Bluetooth Range Extender

Hi,

I just moved and somehow in the new coop where I am stationed, the new bluetooth insert (never did bluetooth before) in my tower just scans and doesn't find a network.

We are "piggybacking" off of the nextdoor neighbor (friendly agreement) and my room is probably too far from his router (or whatever it is called).

I noticed at Mediamarkt a "Bluetooth Range Extender" which I am thinking you just plug in on the fringe of the signal to extend the signal my direction a little bit more.

Do these babies work really well?
I use pretty much bandwidth over a VPN (virtual private network - 110 MB resting over two hours), will this be ok?

Do Bluetooth Range Extenders vary? What should I look for?
What does a normal one cost?

Thanks for any input.

t.

Even at it's most powerfull class (3 I believe) BT only has a range of 100m. The best thing to do is to use WiFi, not Bluetooth. The connections speeds are also greater.. BT also maxes out at around 500-600bps. which is very slow for surfing and file xfering. IMNSHO, the range extender isn't worth the $ and waste of time.

Bluetooth is designed as a PAN (Personal Area Network), and best suited to relaying wirelessly low bandwidth signals from computer/phone to remote device in a < 10 m range.

The bluetooth system uses the same radio band as WiFi 802.11.b+g, and ultimately they interfere with with other.

I use bluetooth for my computer keyboard, mouse, GPS receiver, telephone headset and autosyncing my PDA with my PC.

For large files, download times are very slow cos even with the new Bluetooth, the bit rate is 2.1 Mbits per second, and thats using up all 8-slots.

Get a WiFi connection, you'll find it better. A WiFi base costs about 100 euro, and can get a USB WiFI stick for arount 20 euro to complete the connection..

Bluetooth 1.0 and 1.0B
Versions 1.0 and 1.0 B had numerous problems and the various manufacturers had great difficulties in making their products interoperable. 1.0 and 1.0B also had mandatory Bluetooth Hardware Device Address (BD_ADDR) transmission in the handshaking process, rendering anonymity impossible at a protocol level, which was a major setback for services planned to be used in Bluetooth environments, such as Consumerium.

Bluetooth 1.1
many errata found in the 1.0B specifications were fixed.
added support for non-encrypted channels.
Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)

Bluetooth 1.2
This version is backwards compatible with 1.1 and the major enhancements include

Adaptive Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (AFH), which improves resistance to radio frequency interference by avoiding the use of crowded frequencies in the hopping sequence
Higher transmission speeds in practice
extended Synchronous Connections (eSCO), which improves voice quality of audio links by allowing retransmissions of corrupted packets.
Host Controller Interface (HCI) support for 3-wire UART
HCI access to timing information for Bluetooth applications:

Bluetooth 2.0
This version is backwards compatible with 1.x. The main enhancement is the introduction of Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) of 3.0 MBps. This has the following effects (Bluetooth SIG, 2004):

3 times faster transmission speed (up to 10 times in certain cases).
Lower power consumption through a reduced duty cycle.
Simplification of multi-link scenarios due to more available bandwidth.
Further improved BER (bit error rate) performance.

Thanks for the input.

I still have a few-part question:

1.
It sounds like I should "switch" to WiFi. It is just that we are piggybacking off of the neighbor. Should I assume he would have to get a WiFi base? (I am assuming yes here). Or can I get some kind of "base" to convert his signal? His ignal is bluetooth, oder?

2. Will the other to roommates be able to receive a WiFi sgnal on their laptops? (I am assuming they will have to get the WiFi insert and that their built-in laptop receivers are all bluetooth - am I wrong?)

3. Also, my little bluetooth insert says it is good for 10m. Should I just go get a 100m one, or would that only lead to frustration later when I try to download a movie and it takes a lifetime?

Please drop bluetooth as an option for networking as described by several posts.


Yes, you should switch to WLAN, this connection requires a hotspot/wireless router on your neighbor side, and a WLAN module on your side. getting a used wireless router would cost around 30 Euros (please review TT posts) and less than that for your WLAN card or whatever in your side. Last word about the conversion: once there is a bluetooth connection in the middle it will be a bottlenck, also the cost for these kind of conversion is comparable to the cost of WLAN connection.


It depends on the router configuration, you can control access to the netwrok either by MAC address, so only certain laptops can login, or by some soft key. or you can leave it open if you want.


as we are talking about WLAN, there is no meaning for their receivers to be bluetooth.


whatever it's 10m or 100m, it's not the choice for large bandwisth communication, not to talk about movies!!

If you want a quick solution, go for WLAN router, and check your computer for WLAN capability, if not, get a WLAN card and go on.

Whoever decided that sharing the internet to multiple people via bluetooth was a good idea, was an idiot.

I swear a re-affirmed the question to the dude at MediaMarkt twice (as in two times):

Also, mit mehreren Users es wird dann doch tadellos funktionieren?
(OK, so you are telling me that it will work without a hitch with multi-users?)

Anyway, now I have a €20 bluetooth insert which I probably won't use. (ps. It locates my cell phone.)

get yourself a bluetooth headset, then you can use your bluetooth dongle and use things like SKYPE and MAC talk wirelessly. The SKYPE could then be using the WiFI to link back to the server.

WiFi is the best for networking.

Bluetooth is designed for low bandwidth, low power applications and best for those apps.

@Tomasino
The sales guy gave you a line of crap. Bluetooth is a Point 2 Point tech.
Take the 20 Eur as a loss and do some research before going out and buying stuff. Perhaps also goto a different store. One where they actually know WTF their talking about.

Here's the deal. Perhaps a confession of sorts:

I told the guy I had a router and needed a wireless adaptor for my tower and he immediately grabbed this belkin bluetooth adaptor off the shelf
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage...oduct_Id=273109

and handed it to me.

Anyway, as it turns out, the people in my new place are already using WLAN or LAN, I do not know. I found this in the kitchen closet turned on with the "LAN" light on - shouldn't it be "WLAN"?

dwl-g710


So I guess I am perhaps sorted?

Can someone say what I need to get for my workstation then?

Anyway, for those who need the schematic:

if your work station not already have WiFi built in, then you can get a WiFI USB dongle. Make sure it is 802.11b+g compatible. then you're away.

Thanks everyone!

Woohoo! If this works out, a round for everyone (when you skoot down to Vienna)

Going to the store first thing tomorrow morning.

So, up to 54MBps! Are we back to Limewire capabilities? (movies and such). Oh and work, VPN.

Back tomorrow...

Umm, Maybe.. thats 54mb shared between all WLAN users on the network. And that's actually Megabits, Not Megabytes. After the network and IP overhead overhead, its' more like 10mb thruput. Still faster than Bluetooth..