OT: 802.11b or Bluetooth access points in T.O.?

[Austin]

On Tue, 2004-11-02 at 09:33 -0500, Steve wrote:
> I want to set up
> a short-distance wireless network in my home so that with a handheld,
> I can access my PC and internet. Would BT be OK for short-range like
> that (less than 30')? I don't mind wi-fi, but I've found that it is a
> little cheaper to get a BT-handheld than a wi-fi one.

For home net, it's hard to beat wifi.  Why not just set up a wifi
network (routers are so cheap these days), and get a USB BT dongle for
one of your PC's?  Talk to your handheld with that.

> On another note, does anyone use a USB bluetooth access point
> connected to their PC running any linux distro?

Yep.  I'm actually the bluetooth maintainer for Mandrakelinux.  As far
as kernel/library/hardware support, you just plug it in, and it works.
I think it's the same on RedHat.  For file transfers and scanning for
other BT devices, both gnome and kde have decent frontends.  BT mice,
keyboards, ppp connections, rfcomm and other networking stuff works, but
is much trickier to set up.

Austin

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