Setting up a bluetooth network at home

DaveyBoyFox

Guys,

I have adsl at home and I was thinking of connecting my existing adsl modem (netopia yoke I got from eircom) to a bluetooth access point and then getting 2 usb bluetooth adapters to connect to the 2 pcs in my house. Would this work and what problems might/will I encounter? I know I could set up an 802.11b network but I need bluetooth for something else.

Thanks.

voxpop

I've heard of bluetooth hardware sometimes causing conflicts with other cards in laptops - but on top of that the range for bluetooth is short - if your gonna have all you machine in very close proximity then fine but otherwise i would go for wifi. I've a 3com wifi accesspoint connected to my IOLBB (through a linux sever). My pc and laptop both have 802.11b cards and everything works like a treat. I can use my laptop in other rooms and still go on the internet plus play online games without any real latency issues and all this for under 200 euro from komplett.
On top of all that if you are not gonna use the wifi cards with other operating systems than windows, you could go for the 802.11g cards (54mbs) - a hell of alot faster than bluetooth.

flywheel

a wireless access point set-up WiFi would really be my first choice - Bluetooth accesspoints are specialised (and have their uses)- but for general use WiFi does a better job at networking

speed differences for Internet Access shouldn't really be a concern unless you have a net connection faster then BT can handle - so at home it should be fine

main problem you will likely encounter is coverage - how far apart are is your equipment going to be - BT can barely make to the surrounding rooms where as WiFi covers the house almost everywhere (although that might be a positive for security - one common application use of a BT access point)

also compatibility with other BT devices - need to do your homework on that one to make sure the drivers you are using are as up-to-date as possible and the devices connecting to the Access Point can handle the networking profile it uses

i use both WiFi and BT access points at home - the BT one is used mainly for PDA connectivity (to go online) and for printing (although using special Windows drivers not a standard BT Printing Profile though)

you might get away with Internet Connection sharing from one PC (connected to the intenret link) to the other using Bluetooth without the need for an Access Point?

hth,
BrianG

DaveyBoyFox

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I know that wlan would seemingly suit my needs much better but the reason I want BT is for a project I'm working on.
I'm actually developing software for the PDA for use with BT. The PDA I was looking to buy is the hp iPaq 5550 because that has integrated BT (for project and for home use) and wlan (for access at college). The range of the BT access point and adapters I'm looking at are all 100m, plus they would be no more than 10m away at any time. I'm not worried about the speed issue at all because all that the piconet would be used for is internet browsing and PDA connectivity. I was wondering do heavy objects (thick walls etc) interfere with BT signals? I have a cordless telephone in the house also, that sometimes has trouble through walls, could it just be the phone? The reason I say this is because they both use the same frequency range...

Thanks again.

jesus_thats_gre

Bluetooth APs in my experience are primarily used for Ad Hoc purposes or for use with Printers. Anything like you are doing could be inplemented far more effectively and easier using a Wi-Fi standard. Not only would it be cheaper and easier to install, should be about 50 times faster as well.

flywheel

Originally posted by DaveyBoyFox
Thanks for the suggestions guys...

ok - take a look at the Anycom (well regarded) or Belkin BT (not crazy money) APs. Also take a look at the new 4000 series iPAQ HP just released - both with integrated WiFi and BT (5000 series is very enterprise focused and priced!)

a wall can definately cause a problem depending on what it's made of...

BrianG

flywheel

Originally posted by DubWireless
you might get away with Internet Connection sharing from one PC (connected to the intenret link) to the other using Bluetooth without the need for an Access Point?

here's a shot of doing that via the Widcomm Stack (1.3.2.19) with a TDK USB Adpater, so sharing the Internet Connection from an XP Machine (aside: connected to a WiFi AP - as you can never be too unwired! ) - which is sharing out this connection to the three BT devices connected via it's Network Access service:
- An other PC (Running Win 2k and a BT USB Adapter
- An iPAQ with Integrared BT
- A Palm with Integrated BT



so if your configuration can allow one Machine to act in this way you might be able to run without a dedicated AP, using the BT Network Access as a 'software' AP, again stick with the Wicdomm stack for this kind of set-up...

BrianG