Blootooth dongles...A list of ones that work???

[PGirard]

Before I buy, I would like to know if there is a list of Bluetooth dongles that speak to the latest Activboards from a PC.

Just for the record, I have tried to use the dongle that came with my Hitachi Starboard and no go...All the latest software and drivers installed.

Thanks for any help.

Paul :-/

[saha]

Promethean Customer Support has had the best results with the
“Belkin F8TOO1 ver.2 Bluetooth USB Adapter 100-meter”and “Belkin
F8TOO3 ver.2 Bluetooth USB Adapter 10-meter” and “Comp USA MBDC2.1-
2 50-meter Bluetooth Adapter” Do not attempt to use a
Bluetooth adapter that requires a driver be installed.

[PGirard]

Thank you. Are there others? The Belkin site does not list those anymore. Do the other Belkin dongles work?

[saha]

I think the standard Belkin dongle should work.
My previous message was quoted from a FAQ document I found on Promethean site.
Send an email to tech support and they should be able to help you,

[PGirard]

Will do. Thanks.

[paintejf]

” Do not attempt to use a
Bluetooth adapter that requires a driver be installed.

I successfully paired the board with an MSI starkey 2.0 (a really awesome and cheap adapter) relatively easily and it requires drivers.

The issue seems to be com port assignments.

[paintejf]

Promethean Customer Support has had the best results with the
“Belkin F8TOO1 ver.2 Bluetooth USB Adapter 100-meter”and “Belkin
F8TOO3 ver.2 Bluetooth USB Adapter 10-meter” and “Comp USA MBDC2.1-
2 50-meter Bluetooth Adapter” Do not attempt to use a
Bluetooth adapter that requires a driver be installed.

You know, just for kicks I just googled all of theses adapters and none appear to be available. Tech Supp might want to start a new list?????

[mlanham]

I bought a cheap bluetooth dongle a while back that requires drivers. Tried anyways, but no go. It was able to pair & establish serial connection, but ActiveControl just wouldn't connect. The bt dongle's software installed BlueSoleil.

I looked at Amazon.com and was surprised at all the $0.99 bt dongles. Anyone know of a cheap one that does not require drivers? I wonder if that's the trick.... (no, I can't find any of the "officially supported" ones either)

[grdrager]

*Vent Mode ON*
IMHO, Promethean doesn't give a darn about bluetooth support (which I guess won't be a problem in the future as my understanding is they are removing the bluetooth option for new boards). The documentation is out of date and you aren't likely to get much help from their tech support on this issue.
*Vent Mode OFF*

Regardless, if you want to get bluetooth working, it's not too difficult. What really needs to happen is you need to get the Default Driver/Microsoft Bluetooth stack loaded, not the stack that comes with adapter. Some bluetooth vendors will have instructions somewhere in their knowledgebase for how to do this. Generally, here's the steps I follow (only tested on XP, your mileage may vary and use at your own risk on a test machine):

1a. If using a laptop with a built-in Bluetooth or an external adapter you've previously installed manufacturer drivers for, you need to totally uninstall the drivers loaded. This can hopefully be done with add/remove programs, sometimes it's a bit more complicated and you might need to remove the device from device manager as well as the appropriate OEM#.inf and OEM#.pnf file from the %systemroot%\inf (move to another folder should you ever want to reinstall). You'll have to look at each OEM file to determine which one has to do with bluetooth. Reboot
1b. If using a new external adapter and you haven't yet loaded drivers, just insert it.
2. New device wizard should run once the device is detected. Cancel out of it.
3. Start->run->devmgmt.msc to open device manager.
4. You should have a "? Other devices" category with your bluetooth adapter listed. Right click on its entry and click on the properties tab. You're interested in the Hardware ID # , which is the first part of the instance ID, up to the second slash (USB\Vid_####&Pid_####)
5. Copy %systemroot%\inf\bth.inf to another folder as a backup.
5. Open %systemroot%\inf\bth.inf in Notepad or another text editor. Scroll down to the Device Section and add a line under the "Microsoft Wireless Transceiver for Bluetooth 2.0" entry.
7. Type: name you want to give this driver, "= BthUsb,", and the Hardware ID from step 4 (eg. My Driver = BthUsb, USB\Vid_050D&Pid_016A.
8. Go back to Device Manager, right click on your bluetooth adapter entry and select update driver. The Hardware Update Wizard will appear.
9. Select "No, Not at this time" on the search for updates screen.
10. Select "Install from a specific location" on the next screen.
11. Select "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install" on the next screen.
12. Select Bluetooth Radios.
13. If you edited the bth.inf file correctly, the name for your driver should appear. Select it and click next and it will install the driver.
14. If MS Bluetooth was never installed on the machine prior, you will get a secondary hardware wizard for the MS stack. Select "No, not at this time" and "Install Automatically" and it will load those drivers.
15. If everything is correct, you will have a bluetooth radio category in device manager with your driver and the Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator listed.
16. Backup you new bth.inf file as sometimes windows updates will overwrite it. I keep a version on a network share with all the adapters I've added and simply copy to any destination machine I need it on.

