Giving up on Bluetooth

[wilsonch_98]

After playing with BT for 2 days, I am really disappointed on BT.

The best bluetooth doggle I can get is 300feet from belkin. But I can't even get it to talk to my TG50 from next level of my house.

PPP connection is to much hazzle. Have to use Mocha, connect through BT com port to connect to internet. (Somehow Win XP doesn't work well with the networking pref on my TG, which makes me use Mocha)

NetFront crashes, now, I have to not only restart, but even need to hard rest, as my bluetooth and network tab in pref no longer function.

ICQ on palm is hopeless. The user interface is so limiting, making it very hard to send a message or sms.

BT Hotsync run very smooth. But the range limitation still applies. When I try to sync just about the max range, the hotsync manager on PC would gone crazy, just keep starting up and disconnect...

GPRS cost is way to expensive (at least in Sydney, Australia) AU$22 per Mb is outrageous. (Approx US$11)

My overall experience with BT is : :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

What I am looking forward is: SMS with BT. use the TG to connect to T68i, then send sms with drawing out the phone. (unfortunately, i don't have a BT phone nor T68i)

Sorry for the long message.

[HotSpot]

Me too got many problems. I don't have a T68i. I have a 6310i. And someone has suggested that I have the OS of the phone updated.

Plus my service provider is O2 here in UK.

And the buttons are not loosening up either. Should I put drops of baby oil on them?

[alan98]

Originally posted by wilsonch_98
After playing with BT for 2 days, I am really disappointed on BT.

The best bluetooth doggle I can get is 300feet from belkin. But I can't even get it to talk to my TG50 from next level of my house.

>>Well, 1 guy got a longer range than another...So how? Keep them within the safe range of 10m.

PPP connection is to much hazzle. Have to use Mocha, connect through BT com port to connect to internet. (Somehow Win XP doesn't work well with the networking pref on my TG, which makes me use Mocha)

>>I managed to find out how to do PPP here on ClieSource without having to use mochappp. Try do a search....Seek and you should find;)

NetFront crashes, now, I have to not only restart, but even need to hard rest, as my bluetooth and network tab in pref no longer function.

ICQ on palm is hopeless. The user interface is so limiting, making it very hard to send a message or sms.

>>I'm quite ok with this

BT Hotsync run very smooth. But the range limitation still applies. When I try to sync just about the max range, the hotsync manager on PC would gone crazy, just keep starting up and disconnect...

GPRS cost is way to expensive (at least in Sydney, Australia) AU$22 per Mb is outrageous. (Approx US$11)

>>Well I agree with u. This is a bit high to pay.

My overall experience with BT is : :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

What I am looking forward is: SMS with BT. use the TG to connect to T68i, then send sms with drawing out the phone. (unfortunately, i don't have a BT phone nor T68i)

Sorry for the long message.

[quiksilver]

wilsonch_98,

BT is meant more for pairing with a Bluetooth-enabled cellphone to access email and other documents, than for surfing around the house. Admittedly it is expensive (GPRS charges, that is).

If you want to surf around the house, you really should get a WiFi-enabled Clie and the WiFi card, and use it with a wireless LAn in your house. I really doubt surfing with a Bluetooth dongle is any good, simply because of the much more limited range.

Just my 2 cents.

[Unregistered]

this is a common misunderstanding.

bluetooth - bascially needs line of site, or without major (walls) obstructions. you cannot use bluetooth between 2 floors of a house, unless you have bluetooth access points as well.

wifi - does not need line of site, and can be used in many rooms/floors. based on your post, this is the more applicable use for you.

otherwise, in non-us countries where many more bluetooth phones are available, the more common use is bluetooth phone to pda, and in these cases as you pointed out, it is expensive. you find many of such users, using business phones and expense.

[wilsonch_98]

Thanks for everyone's reply.

First to alan, I did do a search. Some guys said that Win XP have to use Mocha...And that's why I have figure out I need to use Mocha. well anyway :)

I think after reading all those different thread on using BT to surf the web have make me loose what I believe on BT as well. Now you have remind me that BT is not meant for that kind of use.

Now, what I need is a Wi-Fi MS, so that I can connect to my WiFi access point at home.....

Really hope sony could come up with one...but they seams so devoted to BT, I guess I have to wait for 3-party to fulfill my need. (Even not sure it will reach Australia or not!!)

PS. I am going to return my bluetooth doggle to the shop. :)

[graph101]

I have BT success with t68i, funSMS and TT. At first it was hard but now ive set t68i to have it ON all the time and made sure the some of the preferences are set right.. its really cool. cant wait to get my TG50 and type long texts.

nex thing is BT headset and dongle.
http://ebay1.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_b1b56402f766ba28b25a0a46bc432731/i-1.JPG
is this a good dongle?

[nsingleton]

I think the problems are more related to Bill Gates software than BT. I have spent many hours getting it to operate correctly. I now have correct operation between my Vaio (win 2k), my T68i, and my TG50. I can sync my phone to MS Outlook from anywhere in the house. My Vaio even detects my neighbours BT Nokia when he's in. One day Microsoft may support it correctly.

