Insteon vs Bluetooth | Difference between Insteon and Bluetooth
This page compares Insteon vs Bluetooth and mentions difference between Insteon and Bluetooth with respect to various comparison parameters.
Introduction: Both Insteon and bluetooth are indoor technologies. Insteon supports both RF and Powerline modes. Bluetooth supports RF (i.e. wireless) mode. Bluetooth series of standards are developed and managed by bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group). Insteon technology based products were launched by company called Smartlabs. Later subsidiary of Smartlabs by name "Insteon" has been created to market the products based on Insteon technology.
Difference between Insteon and Bluetooth
Following table mentions comparison between Insteon and Bluetooth with respect to various parameters.
| Features | Insteon | Bluetooth |
|---|---|---|
| Data Rate | 13165 bps (Instantaneous powerline), 2880 bps (Sustained Powerline), 38.4 Kbps (Instantaneous RF) | 720 Kbps (v1.2), 1 Mbps (BLE v4.1), 2 Mbps (BLE v5.1) |
| Physical layer | RF, Powerline or both | RF |
| Operating Frequency band | 915 MHz (US), 131.65 KHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Modulation type | FSK in RF PHY, BPSK in Powerline PHY | GFSK |
| Range (Indoor) | ~90 meters unobstructed LOS using λ/2 dipole antenna | 30 to 50 meters (indoor) |
| Security | Unique addressing with unique ID codes, AES-256 for message encryption | 128 bit AES |
| Number of nodes | Unlimited (Theoretically), 1000 (Practically) | 8 |
| Network Configuration | Full mesh | Star |
| Risk of Data Collision | Medium | High |
| Energy consumption | Medium | High |
| Controller Failure | Remote access failure | Complete network failure |
| References | insteon.com | bluetooth.com IEEE 802.15.1 |
Summary: Insteon is mainly used for smart home automation and monitoring and control applications. It allows to control number of devices such as lights, switches, plugs, keypads and sensors of different types using RF, Powerline and both. Bluetooth is used to transfer data of various types such as files, audios, videos, images between different electronic devices within small distances. Insteon can be used in wired as well as wireless medium where as Bluetooth is designed to work only in wireless medium.