Bluetooth USB Hub

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Ok so I came across this nifty little gadget today, I was very impressed with it. I thought it was just such a clever idea. Although, I must say, trying to find this specific kind of product is quite tricky.

A Bluetooth USB Hub is basically a USB hub, a device which gives you extra USB slots, but it connects to your PC via Bluetooth. Now, before I go on, I suggest you read THIS article on PC and data safety, on Wireless and Bluetooth usage (watch THIS space, article to come in the next few days).

Other than the security risks involved with using Bluetooth or any other Wi-Fi device (like mentioned above, detailed article to come soon), it is a very convenient way to transfer data and / or connect devices. I guess it was really just a matter of time before some one decided to try to connect USB devices via Bluetooth. This Bluetooth USB Hub will allow you to connect any USB device you have, via Bluetooth to your PC. The Bluetooth USB Hub has it’s own external power supply and a Bluetooth dongle, which will allow you to connect the hub itself to your PC, should your PC not be Bluetooth enabled already. By the way, a Bluetooth dongle is indeed very useful and for just a few pounds, like two or three, a definite must have for today’s upcoming geek Anyway, back to the product. Basically this Bluetooth USB hub, once connected via Bluetooth to your PC, will allow for an extra 3 USB slots to be connected to your PC. And these USB devices work just like with any USB device you would connect to your PC; they’re hot swappable, meaning you can plug and unplug the USB device anytime you want.

There is one difference and an advantage, of using a Bluetooth USB Hub, instead of a regular wired USB Hub and that is that with the Bluetooth USB Hub you can actually have up to an additional 7 devices connect to it via Bluetooth. So say for example you want to use your printer at home between yourself, your laptop and your partners PC, but don’t want the hassle of setting it up over the network, or even not knowing how, you can easily connect it to the USB hub and then in turn, connect to the hub via Bluetooth from each machine. Remember, your PC has to be able to connect with Bluetooth, now most laptops, newer ones, usually have built in Bluetooth, but if you would like to enable your PC or laptop or what ever, just go out and get a dongle. It’s just a small device you plug into your PC via a USB port and install the drivers (although, XP and Vista will have it’s own drivers, so it becomes plug and play really) and then you’re Bluetooth ready. (again, please read THIS article on Bluetooth safety). The Bluetooth USB Hub comes with one Bluetooth dongle, but like I mentioned, you can get them for as cheap as £2.50, should you need more than one.

The advantages of connecting to USB devices via Bluetooth is most definitely that you can connect more than one person at a time. It’ll most definitely make my life a little easier, as for example, we keep our photo’s backed up on an external hard drive, which usually goes back and forth from our two desks. This will mean we can just find the HDD enclosure a new home somewhere and both connect to it without having to move it around all the time and that always includes not only it’s USB cable but it’s power supply too. So yeah, I am most definitely gona order myself one of these Bluetooth USB Hubs.

I just want to add that the Bluetooth USB Hub has power surge protection and is 2.0 USB, which means it’s faster than USB 1.0, but as a side note, it does still work with ALL USB devices, even USB 1.0.

Happy Shopping!