At this point you can follow the Promethean directions for bluetooth pairing and setup.

While this will be unsupported, to date I've done this with nearly a dozen different external and built in adapters and I have yet to have one that doesn't work. Good luck! +wave+

[PhyzGeek]

Just though I'd share my personal experience: I have only had success with the default Microsoft Bluetooth stack. I've had no success with BlueSoleil v3 or v6.

I dug this thread up hoping to find a solution to my problem while trying to pair with BlueSoleil, instead I'm discouraged that Promethean doesn't seem to be supporting Bluetooth pairing...

[LisaD]

I've been reading on how you can connect an Activboard wirelessly to a computer and have found that the new models of Activboards have a place to plug in an Activhub into the board itself. So if the computer has an Activhub (typically used for Activotes, Activexpression and/or Activslates) and the Activboard has an Activhub, they can talk with each other (similarly to bluetooth, I think) without cables.

Here's what I've read about it:
The ActivHub enables many of Promethean's products to connect wirelessly. It is a USB device which is plugged directly into a computer allowing the ActivSlate, the ActivRemote, ActiVote and ActivExpression to connect. The ActivBoard 300 Pro, 300 and 100 Ranges can also be connected through the ActivHub as an alternative to the USB connection.
The ActivHub uses ActivAir(TM) which works in a similar way to Bluetooth in that it 'channel hops' to avoid interference. It operates in the same highly, regulated & globally approved 2,4Ghz frequency range as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. It works over a range of 100 metres (free space).
Registration to the ActivHub is easy via the ActivManager which is automatically installed with both versions of ActivInspire. Multiple products can be registered in the same way to one ActivHub simultaneously. As the registration data is retained on the ActivHub it facilitates the movement and easy sharing of devices such as ActiVote and ActivExpression.

ActivAir powered products can be added to any existing Promethean setup just by adding the ActivHub. This means everybody can maximise existing Promethean investments.


Has anyone used this yet?


Lisa

[saha]

Hi Lisa,
For the wireless connection to work through the Activhub with the newer boards, one requirement is a powersupply upgrade pack for the newer boards.

Unlike the older boards, the newer boards come with no power since it can draw power from the laptop when connected by USB.
So for wireless connection to work through the Activhub, the newer board must be first powered on to a power supply.

[LisaD]

Is that the case for all models?

I had thought that the 300 Pro had a power supply because it has built-in speakers. (It also has dual user capability, too, I think.

Lisa

[saha]

The boards that are capable of communicating wireless with the laptop through the Activhub are:

ActivBoard 300 Pro*
ActivBoard 300*
ActivBoard 100*

From what I understand the older boards will not be able to do this since they do not have the Activair receiver built into them.

The 300 Pro comes with the powersupply and can connect wireless if the user also has an Activhub.

The Activboard 300 and Activboard 100 users have to buy the upgrade pack power supply.

[LisaD]

Good info! Thanks!

Lisa

[Lee Nelson]

So if the computer has an Activhub (typically used for Activotes, Activexpression and/or Activslates) and the Activboard has an Activhub, they can talk with each other (similarly to bluetooth, I think) without cables.


Lisa, this isn't quite right as you do not need a hub in the board, just in the computer. Think of it as a big Activslate.