Information, specifications, tips, and solutions for Bluetooth technology.

 

Q:   What is Bluetooth wireless technology?

A:  Bluetooth Wireless Technology is a short-range communications technology intended to replace the cables that connect portable and/or fixed devices, while maintaining high levels of security.

 

Q:  What’s the difference between Bluetooth V1.2 and Bluetooth V2.0?

A:  V1.2 is the old version adopted in November, 2003. V2.0 is the current version with the EDR (enhanced data rate) technology, which has a data transfer rate that can be up to 3Mbps in V2.0 (verses 1Mbps for V1.2).

 

Q:  What’s the range for a Bluetooth device?

A:  There are three classes for Bluetooth devices and their respective ranges:

• Class 1 devices have up to a 100-meter (300 feet) range.
• Class 2 devices have up to a 10-meter (30 feet) range.
• Class 3 devices have up to a 1-meter (3 feet) range.

 

Q:  I have a Bluetooth device, but how do I know if it is compatible with your Bluetooth USB dongle?

A:  The Bluetooth USB dongle included in the G-NP720 package is developed according to the Bluetooth V1.2 specification. Any device which is developed by V1.2 or V2.0 specs should be able to work with the USB dongle. If you don’t know which specification your Bluetooth device is designed to, you can go to http://qualweb.bluetooth.org/Template2.cfm?LinkQualified=QualifiedProducts to find out. (The G-NP720 uses the module designed by Asia Pacific Microsystems Inc. Please use the key word “APM” to check the device at that link.)

 

Q:  Can I pick up an incoming cell phone call from my Bluetooth headset, while I’m using my Bluetooth headset to listen to the music or on a Skype call on my computer?

A:  No. Most of the Bluetooth devices can only be paired with one device at a time. You will need to remove the pairing between your computer and the Bluetooth headset first, pair your headset to the cell phone, and then take the incoming call. Normally this would take more time than most phones allow before the call goes to voicemail.

 

Q:  I cannot pair my Bluetooth headset with my Bluetooth USB dongle. What can I do?

A:  If this is the first time you are using this package, please make sure that the headset has been fully charged (minimum of 8-14 hours for the first charge) before using it. If the battery is too low it cannot provide enough power for the headset to generate a strong enough signal in most cases. If the headset unit is fully charged, please follow the steps in the installation guide to pair the headset and USB dongle.

 

Q:  My Bluetooth headset and USB dongle cannot be paired in a Windows XP SP2 system. What can I do?

A:  Anders @ Skype forum has a great step-by-step trouble-shooting guide posted (see the link: http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=10822). With permission, we have posted it here for your convenience. See below and read a master at work.

 

   (Edited 10th of September 2005)

 

I have bought a Logitech Bluetooth Headset Pro (HS01) and an X-Micro Bluetooth dongle for my PC - AND IT WORKS GREAT!

 

Getting there was however quite troublesome with a lot of "trial and error", but once you know the tricks, it takes less than ½ hour to set it up, so I would like to share my experiences with you. This is how to go ahead under XP SP2 (at your own risk):

 

1) Buy a Bluetooth version 1.1 or version 1.2 dongle with Class 1 reach ("up to 100 meters"). The brand of the dongle is not important (as long as it is not Sony Vaio!), but it is very important to check the specs of the dongle to make sure it supports "headset" services. You should go for Bluetooth version 1.2 if possible, as it has better headset support and is less susceptible to WLAN interference.

 

My dongle uses the Widcomm drivers and as far as I know, all Widcom drivers from version 1.4.2.10 and up support headsets. Alternative drivers are from BlueSoleil, but I don't know much about them (search the Forum for tips on BlueSoleil!).

 

2) Download latest drivers for the dongle from the producers' website (if avaliable).

 

3) Make an XP back-up point (just to be sure).

 

4) Install the dongle using the latest drivers for your dongle according to the manual and then reboot. In most cases, Bluetooth is NOT working correctly now - the Widcomm Bluetooth "B" icon in the system tray (lower right of your screen) is red. You might also see a white and light blue "B" icon, but that is the Microsoft Bluetooth (bad!).

 

This is how your Bluetooth icon should look when you have completed the steps below - compare with the MS Bluetooth icon:

 

This is the Microsoft Bluetooth icon - follow the steps below to disable.

 

The Widcomm Bluetooth icon is red when the Widcomm driver needs a manual update (follow the steps below).

 

Added note September 2005: Many Bluetooth dongle producers are now aware of the troubles with Microsoft drivers and have added functions in the drivers that do automatically disable the MS BT drivers, so you might be lucky that everything works fine (white non-MS BT icon) right after installing the drivers. If not continue to the next step!

 

5) Go through "Start" > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "System" > "Hardware" > "Device manager" and then expand "Bluetooth devices". You will most probably see two different Bluetooth drivers - one from Microsoft and a "Generic" or "CSR" (or other) driver.

