4 ms·
There is no limit to the number of devices that can be paired to each other in the BT standard, any more than there is a limit to the number of remote host keys
by metheus 10y ago
There is no limit to the number of devices that can be paired to each other in the BT standard, any more than there is a limit to the number of remote host keys you can keep track of in the SSH standard.
In practice, the number of devices headphones can be paired to varies by model. The limit is simply the amount of storage the device allocates to keeping device hardware addresses and link keys.
What I can tell you is that both my headphones -- Jaybird BlueBud X and Turtle Beach Elite 800X -- are paired with two MacBooks, my iMac, my iPhone, and two iPads. They do not require any re-pairing.
The Turtle Beach cans even support connecting to two devices simultaneously (see section 3.2.6 "Point-to-multipoint configuration" of the latest Bluetooth spec). Whichever one starts emitting audio first claims the channel and keeps it until it's done.
- benologist 10y agoNobody is calling it part of the bluetooth specification. The BlueBuds support 8 devices, you're 3 devices away from having to start juggling what is paired.
- metheus 10y agoI see, I made an unwarranted assumption about your prior post. And possibly over-explained bluetooth details. I apologize if that was patronizing. I hope you'll agree that there is some number of devices beyond which we don't really need to worry about now many of them headphones can attach to. For me, for now, 2 or 3 would definitely be a problem, while 8 is more than sufficient. My intention in this conversation is not to make a claim that there are no tradeoffs to be made, but to take issue with the poorly thought out nature of the article. In fact, I think you make a better point than any of Ms. Goode's. And I'm willing to mention a couple of others. 1) It's not a super common case, but I have been in a situation where I was listening to music on my headphones, and wanted to hear what someone else was listening to on their player. With regular headphones, all you have to do is unplug and plug them into the other player, while bluetooth headphones would require the pairing complication (and un-pairing manually, lest you over time eject your own devices). 2) Wireless interference can be an issue in some circumstances. At one office desk where I sat, the Elite 800X cans had an issue with their connection to my Macbook, which I attributed to the in-office cell phone signal booster that was perched up on the wall above me. The audio stream would cut in and out rapidly. That was annoying.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]