How to set up a direct Bluetooth connection in Windows XP? (page 1 of 11)
Overview
Bluetooth is the technology for creating a
Wireless Personal Area Network to connect up to eight computers or other
devices such as mobile phone and PDA (i.e. one device acts as a master with up to 7 active slaves) in an ad-hoc network
(piconet). In a Personal Area Network
(PAN), computers can share resources, i.e. files/folders,
drives, printer, and Internet connection. PAN is a quick solution to
enable direct connection between two Bluetooth-enabled computers.
With a pair of Bluetooth USB adapters, you can try a direct
Bluetooth connection between two computers (desktop, laptop, or
handheld). If
the adapters support Bluetooth version 2.0+EDR, the maximum
connection speed is 3.0 Mbps, while previous versions can
enable data transfer rate of up to 1.0 Mbps. However, as with other
wireless technologies,
due to overheads and other factors you can't expect those stated
speeds in a real world network. The maximum distance between
the two computers depends on the adapters power class, i.e. 10 -
100 meters. Throughput decreases as distance between the two
computers increases. Besides, although Bluetooth is a radio technology that
doesn't require LOS (line-of-sight) between devices, solid/metal
obstructions and to a lesser extent interference from other
wireless systems sharing the ISM band (such as Wi-Fi, cordless
phone, baby monitor) may reduce
Bluetooth reach.
There are three types of PAN services, i.e. NAP (Network Access
Point), GN (Group ad hoc Network), and PANU (PAN User). Your
computer ability to join or create a PAN depends on the type of
Bluetooth stack (software) that accompanies your Bluetooth
adapter. The latest version of some popular Bluetooth stacks can
be used to enable a computer to join or create a PAN. But you must
examine what type of PAN services supported by the Bluetooth stack you have. In
Windows XP (SP2 or SP3), the built-in Microsoft Bluetooth stack only provides PANU
service. The TOSHIBA Bluetooth stack that was also used in this
test
can provide PANU and GN services. We can hardly find a fine Bluetooth stack for Windows XP with NAP service. If NAP is
supported by the Bluetooth stack that comes with your adapter, then
your computer can be used as a Bluetooth access point.
This tutorial was created with one
computer running Windows XP SP2 with Microsoft
Bluetooth stack and the other computer running Windows XP
SP1 with TOSHIBA Bluetooth stack. You can also install TOSHIBA or
another third party Bluetooth stack on a computer running Windows
XP SP2 or SP3. It will override the Microsoft stack. In this case, if you
want to get back to the Microsoft stack, just uninstall it from your computer or update the driver with the built-in stack.
Two Billionton Bluetooth adapters that support Bluetooth v2.0+EDR were used. The
first computer with PANU service initiated the connection to the
second computer with GN service. Similar result was
achieved when both computers were running the same third party
stack.
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