Bluetooth Blanket Coverage for Headsets

[silkshadow]

What I want to do is have bluetooth cover my whole apartment so I can use my bluetooth headsets anywhere in my home. Is this possible? I know about the Bluetooth access points and they assign an IP to bluetooth devies. However for headsets I need pairing not IP, I think. Or is there a way to pair using an access point?

I have multiple computers (no surpise there) so maybe I can attach class 1 BT dongles to all of them and cover my apartment. However, I need the 'data' the headset is passing to route to my home server. Are there ways to do this?

I was thinking the best solution would be a single bluetooth dongle attached to my server and an antena of some sort. However, I've been searching but can't find something that works like that. Also, my apartment is made of concrete and is decently sized. Is there an antena that would be powerful enough to do that and not kill my Wifi network?

I'd appreciate any ideas, no matter how outlandish (of course it also needs to be implementable ;)). Bascially, I want to use this bluetooth network for voice recognition/home automation and VoIP services. Thanks!

[lennytiger]

well they're bringing out new 100m+ range bluetooth dongles...
That would help your range from PC to PC... however your headset's range may not cover up to 100m but certainly if you are nearby a machine than all should be well

[lennytiger]

well they're bringing out new 100m+ range bluetooth dongles...
That would help your range from PC to PC... however your headset's range may not cover up to 100m but certainly if you are nearby a machine than all should be well

[lennytiger]

theoretically... knowing that bluetooth uses much higher channel numbers and different frequency band than Wi-Fi networks using a form of amplifier and antenna for your bluetooth will NOT interupt your wireless network at all.

however i'm not sure how you would amplify your bluetooth radio legally... FCC laws and all that.

[silkshadow]

No problem with the FCC, I live in the Philippines :D. Thanks for that info lennytiger, that definately sets my mind at ease. Interference with my wifi network would be a non-starter.

100+ meters? The dongle I have *claims* to have that kind of range (specs here: http://www.billionton.com.tw/website/index.html). It definately seems to be more powerful than my old class 2 dongle. However, it's not powerful enough for full coverage. I think if I hook up four dongles (to 4 seperate boxes) I'd be able to cover everything but then I have the problem of sending the "data" (not sure what else to call it) from the headset back to my server and also would mean having 4 computers on 24/7. I could live with 2 on 24/7 (I'm doing that now) but 4 seems a bit much.

I've been googling for a dongle with some kind of SMA connector or something but no dice. I'm willing to work on a mod but have no idea where to start. Of course, a store bought unit would be much better. Thanks for the reply!

[lennytiger]

well you could have a look at http://www.freeantennas.com/ and see if you could build something like one of their antennas for your bluetooth. The trouble would be to see how it could physically connect to a dongle.

I would start with playing aroung with some aluminium foil and some card board and build "reflecting antenna" to bounce the bluetooth signals more towards your large open areas and away from walls, and in this way you would be increasing your recpeption strength.
This obviously would require no hardware modding which is nice... however if you start playing with amps and antennas (real hardware ones) you'll need to get out a soldering iron and others tools.


Keep me posted on how you get on, I'd like to see how well this might work.

[lennytiger]

check out the forum there at http://www.freeantennas.com/

the site admin micers has a lot of excellent info on wireless based networking and antenna... he would most probably know what your best options are!

[silkshadow]

Thanks again lennytiger! I will put a post there right now and see what shakes.

[lennytiger]

no problems silkshadow!

let me know what you come up with!

Keep posting on OCForums!