Can anyone recommend a decent bluetooth dongle?

[SteveGrabowski0]

I found a Sega Genesis 6-button controller for $5 at the flea market a couple of days ago, and snagged it quickly so I can install one of the 8BitDo boards into it to use it as a bluetooth controller on my PC.

 

 

Seems like it would be amazing for Genesis and MAME emulation as well as playing oldschool style games like Sonic Mania or Guacamelee on PC. But I have no idea what a good bluetooth dongle to hook up to my PC would be. I'd want something I could play around ten feet away since I prefer to play these kind of games on the TV instead of the monitor (I use a TV connected via a long HDMI cable as a second monitor), and also my PC is at ground level under my desk. Any recommendations for a good quality bluetooth adapter? My board doesn't have it (MSI Z97S Krait Edition).

[lantin]

I've been using this one for over a year now without any issues.

 

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU521/dp/B007GFX0PY

[SteveGrabowski0]

1 minute ago, lantin said:

I've been using this one for over a year now without any issues.

 

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU521/dp/B007GFX0PY

Thanks for the recommendation. Have you ever tested its range?

[lantin]

Way over 10 feet. I can walk out of the room and down the hall a ways. Going through a wall I get around 30 feet.

[SteveGrabowski0]

32 minutes ago, lantin said:

Way over 10 feet. I can walk out of the room and down the hall a ways. Going through a wall I get around 30 feet.

Nice, thanks!

[kirashi]

1 hour ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

I found a Sega Genesis 6-button controller for $5 at the flea market a couple of days ago, and snagged it quickly so I can install one of the 8BitDo boards into it to use it as a bluetooth controller on my PC.

Seems like it would be amazing for Genesis and MAME emulation as well as playing oldschool style games like Sonic Mania or Guacamelee on PC. But I have no idea what a good bluetooth dongle to hook up to my PC would be. I'd want something I could play around ten feet away since I prefer to play these kind of games on the TV instead of the monitor (I use a TV connected via a long HDMI cable as a second monitor), and also my PC is at ground level under my desk. Any recommendations for a good quality bluetooth adapter? My board doesn't have it (MSI Z97S Krait Edition).

1 hour ago, lantin said:

I've been using this one for over a year now without any issues.

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU521/dp/B007GFX0PY

The IOGear one linked above is a good one - use to sell them when I worked at a retail office supply / electronics store. The adapter I have at home is an ORICO one, linked below. I've had mixed experience with ORICO products over the years, but it seems their Bluetooth adapters and 2.5" HDD enclosures work well enough.

https://www.amazon.ca/Bluetooth-Adapter-Universal-Windows-Transfer/dp/B00ESBRTMO/

[SteveGrabowski0]

2 hours ago, lantin said:

I've been using this one for over a year now without any issues.

 

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU521/dp/B007GFX0PY

I'm going to pick one of these up at Office Depot since they have them in stock near me. Thanks. Too bad it'll probably take at least 20 days to get my controller board shipped to test it out. 

[SteveGrabowski0]

On 9/25/2018 at 2:04 PM, lantin said:

I've been using this one for over a year now without any issues.

 

https://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Bluetooth-Micro-Adapter-GBU521/dp/B007GFX0PY

Is there any special setup you had to do? I finally got my 8BitDo Genesis controller board from China and it works great with my Raspberry Pi, but using this adapter on my PC with the driver I downloaded from Iogear's website I literally get a second or two of lag on my button presses with the controller when I'm using MAME. But MAME on my Rapsberry Pi with its built-in bluetooth works great.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Ugh this is terrible. This 8Bitdo Genesis controller works great with my Raspberry Pi. But when I connect it to a USB port in the back of my computer under my desk the lag is a second or two when using it a few feet away. When I used a USB extension to give the dongle a clear line of sight to my controller the lag was mostly eliminated when I brought the adapter within 2 feet or so of the controller. But at 6 feet with a direct line of sight to the adapter the lag was pretty awful for playing Vs Super Mario Bros on MAME. When I play that game at about 11 feet away from my Raspberry Pi the same controller works great on it using the Pi's built-in bluetooth. So I don't think it's the controller's fault.

[Tristerin]

ASUS AC55BT - great range with the antennae

And I bought one of those Wavelink cheapo BT 4.0 ones from Newegg for like $4 just USB and go...and it works fantastic as well lol

[SteveGrabowski0]

56 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

ASUS AC55BT - great range with the antennae

And I bought one of those Wavelink cheapo BT 4.0 ones from Newegg for like $4 just USB and go...and it works fantastic as well lol

I wonder if I got some cheap piece of shit version of the dongle since I bought it from Walmart.com, like Walmart gets a crap revision they can pay less for. Seems like what happened with AtGames and their Namco Flashback that gets a dogshit version with NES versions of games if you buy from Walmart whereas you get arcade versions anywhere else.

 

 

[Tristerin]

41 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

I wonder if I got some cheap piece of shit version of the dongle since I bought it from Walmart.com, like Walmart gets a crap revision they can pay less for. Seems like what happened with AtGames and their Namco Flashback that gets a dogshit version with NES versions of games if you buy from Walmart whereas you get arcade versions anywhere else.

 

 

Very likely

 

Id return it, sounds like its useless in Windows. 

[Tristerin]

45 minutes ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

I wonder if I got some cheap piece of shit version of the dongle since I bought it from Walmart.com, like Walmart gets a crap revision they can pay less for. Seems like what happened with AtGames and their Namco Flashback that gets a dogshit version with NES versions of games if you buy from Walmart whereas you get arcade versions anywhere else.

 

 

This is the one I use and like, works just as good as my ASUS AC55 Bluetooth PCIEx1 adapter, cept I don't have an antennae hanging off my PC (preferred)

 

Was testing both of them to see which would work best for VR.  I am keeping both but will use the dongle unless issues arise as it works great.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6706X96525