Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
Figure 15-1:
The D-Link
USB
Bluetooth
adapter
is tiny —
about the
size of a
small pack
of gum.
Bluetooth adapters
A large number of laptops and an increasing number of desktop computers —
like most of the Apple product line — have built-in Bluetooth. However, if
your PC doesn’t, you need some sort of adapter, just like you need an 802.11
adapter to connect your PC to your wireless LAN. The most common way
to get Bluetooth onto your PC is by using a USB adapter (or dongle). These
compact devices (about the size of your pinkie — unless you’re in the NBA,
in which case, we say half a pinkie) plug directly into a USB port and are
self-contained Bluetooth adapters. In other words, they need no external
power supply or antenna. Figure 15-1 shows the D-Link DBT-120 USB
Bluetooth adapter.
Because Bluetooth is a relatively low-speed connection (remember that the
maximum speed is only 732 Kbps in most cases, and a maximum of 3 Mbps
for the fastest USB devices), USB connections will always be fast enough for
Bluetooth. You don’t need to worry about having an available Ethernet, PC
Card, or other high-speed connection available on your PC.
Because many people have more USB devices than USB ports on their computers,
they often use USB hubs, which connect to one of the USB ports on
the back of the computer and connect multiple USB devices through the hub
to that port. When you’re using USB devices (such as Bluetooth adapters)
that require power from the USB port, you should plug them directly into the
PC itself and not into a hub. If you need to use a hub, make sure that it’s a
powered hub (with its own cord running to a wall outlet or power strip).
Insufficient power from an unpowered hub is perhaps the most common
cause of USB problems.
If you have lots of USB devices, using a USB hub is simple. We’ve never seen
one that even required special software to be loaded. Just plug the hub (use
a standard USB cable — there should be one in the box with the hub) into
one of the USB ports on the back of your PC. If it’s a powered hub (which we