bluetooth usb hub?

[rygar]

i have a laptop. i would like to be able to plug all of my usb devices into a single usb hub. are there any plans / is it possible to make a bluetooth usb hub, so that i can sit down with my laptop without plugging in any wires at all, and be able to use all my usb devices?

i understand that these devices won't be powered like usb, but i am just looking for the connectivity (keyboard, mouse, card reader... even my ipod, but just for file transfers, not charging)

any insight would be a help.
thanks!
jeff

[mpierettis]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bluetooth-USB-Do...cmdZVi ewItem

[rygar]

not what i'm looking for... i'm looking for a usb hub, that doesnt need to be plugged into my laptop.

that is, i want one of these that will connect to my computer wirelessly via this, not this.

[Varangian]

I´ve come here looking for the exact same thing. Either my google-fu is weak or no one makes this kind of device, which would be amazing to me given the obvious utility of such a device. Having access to all of my USB devices while being able to move my laptop to any room in the house would be the ultimate in computing freedom...

So, I´m betting on my needing further training in my google skills...bump.

[rygar]

i still haven't found anything really. i don't know if it's logistically unfeasible (and why?), or if no one has tried making such a device before (and why?)

[BlueDaze]

I doubt anyone will make a Bluetooth USB hub, it doesn't make sense with current technology. The max speed of Bluetooth is 723 Kilobits per second; however the max speed of USB 1.1 is 12 Megabits per second. In other words, USB 1.1 is more than 16 times faster than Bluetooth. And USB 2.0 is way faster than USB 1.1.

So what does all that mean? If someone made a Bluetooth USB hub and it actually worked, all of your USB devices would be at least 16 times slower than they should be.

In addition, its pretty common for USB devices to be powered by the USB connection. For example, a mice and keyboards are often powered by simply plugging the USB cable into a USB port. So that means your theoretical Bluetooth USB hub would still need a power source to be plugged into an electrical outlet.

For more info on Bluetooth, how it works, and what kind of products are available, check out the bluetooth guides on Blue Essentials' site: http://www.blueessentials.com/info.php

[rygar]

i wouldn't say it "doesn't make sense"

they make keyboards, mice, digital cameras, and printers that call connect via bluetooth.

with a hub of some sort, you could own a usb keyboard, usb mouse, usb digital camera, and usb printer, and still have it all connected without having to plug anything in to your laptop.

[BlueDaze]

A Bluetooth USB hub doesn't make a whole lot of sense, from a manufacturing standpoint. It's a very cool idea, but in practicality it wouldn't work very well. All devices connected would share the bandwidth of that one 723 Kbps connection, and the typical real-world performance of bluetooth isn't even that fast. A keyboard and mouse could share that bandwidth because they transfer so little data, but if you added a third device then all three would freeze up or work poorly. You're way better off either: (1) plugging it all into a standard USB hub and plugging that hub into your laptop; or (2) get devices that already have bluetooth built in to wirelessly connect to your laptop. Coincidentally, those are your only two options, and you're probably not going to see a Bluetooth USB hub on the market until a newer faster Bluetooth spec is available. There is an upcoming and faster version of bluetooth that will hit store shelves in the next 12 months, but it will only be 2 Mbps (one-sixth the speed of USB). So I doubt that a Bluetooth USB hub will be on the market using that spec either.

You can get a Bluetooth printer adapter to upgrade your printer wth Bluetooth: http://www.blueessentials.com/blueto...ters-c-24.html

Bluetooth keyboards and mice: http://www.blueessentials.com/blueto...mice-c-34.html

For your digital camera, if it doesn't have bluetooth then you're gonna have to plug it in. That's not really a bad thing though, especially if you have a lot of pictures. If you have a full 128MB memory card (and that's pretty small), it would take approx 90 seconds to transfer your data using USB 1.1 (best case scenario). The same transfer, using bluetooth, best case scenario would be over 23 minutes.

[Varangian]

That makes sense. I never thought about bandwidth limits.