhow, if the bluetooth serial profile had supported a special 1 to
many mode I think we would have gone with Bluetooth. Once we realized
we were going to probably do it over TCP/IP anyhow (since our next
planned product is a dual wireless instruments server and wireless
access client to connect to shoreside internet while at anchor), then
802.11 became a more natural fit for us.

Anyhow, that's the background of why we ended up going 802.11 instead
of Bluetooth.

-Todd
http://www.marinewireless.us