Bluetooth card

[PcBeExpensive]

 

First of all to start I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, I can't find a section to post this in other than this. I'm looking for a bluetooth card thats works well and is good but not expensive. SOmething around 50 AUD.

Thanks in advance.

[tkitch]

PCIE?  M.2?  other?

 

Most PCIE Bluetooth cards are doubled up with WiFi cards, so you're likely to end up with both, if you go that route.

[PcBeExpensive]

2 minutes ago, tkitch said:

PCIE?  M.2?  other?

 

Most PCIE Bluetooth cards are doubled up with WiFi cards, so you're likely to end up with both, if you go that route.

a PCIE one, I do have a wifi card but I don't think it has bluetooth do.

[tkitch]

this is a *good* name brand one, and has bluetooth 5.2:
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Archer-TX55E-Bluetooth-Ultra-Low/dp/B0B1NRGDQ4

 

IDK what Aussie Bucks will set you back, but it's a starting place. 

 

Look at AX3000 Wifi cards and find one that looks reasonable and has bluetooth 5 or newer included. 

[PcBeExpensive]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

this is a *good* name brand one, and has bluetooth 5.2:
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Archer-TX55E-Bluetooth-Ultra-Low/dp/B0B1NRGDQ4

 

IDK what Aussie Bucks will set you back, but it's a starting place. 

 

Look at AX3000 Wifi cards and find one that looks reasonable and has bluetooth 5 or newer included. 

thats about 90 bucks.  I found a USB one online to about 20 bucks but its from a brand I have never heard of.

[tkitch]

most USB Bluetooth nuggets are absolute trash, but are also super cheap.

 

I haven't looked into them much, but the ones I've played with first-hand have all been crap.  (at best.)

[byucoug121]

i have some generic pcie one from amazon but IDK what brand it was like 30 US dollars and it has wifi 6 and bluetooth

[manikyath]

7 minutes ago, tkitch said:

PCIE?  M.2?  other?

 

Most PCIE Bluetooth cards are doubled up with WiFi cards, so you're likely to end up with both, if you go that route.

every bluetooth/wifi combo card i've found so far has a header to go to an USB 2.0 header for the bluetooth functionality.

as far as i've found, every bluetooth device that exists runs off USB. (M.2 wifi cards also have a USB lane wired to them)

 

on topic: bluetooth is so standardized it literally does not matter what you get, i have some silly "sort by price" $5 usb bluetooth dongle, it's plugged into a USB hub behind my displays because bluetooth range is super short (by design), and it's been great.

[byucoug121]

it works well but I am really close to the router

[tkitch]

1 minute ago, byucoug121 said:

i have some generic pcie one from amazon but IDK what brand it was like 30 US dollars and it has wifi 6 and bluetooth

unfortunately him being down under means his selection is a lot slimmer than amazon USA 

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

most USB Bluetooth nuggets are absolute trash, but are also super cheap.

 

I haven't looked into them much, but the ones I've played with first-hand have all been crap.  (at best.)

either i've gotten real lucky, or we have opposite experiences.

[PcBeExpensive]

Just now, tkitch said:

unfortunately him being down under means his selection is a lot slimmer than amazon USA 

sadly thats the truth

[tkitch]

Just now, manikyath said:

either i've gotten real lucky, or we have opposite experiences.

all the USB ones I've used had to be mounted out in the open using a USB Extender cable.

Because putting it on the computer resulted in the signal getting too much interference to use it at 5-10' away.  

[PcBeExpensive]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

every bluetooth/wifi combo card i've found so far has a header to go to an USB 2.0 header for the bluetooth functionality.

as far as i've found, every bluetooth device that exists runs off USB. (M.2 wifi cards also have a USB lane wired to them)

 

on topic: bluetooth is so standardized it literally does not matter what you get, i have some silly "sort by price" $5 usb bluetooth dongle, it's plugged into a USB hub behind my displays because bluetooth range is super short (by design), and it's been great.

so I can just get a cheap 20 AUD one and it will work fine? I just need bluetooth to connect to bluetooth speakers and stuff.

[manikyath]

Just now, tkitch said:

all the USB ones I've used had to be mounted out in the open using a USB Extender cable.

Because putting it on the computer resulted in the signal getting too much interference to use it at 5-10' away.  

bluetooth is short range by design, that's not a problem from the adapter itself.

[manikyath]

Just now, PcBeExpensive said:

so I can just get a cheap 20 AUD one and it will work fine? I just need bluetooth to connect to bluetooth speakers and stuff.

just plug it somewhere where it's not surrounded by metal and it should be fine. i often use mine for my 8bitdo gamepads, and it's close enough to wired for me to not notice a difference. i havent used it with bluetooth speakers, but i doubt it's gonna be much of a problem.

[tkitch]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

bluetooth is short range by design, that's not a problem from the adapter itself.

it still has a useful range of more than 5' on any proper device. 

[PcBeExpensive]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

just plug it somewhere where it's not surrounded by metal and it should be fine. i often use mine for my 8bitdo gamepads, and it's close enough to wired for me to not notice a difference. i havent used it with bluetooth speakers, but i doubt it's gonna be much of a problem.

Can I plug it into the back of my mootherboard? The only metal near it is the case.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

it still has a useful range of more than 5' on any proper device. 

then dont plug it into a port surrounded by the earthed metal of your computer chassis.

 

i've used my bluetooth dongle with controllers from a couch 5m away by plugging it in the front of an intel nuc. plugging it in the back side (so it's behind the earthed chassis) notably worsened connectivity though.

 

that's just the downside of bluetooth.

[PcBeExpensive]

and what does the metal do?

[manikyath]

Just now, PcBeExpensive said:

Can I plug it into the back of my mootherboard? The only metal near it is the case.

plug it in the front ports, or ideally if your display has a built in USB hub, put it there.

[PcBeExpensive]

Just now, manikyath said:

then dont plug it into a port surrounded by the earthed metal of your computer chassis.

 

i've used my bluetooth dongle with controllers from a couch 5m away by plugging it in the front of an intel nuc. plugging it in the back side (so it's behind the earthed chassis) notably worsened connectivity though.

 

that's just the downside of bluetooth.

I will be sitting right next to the thing does this still impose an issue?

[tkitch]

Just now, manikyath said:

then dont plug it into a port surrounded by the earthed metal of your computer chassis.

 

i've used my bluetooth dongle with controllers from a couch 5m away by plugging it in the front of an intel nuc. plugging it in the back side (so it's behind the earthed chassis) notably worsened connectivity though.

 

that's just the downside of bluetooth.

at what point did I say it was plugged into the back?  I'm not an idiot.

 

Just now, PcBeExpensive said:

and what does the metal do?

shielding, blocks wireless signals pretty well. 

[PcBeExpensive]

1 hour ago, tkitch said:

 

 

shielding, blocks wireless signals pretty well. 

So there is not metal surrounding it but there will be metal under it.

[tkitch]

2 hours ago, PcBeExpensive said:

So there is not metal surrounding it but there will be metal under it.

if the signal needs to go through a sheet (or more) of metal to reach the target device, that's bad for signal