I asked over in /g/ (technology) but didn’t get any replies, so I thought I’d hit you guys up for an answer as it is kinda /diy/ issue;
I recently got a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones (iDealUSA) so I could listen to music off my computer (Mac Mini OSX El Capitan 10.11.02) while taking care of chores around the house, including down in the basement such as doing laundry.
Problem is, despite the claimed 10 meter range of the headphones, the audio cuts in & out due to interference from floor joists, heating ducts and whatnot blocking the signal.
I’d like to get some kinda range extender / amplifier that I could plug into the computer that would boost the Bluetooth signal enough for me to walk around anywhere in the house and get a clear signal, but I have no idea what I need.
Searching around the Internet has only confused me even more, (I’m admittedly not particularly tech oriented) as “Bluetooth” and “Wi-Fi” seem to be used interchangeably and some of the gizmos plug into USB ports, while others appear to use co-axial cable or a phone line in some way.
Can you guys help me out?
>>916842
>I recently got a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones (iDealUSA)
google says no.
http://superuser.com/questions/247868/do-bluetooth-repeaters-exist
At least not for A2DP. No demand for it.
You could take your computer and put your music on icloud or onedrive and stream it all from your phone via an appropriate app or two. Not sure if google drive does it, but I would suspect it does. I know onedrive is quite nice about it. All my stuff on onedrive is automatically in my music apps on all my devices.
There are ways on the RF end to improve reception, but aside from relocating the receiver to a more convenient location, most of them will require some hacking/amplification/swapping of the antennas and thus probably won't be 100% legal (assuming US jurisdiction and no radio license).
http://www.amazon.com/Whole-House-FM-Transmitter-3-0/dp/B00GHWUHD0
use this and a headphone fm radio. bit expensive but everyone that got one says it has the range.
>>916854
>>916889
Aren’t these guys saying one can extend the range of Bluetooth?;
https://www.aircable.net/extend.php
“The AIRcable Host XR3 is the only long-range (10 km-class) Bluetooth® USB "Dongle". It is equipped with an extremely-powerful, highly-sensitive Bluetooth transmitter, can achieve an unparalleled range of up to 30 km! With a 9 dBi omni-directional antenna, the extended range is up to 2 km, and with the 18 dBi directional antenna, it is up to 10 km. Additionally, given its high sensitivity, it can extend the range of weaker Bluetooth devices like cell phones and headsets by hundreds of meters. With most other devices only capable of obtaining a range of 10 meters or less, no other Bluetooth device comes even close. Plus, this long-range Bluetooth transmitter connects to any computer with a Bluetooth connection and can handle virtually any Bluetooth profile available. Uses include standard data, streaming data, headsets communication (like Skype calls), and stereo headphone communication.”
(pic: AIRcable Host XR3 Bluetooth® USB "Dongle")
Does this device not plug into the computer somehow, extending the Bluetooth transmission range, allowing the headphones to pick-up the signal in the basement?
(It’s $130 though, and out of stock…)
>>916901
No, that's actually a replacement Bluetooth host with a longer range than your normal one.
>>916901
>Plus, this long-range Bluetooth transmitter connects to any computer with a Bluetooth connection and can handle virtually any Bluetooth profile available.
So where would I plug it in on this?;
>>916903
>No, that's actually a replacement Bluetooth host with a longer range than your normal one.
So would using one of those supersede the Bluetooth transmitter built into the computer, and get me longer range to my headphones?
I'm also wondering if even with that device, I'd still be losing the signal? Because right now I can get a clear signal thru the wood floor and joists above me but when I'm standing in the basement with the heating ducts 'round about between me and where the computer is upstairs, it cuts out on me.
Does the sheet metal duct work completely block Bluetooth signals?
>>916842
Just stream it from your phone, simple answer. I have a couple of headsets I use at work. Stream audio books , siriusxm, Pandora, and podcasts. I use a much smaller headset, I took an s150, and changed out the earplugs for better ones. You could actually leave your house and not have to lug your computer around. Also you can access your computer through your home network with your phone.
>>916910
Assuming your computer'll drive it. Almost every peripheral is designed for Windows, with Linux support because someone that runs Linux wrote a driver, and OSX support if you're lucky.
Bluetooth dongles used to be all completely different, and if you didn't install the exact driver off the disk that came with it, nothing worked. It's a lot better now, but there's no standard for USB bluetooths like there is for say USB keyboards or hard disks.
>>916910
>Does the sheet metal duct work completely block Bluetooth signals?
Maybe. The duct itself will, but bluetooth has a wavelength of 10-12cm, so if you wanted to block the bluetooth out you'd need a continuous mat of ductwork spanning the whole floor/ceiling with no gaps bigger than 10cm.
A better bluetooth host may well be able to blast a signal into the basement and detect the faint signals coming out of it.
Or it might not
>>916842
Another solution to your problem might be an iPod Touch (pretty-much any generation), and an app called AirServer. This makes your iPod present an Airplay host, which your Mac can stream to just as if it were streaming to an Apple TV. Then if you're missing wifi anywhere, you can use a powerline wifi extender.
I'm using the aircable XR4 for my internship assignment and it can connect to bluetooth devices within 400m (in clear line of sight).
It works perfectly on linux, but the osx bluetooth driver tends to crash a lot
Like some of these other posters, I'd advocate for a wifi-based solution that uses your phone as the "last mile" before your headphones.
Bluetooth has some irritating quirks and rather low data rates, so as your signal gets weaker, you get the crappy experience you mentioned in the OP.
Hardware wise, your setup would look like this:
Mac Mini -> WiFi router -> Phone -> bluetooth headset
No additional purchases required.
