To start the operation of a Bluetooth device, in the system tray of your computer's Microsoft® Windows® operating system, right-click the Bluetooth icon and select Enable Bluetooth Radio. The Bluetooth icon is blue in color with a white insert when Bluetooth is running.
To stop the operation of a Bluetooth device, in the Windows system tray, right-click the Bluetooth icon and select Disable Bluetooth Radio. The Bluetooth icon is blue in color with a red insert when Bluetooth is stopped.
The Quick Connect option allows you to quickly re-establish a previous connection or establish a new connection and remember it for future Quick Connect use.
In the Windows system tray, right-click the Bluetooth icon, select Quick Connect and then the Bluetooth service that you wish to use.
If your computer has created a connection to the desired type of service in the past, the options on the shortcut menu are:
The name(s) of any device(s) with which prior connections to this type of service have been established. Select a name from the list to re-establish connection.
Other Devices...Select this option to search for additional devices that potentially provide the desired service, select a device from the list, and then click Connect.
If this computer has never created a connection to this type of service, the only option on the shortcut menu is Find Devices.... Select this option to search for devices that potentially provide the desired service, select a device from the list, and then click Connect.
The Search for Devices option looks for Bluetooth devices in the vicinity and displays the devices that it finds in My Bluetooth Places.
To start a search for devices, in the Folders pane of My Bluetooth Devices, select Entire Bluetooth Neighborhood, open the Bluetooth menu, and then select Search for Devices.
NOTE: The Bluetooth
menu is only visible when
My Bluetooth Places is
active.
Bluetooth can be configured to automatically search for devices on a regular basis (click Bluetooth Configuration panel and the Discovery tab).
One of the advantages of Bluetooth is the mobility the wireless connections allow. However, mobility means that devices may move in or out of connection range during the time between the automatic updates performed by Bluetooth. To be certain that the displayed list of devices in the neighborhood is current, or if automatic periodic inquiry is not enabled, force an update of the device list using the technique described in Finding Bluetooth Devices.
Some devices within connection range may not show up in the list of devices found because:
Your device is configured to report only specific types or classes of devices (Click Bluetooth Configuration panel and the Discovery tab, on your device).
The unlisted device is configured to be non-discoverable (Click Bluetooth Configuration panel and then the Accessibility tab, on the un-listed device).
In the Folders pane of My Bluetooth Places, right-click the device name and select Discover Available Services from the shortcut menu.
Some services are hardware dependant; this computer cannot provide the fax service unless it has a physical fax modem, for example.
Some Bluetooth services use virtual "hardware." The Bluetooth Serial Port service, for example, does not use a physical port on this computer. Instead, it creates virtual serial ports that operating system programs can see and use as if they were actual physical ports.
Each Bluetooth service that this computer is capable of providing can be started automatically when Bluetooth starts. Each service can be setup to require security measures before allowing a remote Bluetooth device to connect.
Bluetooth services require a Bluetooth program on the remote device; services and programs usually have coinciding names; i.e., there is a Bluetooth Fax Service and a Bluetooth Fax Application.
The Bluetooth device supports the following services:
Bluetooth Serial Port — A wireless connection between two devices. This connection can be used by programs as though a physical serial cable connected the devices.
Dial-up Networking — Allows a device to use a modem that is physically attached to another Bluetooth device.
Fax — Allows a device to send a fax using a remote Bluetooth cell phone, modem, or computer.
File Transfer — Allows a device to perform file system operations on another Bluetooth device; browse, open, copy, etc.
Headset — Allows a Bluetooth headset to be used as the audio input/output mechanism for another Bluetooth device, such as a computer or cell phone.
Network Access — Allows a device to access a Local Area Network via a second Bluetooth device that is physically connected to the network.
PIM Item Transfer — Allows two Bluetooth devices to exchange.
PIM Synchronization — Allows two Bluetooth devices to synchronize Personal Information Manager data.
Network Access — Allows a device to access a Local Area Network via a second Bluetooth device that is physically connected to the network or allows a remote device to become part of an ad hoc network provided by the Bluetooth server.
Audio Gateway — Allows the microphone/speakers on a Bluetooth device (typically a computer) to be used as the audio input/output mechanism for a remote Bluetooth device, such as a cell phone.
All Bluetooth servers do not necessarily provide all of these services. For example, network gateways may provide only the Network Access service.
The Bluetooth Connection Status dialog box displays information about the state of a connection and provides a means to disconnect an active connection.
To display the Connection Status dialog box complete the following steps:
In My Bluetooth Places, from the Folders pane, select a device.
In the right pane of My Bluetooth Places, right-click a service name
and select Status from the shortcut menu.
Information provided is:
Status — Connected or Disconnected.
Device Name — The name of the device to which this computer is connected.
Duration — The length of time that this connection has been established, displayed in hours, minutes and seconds. Depending on the service, the connection may time out (automatically disconnect) after a specific period of inactivity.
Activity — The number of bytes sent and received over the connection.
NOTE: To change the
power transmission level
of this computer: from the
Bluetooth Configuration
panel, Hardware tab,
click the Advanced
button, and then change
the setting in the
Maximum Power
Transmission drop-down
list. The Advanced button
is not available in all
countries.
Signal Strength — A graphic indicator that ranges from Too Weak through Good to Too Strong.
The controls in the Bluetooth Connection Status dialog box are:
Properties button — Displays the Bluetooth Properties dialog box for this connection.
Disconnect button — Closes the connection.
Close button — Closes the Bluetooth Connection Status dialog box.
