Unplugging into Bluetooth access points

Although most people use Bluetooth to connect to devices in a peer-to-peer fashion - connecting two devices directly by using a Bluetooth airlink connection - in some situations you may want to be able to connect Bluetooth devices to your wireless home network itself (or to the Internet through your wireless home network). Enter the Bluetooth access point. Like the wireless access points, Bluetooth access points provide a means of connecting multiple Bluetooth devices to a wired network connection.

Bluetooth APs, like the Belkin Bluetooth Access Point with USB Print Server ($199), have a highpowered Bluetooth radio system (which means that they can reach as far as 100 meters, although your range is limited by the range of the devices you're connecting to the AP, which is typically much shorter) and connect to your wireless home network with a wired Ethernet connection. The Belkin AP also includes a USB print server, so you can connect any standard USB printer to the AP and share it with both Bluetooth devices and any device connected to your wireless home network (including 802.11 devices - as long as your wireless home network is connected to the same Ethernet network).

Moving forward, we expect to see access points with both 802.11 and Bluetooth functionality built in - multipurpose access points that can connect to any wireless device in your home.