4 ms·

I need the range. I routinely grab my phone when I'm cooking dinner and walk to the living room causing my bluetooth speaker to make awful noises.

by vhost- 10y ago

cyphax 10y ago
Is the bluetooth spec the limit though, or maybe the implementation? I can leave my phone on the table downstairs and my headphones still work fine in the attic, which is through 2 floors of reinforced concrete. I was very surprised to be able to do this, but kitchen-living room should be possible. Unless your kitchen is in the west wing, and your living room is a mile down the hall in the east wing in which case I'm envious of your living arrangement and understand the need for more range in the spec. ;)
- abritinthebay 10y ago
  As it's 2.4ghz it may also be partially spectrum pollution. That said - that seems rather impressive for Bluetooth, I've had one reinforced concrete wall pretty consistently screw up most bluetooth signals in my experience, so I'd posit that you're getting unusually good reception there.
  - cyphax 10y ago
    I wonder what strength the radios broadcast on. I do have a 2.4GHz wifi-router both downstairs and in the attic so you would expect no signal at all, given the situation. I'll admit that by this point it's extremely sensitive to spectrum pollution; a nearby laptop with wifi on will mess with it enough that it starts stuttering. My only issue with bluetooth is with Android; it semi-randomly likes to change pitch and speed by a little [1]. Very noticeable if you listen to electronic music. Had it with my previous phone (Android M, CM) and now with my current phone (also Android M, stock) and different devices (headphones, car). [1]https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=209473 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=209473
    - abritinthebay 10y ago
      Yeah, anecdotal but every friend of mine that complains about BT does it in relation to their Android devices. I've heard a couple of complaints about Macs but they're rare. Seems the Android BT stack is just more... flaky. I wonder why...
      - digi_owl 10y ago
        Android 1.0 to 4.3 (iirc) used Bluez, an open source implementation related to Linux. Come 4.4 Google partnered up with qualcomm (again iirc) to write a new stack from scratch.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Iirc, there are multiple classes of bluetooth radio. And only one of them, that i have most often seen in the form of USB dongles, are wifi equivalent.
Angostura 10y ago
That's where a wifi speaker is good.
freehunter 10y ago
I am able to leave my phone in my office in the basement and walk upstairs to get a cup of coffee and stay on the call with my bluetooth headphones. Then again, if I'm biking and my phone is in my right pocket and I turn my head to the left, the audio skips. So I don't know if I can blame than on range, but there's something odd going on there.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  The frequency range used, 2.4Ghz, is absorbed/blocked by water (rain, fog, leaves, wet dogs, human bodies, etc). Most mobile devices use a fairly weak transmitter both to save battery and because the distance between devices is expected to be short. On top of that, when indoors the signal may be bouncing off walls or other surfaces.

I need the range. I routinely grab my phone when I'm cooking dinner and walk to the living room causing my bluetooth speaker to make awful noises.

by vhost- 10y ago

I need the range. I routinely grab my phone when I'm cooking dinner and walk to the living room causing my bluetooth speaker to make awful noises.

cyphax 10y ago

Is the bluetooth spec the limit though, or maybe the implementation? I can leave my phone on the table downstairs and my headphones still work fine in the attic, which is through 2 floors of reinforced concrete. I was very surprised to be able to do this, but kitchen-living room should be possible. Unless your kitchen is in the west wing, and your living room is a mile down the hall in the east wing in which case I'm envious of your living arrangement and understand the need for more range in the spec. ;)

abritinthebay 10y ago
As it's 2.4ghz it may also be partially spectrum pollution. That said - that seems rather impressive for Bluetooth, I've had one reinforced concrete wall pretty consistently screw up most bluetooth signals in my experience, so I'd posit that you're getting unusually good reception there.
- cyphax 10y ago
  I wonder what strength the radios broadcast on. I do have a 2.4GHz wifi-router both downstairs and in the attic so you would expect no signal at all, given the situation. I'll admit that by this point it's extremely sensitive to spectrum pollution; a nearby laptop with wifi on will mess with it enough that it starts stuttering. My only issue with bluetooth is with Android; it semi-randomly likes to change pitch and speed by a little [1]. Very noticeable if you listen to electronic music. Had it with my previous phone (Android M, CM) and now with my current phone (also Android M, stock) and different devices (headphones, car). [1]https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=209473 https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=209473
  - abritinthebay 10y ago
    Yeah, anecdotal but every friend of mine that complains about BT does it in relation to their Android devices. I've heard a couple of complaints about Macs but they're rare. Seems the Android BT stack is just more... flaky. I wonder why...
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Android 1.0 to 4.3 (iirc) used Bluez, an open source implementation related to Linux. Come 4.4 Google partnered up with qualcomm (again iirc) to write a new stack from scratch.
digi_owl 10y ago
Iirc, there are multiple classes of bluetooth radio. And only one of them, that i have most often seen in the form of USB dongles, are wifi equivalent.

Angostura 10y ago

That's where a wifi speaker is good.

freehunter 10y ago

I am able to leave my phone in my office in the basement and walk upstairs to get a cup of coffee and stay on the call with my bluetooth headphones. Then again, if I'm biking and my phone is in my right pocket and I turn my head to the left, the audio skips. So I don't know if I can blame than on range, but there's something odd going on there.

digi_owl 10y ago
The frequency range used, 2.4Ghz, is absorbed/blocked by water (rain, fog, leaves, wet dogs, human bodies, etc). Most mobile devices use a fairly weak transmitter both to save battery and because the distance between devices is expected to be short. On top of that, when indoors the signal may be bouncing off walls or other surfaces.