7 ms·

Headphones are the big benefactor here, for me at least. I can walk to the kitchen with my wireless headphones.

by the_watcher 10y ago

bokenator 10y ago
I've found that microwave interferes very strongly with Bluetooth headphones
- thomaskcr 10y ago
  And bodies. Had to move my laptop dock to the other side of my desk when I switched headphones from a pair that had the transmitter in the left ear to the right.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    Sacks of water will do that :)
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Wet dogs can play havoc with wireless.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Yeah that is perhaps the most problematic aspect of Bluetooth. The radio interface is designed with the presumption of the signal bouncing off nearby surfaces. Thus it is sensitive to line of sight issues. Mind you, i have also been able to connect to a USB dongle through solid wood walls, so mileage may vary. Never mind that you can get two classes of radios, on top of the LE stuff. With each class having different transmission strengths.
- kqr 10y ago
  Bluetooth is using the very same microwaves (much like wifi), so yes.
- pi-rat 10y ago
  Both use the 2.4 ghz spectrum, so that makes sense - especially for bad microwaves. I had an old microwave that completely tanked my 2.4 ghz Wifi back in the days (very poorly shielded).
  - dominicgs 10y ago
    I still do. The ability to stream music in my kitchen is the reason I bought a 5GHz router.
r0m4n0 10y ago
Agree, I look forward to the day I can leave my iPhone in a gym locker and work out with just headphones
- shurcooL 10y ago
  Would you be able to pause or control songs though?
  - gambiting 10y ago
    Sure, bluetooth had media controls for ages. I have a bluetooth waterproof speaker that I just take with me in the shower - and I leave my phone outside of the bathroom so it doesn't get wet. I can change songs and pause with buttons on the speaker, with the phone safely on the other side of the wall.
- legulere 10y ago
  Aren't they often made out of metal and act like a faraday cage thus?
  - ascagnel_ 10y ago
    Typically, but not always. I've belonged to gyms that have had a metal mesh (along the lines of a stiffer chain-link fence), flat metal (like a high school locker), and wood cabinets for their lockers.
- TD-Linux 10y ago
  I'd highly recommend getting a tiny mp3 player (say Clip Zip, though they are now discontinued...) and a short light headphone cable. Why send audio wirelessly when the tech to play it is as small as the receiver? There are also headphones with built in players, I don't know how the quality of those is though.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    Why send audio wirelessly when the tech to play it is as small as the receiver? Because you might want to stream audio from the Internet, or you don't want to waste time converting newer audio formats to MP3 and then copying them over, or you'd rather not have cables around you when you work out, or you might want to track what you've listen (particularly useful for audiobooks and long podcasts), etc. Yes, these are not indispensable life necessities nor anything like that, but given the choice, I'd rather beam the audio from my tablet than carry an extra player.
BinaryIdiot 10y ago
The problem though is the Sun will negatively affect Bluetooth range. If you're inside it's great and you can go into multiple rooms depending on the materials / wall thickness between you and the device. Once you go outside on a sunny day if the phone isn't directly in the line-of-sight (and even then) you'll get constant disconnects. Using multiple headsets / headphones and phones (including iPhone and multiple Androids) and I have yet to have one that DIDN'T do this. More range may help thing. Well I can hope anyway.
- jmiserez 10y ago
  The Sun affects the range? How and why, that doesn't make sense at all?
  - BinaryIdiot 10y ago
    > How and why, that doesn't make sense at all? Not sure. I remember reading an article some time ago that stated the Sun's electromagnetic radiation could interfere with Bluetooth and it's always worked with my observations. I've used multiple Plantronics headsets, Motorola headphones and an off brand of headphones all with an iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Nexus 6P, Moto X and a Note 3 and in all of these devices they work great indoors and going outside on a sunny day it would break up (but cloudy always seemed to work better). It's entirely possible this is some crazy bullshit but my observations are real. So if it ends up being that the Sun does NOT provide interfere then it must be SOMETHING. I just had this issue this past week when I was working outside and had to grab my wired headphones.
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      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.