 

6) Disable the Microsoft driver - DO NOT remove! This is the problem with XP SP2 - Microsoft Bluetooth drivers will allways be installed and will override Widcomm drivers, but they have no support for headsets! If you remove the driver, it will reinstall again if/when the dongle is reconnected, so do only disable. Hopefully one day soon MS drivers will support and work with headsets and the Bluetooth headsets will finally just be "plug and play"...

 

An ALTERNATIVE step 6 (more complicated but technically better) is posted by Kevoh92 in this thread: http://forum.skype.com/viewtopic.php?t=14646

 

7) Right-click on the "non-MS" Bluetooth driver and choose "Update driver...". Click along in order to get to where you can manually select the driver for your dongle (the "Have disk..." option). Point to the file called "btwusb.inf" on CD or in downladed driver files and update with this driver. Reboot only if necessary. Bluetooth "B" icon in your system tray should be white now - if that is the case, then non-MS Bluetoth is now working on your PC and you're half-way through!

 

This is how your Bluetooth icon should look - now you're ready to play!

 

Note: The Microsoft Bluetooth icon will always remain visible in the control panel (root directory), but that is no problem!

 

8 ) Activate Bluetooth on your PC and pair with your headset according to the manual (quite simple but it takes a few steps). Experience shows that it is a good idea not to activate the "audio gateway" profile, but only the "headset" profile. If you know that you need other profiles for e.g. file sharing over BT or other stuff, then do activate those profiles, but keeping it to a minimum will surely minimize the risk of setup errors!

 

9) Close Skype completely, restart Skype and then choose "Bluetooth Audio" as sound input and output in Skype.

 

10) Connect your headset from the PC (Right-click on BT icon on the lower right of the screen, choose "Fast connection" > "Headset" and then choose your headset). Receive the incoming call on the headset itself (press "accept call" button when you hear a repeating sound in the headset). If the Bluetooth "B" in the system tray goes green, you're nearly there! Your headset is now in "call" mode so it does consume battery at the highest rate (my Logitech still has power for 6 hours in this state). All audio on your PC now goes through the headset.

 

11) Make a test call to Skype profile "echo123" and do a test recording.

 

12) If your hear audio and your own recorded testcall, you're done! CONGRATULATIONS!

 

_______________________________________

 

13) If you hear the nice lady, but not your own test call (or just noise), then it is most probably because you do not have the latest Bluetooth driver installed. If you hear nothing at all, check carefully if you did all of the above once again - or you might not have a Bluetooth 1.1 dongle (in that case - bad luck!).

 

14) Did you download the latest driver from the producer of your dongle? If not, do so and go to step 16. Widcomm 1.4.2.10 does sometimes work fine, but you're better off, if you can get a Widcom 1.4.3 or 3.0.1.xxx driver.

 

Added note September 2005: Widcomm Bluetooth drivers used to be available from many Blutooth dongle producer's websites, but because a lot of people cross-downloaded drivers from other producers' websites, it is now nearly impossible to find BT drivers on the web which are not locked to the producers own dongles (through MAC address) or in other ways password protected. It is therefore important that you buy the rigt dongle (see step 1) in the first place!

 

16) When you have found a more recent Blutooth driver then unzip/unpack the files in a re-findable directory (do not run any install.exe or other exe-files in the unzipped folder). Then repeat steps 7 to 12 and you should be up and running!

 

_______________________________________

 

With my headset and class 1 dongle, my whole house is covered with a fairly good sound quality (sort of like a cellular phone). Even with 15 meters to the dongle and a 15 cm concrete wall in between, a conversation is by all means possible. What a great addition to Skype!!!

 

However, DO NOT expect the crisp Skype quality that you are used to using a wired headset - most BT headset users are slightly dissappointed with the sound quality! Sound quality seems to depend a lot on the driver and on the headset.

 

Only downside - you have to repeat step 10 above (only) before I start using the Bluetooth headset after each reboot of my PC, but I can then use it for any number of consecutive calls (until battery runs out after 6 hours!). Alternatively, you can buy "SkypeHeadset" (www.skypeheadset.co.uk) for 10 GDP / 15 EUR / 20 USD and then your BT headset will connect automatically at each call. I use it and it works well on my PC, despite some driver problems with my Nokia PC Suite...

 

A tip: Shut down your BT headset using the on/off button on the headset before shutting down you PC - in that way all sound settings are set back to default on your PC instead of all sound getting directed to the BT headset.

 

I believe that the above procedure will work for most headsets and Bluetooth 1.1 dongles.

 

If you use my tips and it does not work, please post in this thread in order to get the problem-solving concentrated here. Once your problems solved, please post again to confirm. In that way, we'll get a little smarter every day

 

Just wanted to share this great experience!!!

Anders, Denmark

 

Last edited by AMP on Sat Sep 10, 2005 9:11 am; edited 22 times in total

 

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