Radio wise, it might look like this:
Cable (Mac to router) -> WiFi (Router to phone) -> Bluetooth (phone to headset)
Software-wise, I would ultimately recommend a heavier setup. You could probably do this in a lighter way, but it will require your own research and some additional setup.
Server Software Stack:
Host (Mac OS) -> Hypervisor (VirtualBox) -> Guest OS (xubuntu) -> PulseAudio + Icecast2 + MPD + ncmpcpp
Client Software Stack:
Web Browser or Network-enabled music player of choice
Server setup:
Download and install VirtualBox for Mac
Download xubuntu 14.04 or 15.10 (latest)
Make a new virtual machine, assign it 1 core, 10gb HDD space, and 1024mb of RAM
Assign your music folder to the shared folder; allow read and optionally write
Boot that shit, throw the ISO Into the virtual drive, install xubuntu
Log in and open a terminal
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mpd icecast2 ncmpcpp
Edit the configs with a text editor (nano should be easiest and installed). Google for locations of you don't want to read man pages.
Point your mpd library to your shared folder's mount point in mpd.conf
Put an icecast output and a PulseAudio output into the outputs section of mpd.conf
Set up a port and source password for icecast in its config file
sudo service icecast2 restart
sudo service mpd restart
ncmpcpp
Hit 1 on the keyboard, read through the controls or just hit 2 and then queue up random tracks with ~ s #oftracks
You can view and navigate your library on 3 and see your active outputs on 8. You can explore from there.
1/2
>>917988
Your VM should also have its network card set to bridged mode so you can easily access it over the network.
Once here, you have a server running.
The only gotchas that I can think of off the bat are some software support problems (no idea how or if VirtualBox runs with OS X, though there are other free hypervisors) or some permissions problems (not sure where the music folder is mounted in Linux by VirtualBox, or if it will be considered an external volume by MPD, as MPD needs to be able to access that directory and read the files). If you find your music stuttering, give the VM two cores.
However, this setup will allow you to do more than your current one. You will be able to listen to music on your Mac and then continue listening immediately on your phone (similar to the current setup, without signal headaches). As a bonus, you will be able to manipulate the play list via your phone on the fly or change whether music outputs to one source (your speaker) or more (bluetooth on your phone, or an Internet-accessible sink).
Client software is available for every platform, so you could continue messing with things from a laptop upstairs or your phone outside the house and over the Internet. Lots of flexibility.
To listen, just browse to your VM's IP + your icecast mount point and select a stream's m3u playlist if you want to hook it up to an app, or hit the html5 play button (recent versions of icecast).
Enjoy software freedom.
Alternatively, continue to embrace the botnet and use airplay.
t. /g/
2/2
>>917992
>>917837
Even as a "jump through all these bizarre hoops in an autistic quest for Software Freedom" that solution sucks.
Just run Kodi on your mac, and you get UPNP and Airplay for free. No crazy virtual machine shenanigans required. No hours of fannying about with low-level audio plumbing. No baroque user interfaces. Just install one app, and you're done.
But seeing as you already paid the premium to get a Mac, why would you not enjoy the superior functionality and integration offered by iTunes Home Sharing?
Look how easy it is to set up, and how seamless the switch from local music to remote music is: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202190
>>918042
>DIY
You don't get a "my iPhone is an extension of my Mac Mini" experience with Kodi or Home Sharing, or even iTunes Remote.
>>916895
very illegal without a license (or has to have piss shit output power)
>>918160
Yeah y'do, because it's a UPNP server, so everything in your library is already on your phone.
Plus you can use Airserver so iTunes can use the phone as an Airplay speaker.
Plus you can stick OpenVPN on your phone and do all this anywhere in the world.
DESU, if all you wanted was a portable speaker with an awkward remote control interface (like in >>917992), a landfill Android running Airserver would sort you right out.
Without needing to worry about making your VM's network interface bridged, or configuring endpoints for PulseAudio.
>>916917
Exactly. Not sure why this isn't the first thing to come to mind. Your phone is an incredibly portable computer... just play whatever content you want straight from it to your headphones. Phone will be in your pocket so the connection won't get spotty.
>>920106
> Exactly. Not sure why this isn't the first thing to come to mind.
OP here and thanks to all for the replies, even if most of it went over my head.
As far as running the headphones off a smartphone, pic related is my phone and the reason I bought the $60 headphones was to avoid buying a $200+ smartphone and renewing a cellphone contract that would also cost me more.
>>920547
You sure it doesn't support it? I got a shit feature phone for work and it's a microsd slot and an mp3 player, as well at a2dp Bluetooth pairing,
>>917988
Or just stream it via vlc on the native os.
>>920548
It probably does bluetooth, but it's not a smartphone, so no wifi and no general-purpose compute.
>>920584
You could just put your music on an SD card once a month and listen that way
>>920547
smartphones don't start at $200 plus contract. they come in cheap.
First of all, don't use the built-in bluetooth combo card in your computer. It sucks. It interferes itself with wifi because it's using the same antenna.
Get a cheap dongle and mod it out. Get a proper 2400MHz antenna and slap it instead of the crappy trace antenna in the dongle.
Do the same in the headset.
Make sure the antennas remain as high as possible so transmission won't be cut.
I got 3 times the range from a cheap headset/dongle using 2 strip antennas from a nDS. Fat PSP Antennas work as well but they tend to be too big to fit in most hardware.
You can always solder a rpSMA pigtail and use off-the-shelf 802.11 antennas.
It is not illegal to do such mods since you're not putting more power than allowed on the antenna, you're just increasing the gain.
