They should not have anything in common at all.
BUT
A few days ago, a fellow simmer and i tried buddy lasing, and i've done it like a hundred times in the past. But that day, it never hit the target when i lased for him, only when he lased for me.
I always use the latch method. The only explanation i can come up with is that i was too far away, or perhaps there is a bug with latch mode. The "L" is flashing, but the laser is not firing.
If you watch the IR pointer on a night mission you see that it stops mid air if you are far away from the target. Perhaps the laser is limited in range too.