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hajime

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
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Hello, I am looking for a bluetooth usb dongle that is compatible with Mac OS and if possible, also Windows 10 and linux. Any suggestion?
 
I use this one in my field office with a new rMPB and this one with my iMP in my home office. I use a couple of outdoor sensors at my home office and need extended range. Mac (Sierra/HS)/Win 10 friendly (PnP), BT 4.0, LE, EDR, reliable Broadcom chipset. Works with all of my peripherals as well from Contour/Apple/Wacom/Logitech. I can't attest to Linux compatibility.

Also, I suggest enable bluetooth coexistence mode on your computers. You may not see EDR on your PCs, Apple didn't include EDR in newer Macs.
 
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I use this one in my field office with a new rMPB and this one with my iMP in my home office. I use a couple of outdoor sensors at my home office and need extended range. Mac (Sierra/HS)/Win 10 friendly (PnP), BT 4.0, LE, EDR, reliable Broadcom chipset. Works with all of my peripherals as well from Contour/Apple/Wacom/Logitech. I can't attest to Linux compatibility.

Also, I suggest enable bluetooth coexistence mode on your computers. You may not see EDR on your PCs, Apple didn't include EDR in newer Macs.

Thanks. I will check about Linux compatibility. What is bluetooth coexistence mode for? I am building a Hackintosh as I cannot find hardware from Apple that is suitable to my needs.
 
Regarding BT coexistence mode, all of my employees and I use non-Apple peripherals. Most of these peripherals communicate via v. 2.1, newer computers (especially laptops) use BT 4 or 4.1. Starting with v. 4, BT wasn't required to include EDR - Apple, and a lot of PC makers didn't include EDR; I believe all of my BT peripherals communicate with EDR if the host device includes EDR, and that's one reason why a lot of peripheral makers include BT dongles - they include EDR. The second reason why dongles are included is to, in part, address the timeout issues that come if the computer is connected to a BT LE device and at least one BT 2/2.1 device I have found that, if I don't use the LE peripheral for a period of time BT just seems to cut out (because it's "timed-out") and I'm left with BT just not working well or at all. Enabling the "hybrid" flag (at the OS level - it's disabled in Windows by default as well) allows LE and non-LE devices to interact with your computer with some parity, IMO allowing for a more-normal workflow.

Since you're building a Hackintosh, look for a chipset that at least includes BT 4.2 or 5 (if you can find one that includes BT 5) and EDR at a minimum, then enable the "hybrid" flag in the OS - then, you won't need a BT dongle! I offer BT 4.2 at a minimum because of its far-greater bandwidth capability over <=BT 4.1. My iMP has BT 4.2 and I feel the difference in responsiveness with some of my peripherals, but not to the same degree as when I have an EDR dongle attached or the peripheral is hard-wired to any Mac/PC I work with. Broadcom isn't listing any information on the communications chipset in my iMP (Broadcom 4364) but I don't see any of my peripherals communicating via EDR - I can definitely see/feel a difference with my Intuos Pro tablet is connected when my BT dongle is plugged in, as the Pref Pane indicates whether or not EDR is active, it's never active when I'm not using the dongle.

I hope this bit helps?
 
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