Is a BT dongle all I need to share my PC internet connection with my iPAQ 2210?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Is a BT dongle all I need to share my PC internet connection with my iPAQ 2210?

NicoD

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#423 15-Aug-2003 12:49

Do I need anything other than a Bluetooth USB dongle to share my PC's internet connection with my iPAQ 2210 or will I need other hardware as well (such as a Bluetooth PC card)? I'm running Win XP Pro and have a cable internet connection.

And does anyone have any experience with the MSI MS-6967 Bluetooth USB dongle (transceiving key)? It seems very affordable for a Class I dongle with a claimed max. range of 200m/600ft. Or do I need some sort of extra Ethernet card or Bluetooth PCI card or Bluetooth enabled motherboard for the Bluetooth dongle to work with?

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1065 15-Aug-2003 12:51

The dongle is all you need to share the internet connection. You'll have the software and some configuration to do (follow our Bluetooth Guides for this).

It's strange a vendor claiming 200m, when the specs max is 100m (class 1) or 10m (class 2). It's not unusual to go a little bit over, but not that much over.

NicoD

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1069 16-Aug-2003 00:13

Thanks for the quick reply freitasm.

I have another question though. Someone on another forum mentioned that getting a class 1 dongle as apposed to a class 2 dongle wouldn't make a difference since the range of the iPAQ 2210 is still limited to 10m/30ft. Wouldn't the class 1 dongle effectively extend the range of the 2210 to 100m/300ft (or whatever the extended range is) where the linking together of the dongle with the 2210 is concerned?

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1071 16-Aug-2003 10:37

I understand it in a different way. Imagine two cars A' and B' and two cities City A and City B. The distance from City A to City B is 100km.

Car A' carries enough petrol to drive 100KM. The driver goes from City A to City B with a message, which is well received.

The reply is given to the driver on Car B' with enough petrol to drive 10KM. The driver starts going from City B to City A and stops after 10Km.

Result? The reply never gets back to City A.

It's the same with the radio. The maximum range is the lower number. The iPaq might receive the message, but the response will never arrive back on the other device. The limit is the lower range.

NicoD

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1081 17-Aug-2003 07:18

Thanks again for the reply freitasm.

So the range on BT devices is basically output range. The dongle may be able to send out radiowaves to a range of 100m/300ft and be received by the PDA at that range but since the output range of the PDA is only 10m/30ft the radiowaves it sends out won't reach the dongle at a range of 100m/300ft.

I posted the same question on the iPAQ.NET forums and someone there mentioned he can connect at well over 30ft with his PDA. Unfortunately your explanation does seem to make sense though I went ahead and ordered the class 1 MSI dongle anyway. It costs only $10 more so even if I don't get the extended range at least it won't be because I got the cheaper dongle.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79250 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1082 17-Aug-2003 10:24

It's not unheard of devices going beyond the range - it's the minimum for its classification, but there's no maximum. I've read reports of people getting up to 20m with a pair class 2 devices.