Joebob said:
It's Bluetooth though not standard wireless?
Both operate at the same frequency so can sometimes interfere
Both wireless Ethernet (802.11b), otherwise known as Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth operate in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band. This band is 83.5 MHz wide, beginning at 2.4 GHz and ending at 2.4835 GHz. Although the ISM band is unlicensed spectrum, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States still regulates its use.
Because Wi-Fi and Bluetooth approach spectrum use in different ways, they can cause considerable interference for one another. 802.11 employs a direct-sequence, spread spectrum (DSSS) technology, while Bluetooth uses a frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) technique.
An 802.11b device only occupies about a quarter of the 83.5 MHz bandwidth that's available in the ISM band, and maintains usage of its frequency band only during the actual transmission of data. After the transmission has ended, the frequency band is available for other devices in the network, as well as other users of the band. In other words, 802.11b devices share the channel on a time-division, multiple-access (TDMA) basis. 802.11b defines 11 possible channels with center frequencies spaced at 5 MHz distances. There is some overlap among the 11 channels.
To avoid interference among co-located Wi-Fi networks, distinct LANs are typically operated on channels 1, 6 and 11 (see Figure 1a). With this configuration, three Wi-Fi networks co-located close to one another would not overlap in frequency and, therefore, would not interfere with each other.
As in 802.11b networks, Bluetooth devices in a PAN also share the Bluetooth channel on a TDMA basis. However, in contrast to 802.11b, the Bluetooth channel is not fixed in frequency because frequency hopping is employed. Bluetooth devices hop in a pseudo-random manner among 79 defined channels spaced at 1 MHz distances (see Figure 1b). In this way, Bluetooth occupies the entire band, but at any instant in time, only a small portion of the band is ever occupied. Bluetooth hops to a new channel in the ISM band about 1,600 times a second.
Typically, 802.11b devices are either incorporated into a PC (desktop or notebook) or act as access points for the Ethernet-wired backbone LAN and the Web. As a result, it is economically feasible and effective from the standpoint of data throughput that 802.11b devices have transmission power levels in the order of 100 mW. At this power level, 802.11b can support 11 Mb/s data transfers over significant distances on the order of 100 meters, depending on the construction and other environmental factors where the network is installed.
Compared to 802.11b, Bluetooth is a PAN and was intended for short distance communications between devices in a room where a cable had been used. Examples of Bluetooth applications include wireless PDA synchronization and a wireless headset for a cell phone.
Because Bluetooth supports a lower data rate (1 Mb/s), and cost and current consumption must remain within the range of various low-cost consumer applications, it typically transmits at levels closer to 1 mW. Bluetooth has an option to transmit at higher levels to 100 mW, and this may be found in applications where reaching an extended range to 100 meters is required.
These types of devices are defined as “class 1” devices in the Bluetooth radio specifications. By transmitting at the highest power level, class 1 devices would create more interference than Bluetooth's class 2 and class 3 devices, which transmit at lower power levels.
Overlaying the spectrum use techniques of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth shows that the two technologies have the potential to interfere with each other, depending on the relative location of the 802.11b and Bluetooth devices. Because each Bluetooth PAN will occupy the entire ISM band, two or more coexisting Bluetooth PANs will occasionally collide, possibly causing loss of data packets.
http://www.hp.com/rnd/library/pdf/WiFi_Bluetooth_coexistance.pdf
Hope that clears it up
lol
Basically they can interfere with each other in the same way that i read about the problems with wireless speakers operating at 2.4 Ghz effecting WiFi modules.