Headphones are the big benefactor here, for me at least. I can walk to the kitchen with my wireless headphones.

bokenator 10y ago

I've found that microwave interferes very strongly with Bluetooth headphones

thomaskcr 10y ago
And bodies. Had to move my laptop dock to the other side of my desk when I switched headphones from a pair that had the transmitter in the left ear to the right.
- icebraining 10y ago
  Sacks of water will do that :)
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Wet dogs can play havoc with wireless.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Yeah that is perhaps the most problematic aspect of Bluetooth. The radio interface is designed with the presumption of the signal bouncing off nearby surfaces. Thus it is sensitive to line of sight issues. Mind you, i have also been able to connect to a USB dongle through solid wood walls, so mileage may vary. Never mind that you can get two classes of radios, on top of the LE stuff. With each class having different transmission strengths.
kqr 10y ago
Bluetooth is using the very same microwaves (much like wifi), so yes.
pi-rat 10y ago
Both use the 2.4 ghz spectrum, so that makes sense - especially for bad microwaves. I had an old microwave that completely tanked my 2.4 ghz Wifi back in the days (very poorly shielded).
- dominicgs 10y ago
  I still do. The ability to stream music in my kitchen is the reason I bought a 5GHz router.

r0m4n0 10y ago

Agree, I look forward to the day I can leave my iPhone in a gym locker and work out with just headphones

shurcooL 10y ago
Would you be able to pause or control songs though?
- gambiting 10y ago
  Sure, bluetooth had media controls for ages. I have a bluetooth waterproof speaker that I just take with me in the shower - and I leave my phone outside of the bathroom so it doesn't get wet. I can change songs and pause with buttons on the speaker, with the phone safely on the other side of the wall.
legulere 10y ago
Aren't they often made out of metal and act like a faraday cage thus?
- ascagnel_ 10y ago
  Typically, but not always. I've belonged to gyms that have had a metal mesh (along the lines of a stiffer chain-link fence), flat metal (like a high school locker), and wood cabinets for their lockers.
TD-Linux 10y ago
I'd highly recommend getting a tiny mp3 player (say Clip Zip, though they are now discontinued...) and a short light headphone cable. Why send audio wirelessly when the tech to play it is as small as the receiver? There are also headphones with built in players, I don't know how the quality of those is though.
- icebraining 10y ago
  Why send audio wirelessly when the tech to play it is as small as the receiver? Because you might want to stream audio from the Internet, or you don't want to waste time converting newer audio formats to MP3 and then copying them over, or you'd rather not have cables around you when you work out, or you might want to track what you've listen (particularly useful for audiobooks and long podcasts), etc. Yes, these are not indispensable life necessities nor anything like that, but given the choice, I'd rather beam the audio from my tablet than carry an extra player.

BinaryIdiot 10y ago

The problem though is the Sun will negatively affect Bluetooth range. If you're inside it's great and you can go into multiple rooms depending on the materials / wall thickness between you and the device. Once you go outside on a sunny day if the phone isn't directly in the line-of-sight (and even then) you'll get constant disconnects. Using multiple headsets / headphones and phones (including iPhone and multiple Androids) and I have yet to have one that DIDN'T do this. More range may help thing. Well I can hope anyway.

jmiserez 10y ago
The Sun affects the range? How and why, that doesn't make sense at all?
- BinaryIdiot 10y ago
  > How and why, that doesn't make sense at all? Not sure. I remember reading an article some time ago that stated the Sun's electromagnetic radiation could interfere with Bluetooth and it's always worked with my observations. I've used multiple Plantronics headsets, Motorola headphones and an off brand of headphones all with an iPhone 5S, iPhone 6+, Nexus 6P, Moto X and a Note 3 and in all of these devices they work great indoors and going outside on a sunny day it would break up (but cloudy always seemed to work better). It's entirely possible this is some crazy bullshit but my observations are real. So if it ends up being that the Sun does NOT provide interfere then it must be SOMETHING. I just had this issue this past week when I was working outside and had to grab my wired headphones.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    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.