BT 5.0? Suggestions?

[eyoungren]

Last month I ordered some USB BT 5.0 adapters from a favorite vendor on eBay. Due to circumstance the package was never delivered and the vendor seemed to become hostile. As much as I loved their cables and stuff I won't be buying from them again.

Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for a BT 5.0 USB adapter for a Mac Pro and two 2009 Mac Minis? Is this possible?

I don't like the fact that if I walk into the kitchen or out of the garage my Macs like to get glitchy with my headset or disconnect. This does not happen with the work provided 2015 MBP. That Mac will hang on to a connection even if I go upstairs.
And, if you recall, I damaged on of the BT antennas on the early 2009 Mini. I'm using a USB BT 2.0 stick with that, but that stick does not like multiple, simultaneous BT connections.

Thanks for any advice and suggestions.

PS. eBay gave me a courtesy refund and the package finally got 'unstuck' and seems to be on its way back to the vendor. So, no harm no foul I guess.

 

[theMarble]

I don't know of any USB adapters but internal 802.11ac and BT 5.0 kits are available for the cMP. I believe osxwifi sells them.

 

[eyoungren]

I don't know of any USB adapters but internal 802.11ac and BT 5.0 kits are available for the cMP. I believe osxwifi sells them.

Yeah, I've heard of those. It's a bit more than I am willing to invest (time and effort).

Here is the sale on eBay I had ordered but didn't get: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324287998394

MODS! This is NOT my auction!

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I don't like the fact that if I walk into the kitchen or out of the garage my Macs like to get glitchy with my headset or disconnect. This does not happen with the work provided 2015 MBP. That Mac will hang on to a connection even if I go upstairs.

Sounds to me like what you really need isn’t necessarily BT 5, but a class 1 Bluetooth adapter, of any version.

They make some very long range ones, although they can be hit or miss. This is something I have some experience with from running 24-player Johan Sebastian Joust games. ?

 

[eyoungren]

Sounds to me like what you really need isn’t necessarily BT 5, but a class 1 Bluetooth adapter, if any version.

They make some very long range ones, although they can be hit or miss. This is something I have some experience with from running 24-player Johan Sebastian Joust games. ?

Yeah, honestly I don't care as long as it can handle multiple simultaneous connections.

The antenna on my Late 2009 Mini is just fine so it's handling my keyboard, my trackpad and a connection to my loudspeaker just fine. But the Early 2009 Mini does not handle connections to my Magic Mouse and my loudspeaker well at all. It's either one or the other.

I'll take a look on eBay for that, thank you!

 

[Wowfunhappy]

Now that I'm back at my computer...

Specifically, I have two of these. They weren't cheap, but they did have better range than any other adapter I tried (and they held up better in a room with 24 Playstation Move controllers). The antenna is replaceable so you can stick something laughably large on there, if you need to.

But, uh, their site seems to be down... maybe they died?

The second-best adapter I've found is from LM Technologies, I don't have the model number but I think it's an older version of this (my version only supports up to Bluetooth 2.1). Compared to the Aircable, these were laughably cheap—I bought my pair of them from DigiKey in 2016, for $23 total according to the receipt in my email.

(When I run Joust, I use all four of these adapters together. The Bluetooth spec only allows up to seven devices at a time—and in practice I've found more than six to be unstable—so I have to use multiple adapters to get around the limitation.)

Please don't let this deter you from buying some other random class 1 adapter off Amazon or eBay. I was purposefully trying to push the limits of Bluetooth a bit!

Note also that every class 1 adapter I've tried uses a "Cambridge Silicon Radio" chipset, as opposed to a Broadcom chipset. MacOS contains drivers for both, but I think Apple put a lot more effort into their Broadcom drivers. The CSR drivers are a bit finicky.

 

[eyoungren]

Now that I'm back at my computer...

Specifically, I have two of these. They weren't cheap, but they did have better range than any other adapter I tried (and they held up better in a room with 24 Playstation Move controllers). The antenna is replaceable so you can stick something laughably large on there, if you need to.

But, uh, their site seems to be down... maybe they died?

The second-best adapter I've found is from LM Technologies, I don't have the model number but I think it's an older version of this (my version only supports up to Bluetooth 2.1). Compared to the Aircable, these were laughably cheap—I bought my pair of them from DigiKey in 2016, for $23 total according to the receipt in my email.

(When I run Joust, I use all four of these adapters together. The Bluetooth spec only allows up to seven devices at a time—and in practice I've found more than six to be unstable—so I have to use multiple adapters to get around the limitation.)

Please don't let this deter you from buying some other random class 1 adapter off Amazon or eBay. I was purposefully trying to push the limits of Bluetooth a bit!

Note also that every class 1 adapter I've tried uses a "Cambridge Silicon Radio" chipset, as opposed to a Broadcom chipset. MacOS contains drivers for both, but I think Apple put a lot more effort into their Broadcom drivers. The CSR drivers are a bit finicky.

Thanks, some options there.

Right now, I'm looking at this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/325098032756

MODS - not my auction!!!!!

The auction doesn't say Mac specifically, but a search for this brand and model does mention it being Mac compatible - although I may have to look for a driver.

 

[eyoungren]

So…not the original auction I was after, but I did get this one*: https://www.ebay.com/itm/304346912470

*MODS, this is NOT my auction, I purchased this item!



Sena Parani UD100. Sena's website says that the device is OS X compatible and it's treated just like native BT.

There was one auction on eBay for $32 and apparently Amazon has them for $37 (I think). But I paid a little more because this particular auction included a longer range antenna.

This is going to go into my E:2009 Mini that has the damaged BT antenna. The UD100 handles up to seven connections simultaneously so I should no longer have any issues with my Mini streaming to the speaker while handling the Magic Mouse.

My plan here is that, if this works out, to order another one for the MacPro.

 

[eyoungren]

For the record, the Sena Parani UD100 just works. Up to 7 simultaneous BT connections. You can increase range by increasing the size of the antenna.

The device works on Snow Leopard and up, so if you need something for your SL Mac, this will work. You don't have to install a single thing.

You may have to enter a terminal command to force OS X to default to USB BT adapters though if you are on a later version of OS X. I've already done that in the past so my Mini picked it up right away.

These are great alternatives to stock Bluetooth.