Bluetooth has been around since the late 1990s and it still sits at the heart of most Lansitec solutions. We lean on it for low power, short range, and easy pairing, while LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, and LTE handle the long haul. Over time, each Bluetooth version has changed something specific: speed, range, power, or new tricks like low energy and distance measurement.

Below is a compact walkthrough from Bluetooth 1.0 to 6.0, plus a short FAQ about compatibility and upgrades for existing Lansitec devices.

Classic Bluetooth: 1.0 to 3.0

The first three generations focused on replacing cables between phones, PCs, and headsets.

Bluetooth 1.0 / 1.1 / 1.2 (1999–2003)

• Data rate up to about 1 Mbps with a typical range of around 10 m.
• Operated in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which is license-free worldwide.
• Early interoperability issues were gradually solved, and adaptive frequency hopping was added to reduce interference. ⁽¹⁾

Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (2004) and 2.1

• Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) tripled the raw data rate to around 3 Mbps and cut power per bit, so headsets and keyboards felt more responsive.
• 2.1 introduced Secure Simple Pairing, which made pairing both safer and more user-friendly. ⁽³⁾

Bluetooth 3.0 + HS (2009)

• Added a “High Speed” mode that used Wi-Fi for big file transfers, with nominal throughput up to 24 Mbps at short range. ⁽³⁾

In short, 1.x to 3.0 solved cable clutter and improved speed and security, but power consumption was still too high for tiny, battery-powered sensors.

Bluetooth 4.x: Low Energy for IoT

Bluetooth 4.0 is where IoT really enters the story.

• Bluetooth 4.0 (2010) introduced Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), a separate radio and protocol stack optimised for very low power and short, infrequent data bursts. ⁽¹⁾
• Typical BLE data rate is 1 Mbps with ranges up to tens of meters, while power usage is low enough for years on a coin cell, which is why wearables and beacons suddenly became practical. ⁽⁴⁾
• 4.1 and 4.2 refined coexistence with LTE, improved IPv6 connectivity and added better security and data rate options for IoT devices. ⁽³⁾

From a Lansitec point of view, this is the generation that made BLE beacons and tags viable for indoor tracking and presence.

Bluetooth 5.x: More range, more speed, more broadcast

Bluetooth 5.0 and its minor updates took BLE from “nice for wearables” to “serious for industrial IoT”.

Bluetooth 5.0 (2016)

• Up to 2 Mbps LE PHY for double the throughput compared to 4.x.
• Coded PHY with forward error correction, which sacrifices speed to gain up to four times the range compared to 4.x in many conditions.
• Up to eight times more advertising data capacity, which is a big win for smarter beacons and sensor broadcasts. ⁽⁶⁾

Bluetooth 5.1 to 5.3

• 5.1 added Direction Finding (Angle of Arrival / Angle of Departure) so you can locate tags more precisely, which we already use in our AoA gateway deployments.
• 5.2 and 5.3 refined LE Audio, multi-stream audio, and power optimizations. ⁽¹⁾

Bluetooth 5.4 (2023)

Focused on large fleets of simple devices, such as electronic shelf labels or sensor swarms:

• PAwR (Periodic Advertising with Responses) for low-power, one-to-many, bidirectional communication with thousands of nodes.
• Encrypted Advertising Data (EAD) so only authorized devices can read broadcast payloads.
• LE GATT Security Levels and improved coding choices for long-range advertising. ⁽⁵⁾

This is exactly the era Lansitec works in today: BLE 5.0 beacons and gateways feeding LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, or LTE backhaul for asset tracking, RTLS, and livestock applications. Examples on our site:

• LoRaWAN Indoor Bluetooth Gateway with Bluetooth 5.0
• Solar Bluetooth Gateway based on Bluetooth 5.0
• NB-IoT & LTE-M Indoor Bluetooth Gateway with BLE 5.0

Bluetooth 6.0: Smarter, not just faster

Bluetooth 6.0 (released August 2024) is more about intelligence and precision than big headline speeds.

Key additions:

• Bluetooth Channel Sounding: Devices can measure distance using phase-based ranging and round-trip timing, with accuracy often quoted down to tens of centimeters, rather than the half-meter level you get from RSSI-based estimates in Bluetooth 5.
• Decision-Based Advertising Filtering and Monitoring Advertisers: Scanners can quickly decide which advertising streams to follow and receive controller-level events when specific advertisers appear or disappear. That reduces wasted scanning and saves battery in crowded RF environments.
• ISOAL and timing improvements: Enhancements to the isochronous adaptation layer and negotiable frame spacing help with lower latency and more stable time-sensitive data such as LE Audio. (2)

So, the evolution from 1.0 to 6.0, very simplified, looks like this:

Version group	Main focus of improvement	Typical effect
1.0–2.x	Basic wireless cable, then higher data rate and better pairing	Short-range audio and peripherals
3.0	High speed via Wi-Fi	Faster file transfers
4.x	Low Energy (BLE)	Years of battery life for small sensors
5.0–5.3	Range, speed, direction finding, LE Audio	Industrial IoT, RTLS, richer audio
5.4	Massive low-power broadcast fleets	ESL, large sensor networks
6.0	Precise distance, smarter scanning, lower latency	Digital keys, high accuracy tracking, denser deployments

References and further reading:

• (1) Wikipedia
• (2) Bluetooth® Core 6.0 feature overview
• (3) The WIRED Guide to Bluetooth
• (4) Mokosmart guide on versions 1.0 to 6.0
• (5) Bluetooth® Core 5.4 Technical Overview
• (6) Bluetooth® Core 5.0 Feature Enhancements