Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Which tethering method to use

thuchu1

thuchu1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 16, 2010
155
22
Auburn Hills, MI
Now that both the 4S and iPad have Bluetooth 4.0, I was wondering which method - wifi or Bluetooth - is the more energy efficient method for tethering. I have heard Bluetooth 4.0 uses much less power, but wasn't sure if this held for the standard as a whole, or just low power types of transmissions like broadcasting text info vs. sending wireless data.

Thanks for the help!
 
Bluetooth, wether 4.0 or not will be more efficient.

It will also have a lower maximum speed than wifi.
 
No matter which should be faster technically, in my real world testing Bluetooth between a 4s and iPad is significantly faster than wifi
 
Bluetooth has much better battery life and a more limited distance. As for speed run speed test.net app on the tethered device. I don't think you will see much of a difference.
 
noteple said:
Bluetooth has much better battery life and a more limited distance. As for speed run speed test.net app on the tethered device. I don't think you will see much of a difference.
Click to expand...

I just tested both with my 4s and iPad 1 and here is the results:

Bluetooth:
download -- .75
upload -- .69

WIFI:
download -- 1.67
upload -- .75

Not sure if these are conclusive, but for me WIFI is somewhat faster.

Have a good day,
HiddenPuppy
 
For casual browsing, Bluetooth is fine. For streaming movies, go with wifi.

It should also be said that FaceTime won't work over Bluetooth tethering but WILL work over wifi tethering.
 
HiddenPuppy said:
I just tested both with my 4s and iPad 1 and here is the results:

Bluetooth:
download -- .75
upload -- .69

WIFI:
download -- 1.67
upload -- .75

Not sure if these are conclusive, but for me WIFI is somewhat faster.

Have a good day,
HiddenPuppy
Click to expand...

I got similar results.
 
Nice, I didn't know the native tethering would work iPhone to iPad over Bluetooth. Might save me a little juice.
 
Tethering from iPad to iPhone over Bluetooth is not possible though, right?

Because no matter how many times I try, my iPhone is not seeing my iPad over Bluetooth. Am I doing it wrong?
 
technosexual said:
Tethering from iPad to iPhone over Bluetooth is not possible though, right?

Because no matter how many times I try, my iPhone is not seeing my iPad over Bluetooth. Am I doing it wrong?
Click to expand...

iPhone to iPad via Bluetooth works fine. Are you using the built in Hotspot? Which iOS are you running on both?
 
technosexual said:
Tethering from iPad to iPhone over Bluetooth is not possible though, right?

Because no matter how many times I try, my iPhone is not seeing my iPad over Bluetooth. Am I doing it wrong?
Click to expand...

If you have jail broken devices (both of them) then buy MyWi for $20, or even better MyWi on Demand for $25. It allows the following tethering.

1. WIFI tethering
2. Bluetooth tethering
3. Bridged tethering. Say your on an airplane, want to share a paid Internet connection, this works great!!
 
technosexual said:
Tethering from iPad to iPhone over Bluetooth is not possible though, right?

Because no matter how many times I try, my iPhone is not seeing my iPad over Bluetooth. Am I doing it wrong?
Click to expand...

I have a 4s and an iPad1 and bluetooh works fine for tethering. Slow as my numbers in another post indicate, but it does work.

Have a great day,
HiddenPuppy
 
Remember you are only going to see the fastest bluetooth speeds and the lower power consumption if you are linking two bluetooth 4 devices together, i.e. iPhone 4s with iPad 3rd gen. Using any other combination of idevices will force the bluetooth connection into a legacy mode and you will see speed go down and power requirements go up. With a bluetooth 4 connection I think the max on paper connection is supposed to be 24 Mbit/s.
 
Necro thread sorry.
Looking for more info.

Recently connected my iPoune 5 and iPad 3 using Photosync app to transfer photos and it went dog ass slow, definitely not 25mbps.

:( did Apple only implement super low power BT4.0 and not the higher bandwidth as well?
 
Ok, wiki says BT3.0 has to specifically state +HS and that 4.0 includes it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth#Bluetooth_v3.0_.2B_HS

Ifixit confirmed broadcom chipsets 4330 and 4334 for iPad 3 and iPhone 5
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Wireless-LAN/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions/BCM4330
http://www.broadcom.com/products/Wireless-LAN/802.11-Wireless-LAN-Solutions/BCM4334
4.0+HS all around

That means should get 24mbps theoretical between them... Or around 9.6mbps at the Application Layer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back