[VCodePony]

bluetooth - bascially needs line of site, or without major (walls) obstructions. you cannot use bluetooth between 2 floors of a house, unless you have bluetooth access points as well.
This is wrong. Bluetooth does not need line of site. If you really want to use Bluetooth for web surfing from your PDA, the best (and in my opinion only) way to do it is with a Bluetooth Access Point. While some are pretty expensive ($300 US), Belkin's model can be found online for about $125 US. By using this access point, I have been able to connect the following devices all over the main and second levels of my house:

SonyEricsson T68i (2)
Nokia 3650
Palm Tungsten T (3)
Sony Clie TG50 (4)
WinXP Home PCs w/Belkin Bluetooth Dongles (3)

I no longer use the TG50 because the keyboard wasn't reliable. I replaced it with an NX60 and have a Bluetooth Memory Stick coming next week.

[graph101]

What you need to do to buy a 15ft USB extension for your dongle and place it in the middle of a room with 10meter radius so that you can have the optimum range.

[kusumo]

I can surf with BT from another room (blocked by 2 walls). The distance is about 5m away.
But if I move away behind another wall, 7m away, BT stop responding...
I wonder if the dongle location has any impact..coz currently the dongle is attached to my PC which is a bit hidden under my desk.
I was wondering if using a USB cable extension and put the dongle up high will produce better transmission....

[nsingleton]

The BT devices that will appear in the very near future are expected to have a range of around 100m. I think it's well worth spending a bit of time trying to get it to work properly. Their is enough info on the net to help you out if you have problems

[ClieNewbie]

Ok I just want to share my experiance with you about blue tooth.

I have a TG50
Im running windows XP Pro
I bought an IOGEAR USB BT Dongel
I am surfing the internet fine and sending and reciving mail. No problem. Some things that helped me figure this whole thing out when i was trying to get it going :

BT has two types a Type 1 device and a Type3 device(I think thats what they are) The type is classified by the amount of power(electricity) that the device can use for blue tooth. A PDA is a type3 because of the small amount of power it runs on. Type 3 devices can only communicat at 10m and type1 devices (laptops, access points) can communicate at 100m.

In order to surf the web, you must use ICS (Internet connection sharing). ICS must be enabled on the connection that you are sharing. For instance right click on "my network places" goto properties. Right click on the connection that is connected to the internet (i havent had any luck trying this on a dial up, my netfront appears to freeze but after a couple mins it gives me an error) goto properties click on the advanced tab, then enable internet connection sharing. After you do this you should see your blue tooth network adapter's IP change to something like 192.128.0.1 .

On the Clie side I did these things

Enables Blue tooth
Created a new network connection VIA BT with no username and no password
Added my laptop as a trusted device (have to type the same passwords on both devices for this to work)

And thats about it I think..
If you have any qestions email me
the_war_zone@yahoo.com

[Beseb]

You don't have to use ICS to share the connection, it is certainly an option, but not the only solution. For some, this won't work because they may already be behind a NAT server (which is my situation).

You can also share your net access by letting the PDA connect to your PC through the "Incomming connection" service, which you can set up to use a BT serial connection.

I can get net access from the 2 most important places in my house - the bathroom and the living room couch...:)

[slortar]

LOL - that's on the verge of "too much information" :)

[GuRoo]

Bluetooth is proving to be the trickiest bit of technology to come along in quite a while.

I rely on it almost exclusively, I have gotten rid of avery possible wired device and replaced it with bluetooth, right down to my ADSL Router, which is now the Invensys BlueDSL

HOWEVER

With bluetooth, you get what you pay for. DO NOT BUY CHEAP BLUETOOTH GEAR

I had the belkin usb adaptor, and nothing worked reliably. I replaced that with a TDK usb unit, and it's phenomonal. Because my computer is near a window, I can hotsync from at least 50 metres away outdoors, and 10 metres indoors.

It has taken me a considerable amount of time to set my system up correctly, but now it works flawlessly.

I have the TG50 hotsyncing vie the TDK adaptor, at home I surf the web and email through the bluedsl unit. While out, I surf, email, sms, and dial my clients all from the clie through my T68i, which stays keylocked in my pocket thanks to my Jabra headset.

Please don't think I'm showing off, (but you gotta admit.. it's pretty cool) I'm merely trying to demonstrate that this can all be done, it just takes a bit of perseverance and the right equipment. Cheap bluetooth equipment really does give cheap results.

[wilsonch_98]

I am happy for you guys to be able to take full use of BT.

Just the situation here in my house is a lot different. I have a very confined house, with many walls and 2 floor. This townhouse setup have made it impossible to let BT connect from more then 1 room or 1 floor distance. I use the 100m Belkin adaptor, and it doesn't help me at all.

I manage to set my BT connection up to use all the function, but the range problem is a big reason I just return it. Now I am really looking forward to the WiFi MS...