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Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

engadget.com

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Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#191

Post by e_proxus »

mikeash wrote: post #180
creativeembassy wrote: post #140

I could not care less. - 1.0 to 1.2: Hard to pair, and very unreliable. First major version, I'm sure they'll fix it... - 2.0: More bandwidth. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 2.1: Adds "Simple Secure Pairing". Still hard to actually pair. Still unreliable. - 3.0: More bandwidth. More features. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4.0: Bluetooth Low Energy released. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4…

Just an aside: if you have Full Keyboard Access turned on (in System Preferences, Keyboard, Shortcuts) then the Bluetooth prefpane is fairly usable with just the keyboard. You can use Spotlight to open it, then tab between the controls and activate them with the space bar. You can toggle it on and off this way, and even remove devices. You may also be able to navigate the Bluetooth Setup Assistant to re-pair, but I d…

I can also recommend Shortcat (https://shortcatapp.com) for these and other cases!

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#192

Post by dghughes »

creativeembassy wrote: post #140

I could not care less. - 1.0 to 1.2: Hard to pair, and very unreliable. First major version, I'm sure they'll fix it... - 2.0: More bandwidth. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 2.1: Adds "Simple Secure Pairing". Still hard to actually pair. Still unreliable. - 3.0: More bandwidth. More features. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4.0: Bluetooth Low Energy released. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4…

> Still hard to pair, still unreliable.

Except every other BT device around you, just not yours.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#193

Post by CameronBanga »

city41 wrote: post #176
creativeembassy wrote: post #140

I could not care less. - 1.0 to 1.2: Hard to pair, and very unreliable. First major version, I'm sure they'll fix it... - 2.0: More bandwidth. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 2.1: Adds "Simple Secure Pairing". Still hard to actually pair. Still unreliable. - 3.0: More bandwidth. More features. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4.0: Bluetooth Low Energy released. Still hard to pair, still unreliable. - 4…

I used to be in this camp. My Jawbone Big Jambox would never pair, never stay connected, the whole deal. But I then replaced it with a Marshall bluetooth speaker and it's just a dream. It connects immediately, on the first try, every time. It never disconnects. If it hasn't received audio in a while, it goes to sleep. Press the "wake" button and it immediately connects again. I used to loathe bluetooth, but now I'm w…

The Amazon Echo is kinda the same way. I paired to my phone once, and rarely use, so I often have to go to the Bluetooth settings on my iPhone and tap the Echo to connect, but every time I do, it works flawlessly.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#194

Post by chipperyman573 »

Unklejoe wrote: post #132

You know there's a problem when a majority of the comments (on a website filled with software engineers and other technologically inclined people) are all claiming that Bluetooth simply sucks in terms of usability. Imagine how hard it would be for someone like my parents to debug a Bluetooth pairing issue. I think they need to focus 100% of their efforts on addressing some of these issues which seem to have been a pr…

If you have an android, when your phone doesn't pair audio, going to Bluetooth settings, hitting the gear icon next to your cars name and turning audio off then on again usually fixes it.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#195

Post by digi_owl »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #190
digi_owl wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another, as likely, aspect, is that Bluetooth is designed around signals bouncing off surfaces. Try moving your phone from one side of the body to the other while outside. It may well be that your surroundings do not provide enough signal reflection. Keep in mind that most mobile bluetooth radios do not transmit with the same strength as wifi. Best i can tell, only USB dongles use a wifi equivalent radio class.

Interesting and sounds reasonable. I wonder if Bluetooth 5 will help in this regard.

I guess it could be possible. But the thing about range is that is most often reported under ideal conditions. Meaning clear line of sight between antennas and little to no other transmissions in that frequency range.

And likely your best results will be if both devices are v5 devices.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#196

Post by digi_owl »

iainmerrick wrote: post #174
digi_owl wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get pretty much the same thing these days if both devices support NFC. Just get within range, and ding.

Standardise that and make it ubiquitous and then it's interesting. Apple has the advantage that they own their entire platform so they can adopt a new "standard" immediately.

The standard already exist, and has been with us since 2.1. Now the ubiquity thing is quite another kettle of fish...

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#197

Post by pinaceae »

Oh anecdotes.

Use Bluetooth home spekaers, headphones and car radio all the time against my iPhone 6S - works really well.

What I do though is manually connect when I want this particular device to be connected (say my headphones in the gym), and then disconnect after use.

Might be magic trick most are missing.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#198

Post by Zenst »

stronglikedan wrote: post #187
Dayshine wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's weird, I have a Pebble and the bluetooth is absolutely solid, even across my house. I've never had a good experience with desktops and bluetooth devices however. I wonder why drivers are so much better on mobile?

I've had similar experiences to OPs with older Bluetooth mice and keyboards, so I was reluctant to try the Logitech MX Master. The only reason I did was because it offered the optional Unifying receiver. Well, I haven't used that receiver yet, because the Bluetooth was very easy to pair, and I haven't had a single connection issue (delay or otherwise) yet. This thing has restored my faith in Bluetooth devices, when d…

Good to see not just Apple users and with that may be as many chipsets out there that some work better with others as is the case of any communications device and that said. Like to like chipsets would generaly be betetr, which is what you would expect from Apple, though again they diversify on chips so again moots that you have verbatim chipsets in part.

Me I've been lucky, though not a heavy BT user, so that may be the crux. This and then you have other things like wifi and interference from many things that could curtail signal

But for a keyboard right next to a device I would expect that to be less of an issue.

So with drivers and chipset variations, and quick google shows, can be some fun and games. But true of any digital communication device, will always be not perfect.

But in general I wonder if those who have had issues, have seen them get worse over time with BT or better? I know people who have had issues and a later driver fixes that issue, even instability ones outlined.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#199

Post by _ea1k »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #70
micheljansen wrote: post #69

That's nice, but the biggest UX problem with Bluetooth is still the pairing misery. It's 2016 and it's still nearly impossible to use any one Bluetooth device with multiple other devices. Try switching a Bluetooth headset from an iPhone to a Mac or convincing your car to switch from one phone to another. It's a huge mess and its not just a matter of the technology not working as designed. These are fundamental proble…

I couldn't agree more. I have a set of headphones that I love using with my phone and several computers. It's such an annoyance to connect it from one to the other and it doesn't appear that ANYONE is even working on making this better anymore. There was that brief period where some bluetooth devices included NFC where you could take it to the device to pair which was actually interesting but it only happened to such…

I found the NFC pairing feature to be pointless, tbh. The headphones still had to be put into pairing mode first, so the only step that it saved was going into settings on the phone and tapping the item in the list. It worked most of the time, but the one or two times that it didn't more than outweighed the benefits.

Re: Bluetooth 5 will quadruple the range, double the speed

#200

Post by oldmanjay »

jakevn wrote: post #143
icebraining wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be done with BT - the $15 headphones I buy from random Chinese sellers work fine every time. The implementations seem to be at fault, not the protocol.

I'd say the protocol is at fault if it's difficult to implement.

The physical world always has implementation difficulties. It is a messy, noisy, uncontrolled place. On top of that, many implementers will avoid going full-ass when half-ass will do. No protocol will ever fix these issues.
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