Bluetooth USB Adaptor help...

**jzcombo** · 07-13-2005, 09:47 PM

I am looking into picking up a Bluetooth USB adaptor for my pc tomorrow...
anyone have any brand suggestions? Any known problems?

http://www.jr.com/JRSectionView.proc...arch=bluetooth

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....equestid=88453

**Spike05** · 07-13-2005, 10:29 PM

look around the web, you will be surprized to find that not all of them are any good.

People are having problems with installation and some of them are limited as to the number of different items that can be attached or controlled by the adapter.

Read some of the reviews such at cnet.com, pcmag.com, etc.

I think JR's prices are too high - look at Cnet.com, pricegrabber and other price comparison sites........also look at newegg......buycom, etc.

So far I'm leaning to CNET Inc.'s CBD021 at newegg for $ 23.00 or CBD101 at buycom for $ 26.40.

CNETUSA

good luck

**CBMC** · 07-13-2005, 10:48 PM

I got this from newegg.com. Came to only 6.99 after rebate which included shipping(only $1.99 at newegg).

**jzcombo** · 07-14-2005, 06:10 AM

Can everybody who owns one please post which make and model you have and if it gave you any problems? just give your experience. It would help a lot. Thanks in advance...

**PorkRind** · 07-14-2005, 08:36 AM

Ambicom BT2000C-USB ($30 at CompUSA). Rather than installing the drivers from the included CD, I downloaded the latest from their web site. No problems at all; DUN and file transfer work just fine.

**Jeremyt05** · 07-14-2005, 10:09 AM

I have one that came with my Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set thats been giving me problems, I'm using mpt 3.19e1. Every time I try to setup a Bletooth phone it wants to install widcomm drivers, but it still doesn't find my BT dongle. I have tried uninstalling the MS drivers and vice verse, but now luck. I love the keyboard and mouse set, and I can also dial out via BT but MPT will not work with it for some odd reason.

**ecko04** · 07-14-2005, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by jzcombo

Can everybody who owns one please post which make and model you have and if it gave you any problems? just give your experience. It would help a lot. Thanks in advance...

I use the Motorola BT Dongle amd it works flawlessly with MPT 3.25b,,,the latest version. I bought it off eBay for $40 I believe. I don't know much about BT but I suggest getting the Moto Dongle..it works and works well. If you have any questions just ask me!

**ecko04** · 07-14-2005, 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by Jeremyt05

I have one that came with my Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set thats been giving me problems, I'm using mpt 3.19e1. Every time I try to setup a Bletooth phone it wants to install widcomm drivers, but it still doesn't find my BT dongle. I have tried uninstalling the MS drivers and vice verse, but now luck. I love the keyboard and mouse set, and I can also dial out via BT but MPT will not work with it for some odd reason.

Have you tried running the various BT fixes for SP2 if that's what you're running. That could be the problem also you're not using the latest version of MPT and that could also be the problem. If you check your drivers and they're running a generic driver then that could also be the problem as that would create a driver conflict in MPT and you'll need the fix for that. I learned most of this by reading http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=674803 just check it out something in there may help you with this problem.

**Mark_Venture** · 07-14-2005, 12:33 PM

I have TWO different Ambicom BT2000C-USB dongles working just fine...

Ambicom BT2000C-USB (S/N: BT3321000001 ~ BT3341999999). Generic CSR bluetooth radio. Bluetooth HCI 1.0/1.1. Uses Widcomm* 1.3.2.7 drivers. Supports Audio Gateway,Headset, PIM Synchronization,Fax,File Transfer, PIM Item Transfer, Dial-up Networking, and Bluetooth Serial Port services.

and...
Ambicom BT2000C-USB (S/N: HT0439ABC-0001 ~ HT0439ABC-2000). Broadcom BCM2035 bluetooth radio. Bluetooth HCI 1.2. Uses Widcomm* 3.0.914 drivers. Supports Bluetooth Imagaing, Audio Gateway, Headset, PIM Synchronization, Fax, File Transfer, PIM Item Transfer, Dial-up Networking, Network Access, and Bluetooth Serial Port services.

*The Widcomm software is tied to hardware via device serial number. Due to this, you can only use the software that comes with your dongle or has been provided by the hardware manufacturer's web site. While the older BT2000C-USB can actually use the 3.0.914 drivers, it is not licensed for use and will result in an error message and the BT Services will not start. A license HACK can be applied to make it work. Once applied, however, some of the newer services provided by the newer driver may not be available with the older hardware. However, the benifits of bug fixes/updates because of the newer driver are there. Also, lets say you have an Ambicom BT2000C-USB that came with Widcom 1.4.2.10, and you have a Belkin USB dongle that came with Widcom 1.4.2.10. You can NOT use the Belkin software with the Ambicom dongle or vice versa due to these licensing restrictions.

Many of the Belkin, MSI, D-Link, Billionton dongles and some others use Widcomm drivers. Its just a matter of which version of the Widcomm drivers they have. Widcomm drivers/stack tend to be the "best" or easiest to work with, and many people have these that it makes it easier to find "help" on the web that give exact walk throughts.. There are other drivers including Bluesoliel and the VERY BASIC support built into WinXP SP2 that are also ok. THen there are some dongles that come with horrible bluetooth stacks that are either buggy, unstable, or so different, the don't work that well.

**jzcombo** · 07-14-2005, 12:39 PM

whats the difference between the adaptors and the dongles?

**fincher** · 07-14-2005, 01:02 PM

I use the D-Link USB BT adapter on the last Mac I have without built-in BT.

**Mark_Venture** · 07-14-2005, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by jzcombo

whats the difference between the adaptors and the dongles?

Well... There are "built in" bluetooth radios (which are just a card inside the PC), USB Dongle (like what the USB memory keys look like) and Compact Flash cards (can also plug into a PCMCIA/Cardbus slot). Not sure if there are other "form factors" or not.

Basically they are all the same thing... Kind of like how you can get PCI, USB and CardBus network cards...

**jzcombo** · 07-14-2005, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Mark_Venture

Well... There are "built in" bluetooth radios (which are just a card inside the PC), USB Dongle (like what the USB memory keys look like) and Compact Flash cards (can also plug into a PCMCIA/Cardbus slot). Not sure if there are other "form factors" or not.

Basically they are all the same thing... Kind of like how you can get PCI, USB and CardBus network cards...

Oh ok... I was only asking "adaptor" because that is the word for the item they used for the item. But I guess it was actually a dongle.