Bluetooth AND wifi

[ziggy]

This may be a stupid question, but can I use Bluetooth to connect my iPAQ (2210) to a PC that is hooked up to a WiFi network? I was using a Blurtooth connection just fine, but yesterday I installed an 802.11g router on my PC and networked it to a PC upstairs. Now I seem to have some sort of a TCP/IP conflict, and I can't figure out how to resolve it.

Thanks,

[Sven Johannsen]

Weeellll, your problem is likely not a BT/Wifi issue. They work together just fine. What do you mean you installed an 802.11g router on your PC. Do you mean you turned on ICS on a PC with a Wifi card, or that you got a standalone router/AP and configured the PC to talk to it.

In any case it is probably just a mess up in addressing, sharing, BT profile use, etc. Try to detail your setup a bit more and folks here will respond with more help than you can stand. What do you have, what is connected to what, what does the BT PPC conect to, and how, etc.

[manywhere]

Also, mention the manufacturer and model(s) of the WiFi and Bluetooth devices you are using. (No need to mention the iPaq, since we all know which you have... ;) )

There are cases where certain manufactuered WiFi devices can conflict with Bluetooth devices and I'm hoping that you are not affected. (Or was it the other way around?)

[ziggy]

Okay thanks. I have two Dell PC's, each running Windows XP Pro, one "old" and one "new". The new one just replaced the old one about two weeks ago, so until then, the old one was my primary PC, and I used it for Bluetooth Internet Access with no problems. I have a Belkin F8T001 Bluetooth dongle installed on each PC (I had an extra so when I bought the new PC, I just left the old system alone). I also was able to get a Bluetooth internet connection working on the new system before I decided to add WiFi, but I could not get the two PC's to talk, although I think they were just too far apart which is why I bought the WiFi. For WiFi, I have a Netgear WGR614 router on the new PC, and a Netgear WG121 USB adapter on the old. The new computer is connected to the internet via a Motorola Surfboard SB4101, and my service provider is Adelphia. So far, the only way I've been able to figure out to copy files from the old computer is to go to Start>Run>\\192.168.0.3 and that brings up a window with the Shared Documents folder, so I assume that is the IP address it's using, but I confess that communications is an area of computers that I'm somewhat weak in. When I now try to establish an internet connection on the iPAQ, it finds the host PC (I'm trying on the new PC) immediately, but then the Connecting... bubble pops up and never completes the connection, and often times the iPAQ freezes up during the attempt. Other times, I get an error message which says that the connection cannot be made because the IP address is already in use.


Thanks everybody,

[collegea]

Ziggy, it sounds to me that your problem lies in the fact that your wifi and Bluetooth connection are sharing the same IP Address. You need to make 2 different IP addresses here.

I have the D-Link 624 G Router, along with the DWL-G650 card and it works beautifully in my home. My HPIPAQ 4155 connects immediately to the Router from 200 feet away.

This may help:

"If you are using a router in your Network this can cause problems depending on the IP address it uses. Most routers use 192.168.0.1 as their default IP, the setup instructions usually mention what the default IP is . This default IP will not work with a Bluetooth adapter. You can check all your IP assignments by going to a DOS prompt and typing; ipconfig /all (This should work in WinXP, 2K, 98SE & ME) In Win98SE and ME only you can go to the "run" window and type winipcfg. The Bluetooth LAN should have an IP address of 192.168.0.1, the Subnet Mask should be 255.255.255.0, the Default Gateway should be blank. The IP address for the Bluetooth LAN must be 192.168.0.1. If you see a weird IP address for the Bluetooth LAN your router is probably on 192.168.0.1
If the router is using this address it needs to be changed to a new range like 192.168.2.1. You can usually access your router setup pages directly by going to an Internet browser and typing in this default IP, 192.168.0.1, in the address window and then hit enter. The default username/password is usually admin/admin. Check your specific router's instructions to see how to access the setup menus, it could be different. There is usually a menu that is labeled something like "Status" this should give the current IP of the router. There should also be a menu for "LAN" settings, this is where you should see this default IP, 192.168.0.1, and also where you change it to 192.168.2.1. After you change the router's IP, it will reset. You might even want to power the router off and then back on again. A reboot of the PC couldn't hurt either. After doing so re-check your IP assignments at the DOS prompt and make sure your Bluetooth LAN is now on 192.168.0.1. Also, to access your router's setup page after you changed the IP address you'll now need to type in the new IP that you assigned in the browser window.

You will now be able to enable ICS on the appropriate network card. If you tried to do this prior to reassigning your router to a different range you probably saw an error message saying that, "the IP address required for ICS is already in use".

The easiest way to share a broadband Internet connection among multiple computers at home or the office is with a Switch, not a Router. If you don't have a Router and you don't need a true Network among the computers get a Switch and you will avoid all the above problems that a Router can cause. You just plug the RJ45 cable from the DSL or Cable modem into the Switch, port 1, and then plug in all the other computers into the additional ports with the RJ45 cable from the PC LAN card. No software and no setup hassles with a Switch. You can see an example of a switch here. "

http://www.whizoo.com/bt_setup/

[collegea]

I meant to say that it connects from 2000 feet away. Great signal strength.

[ziggy]

Thanks a ton collegea! That worked.

[Sven Johannsen]

The easiest way to share a broadband Internet connection among multiple computers at home or the office is with a Switch, not a Router. If you don't have a Router and you don't need a true Network among the computers get a Switch and you will avoid all the above problems that a Router can cause. You just plug the RJ45 cable from the DSL or Cable modem into the Switch, port 1, and then plug in all the other computers into the additional ports with the RJ45 cable from the PC LAN card. No software and no setup hassles with a Switch. You can see an example of a switch here. "

http://www.whizoo.com/bt_setup/

Just had to comment here. A router is exactly what you want to share an internet connection. The Cable modem plugs into the WAN port on the router and the other PCs connect to the LAN side, which, if it is a multiport router, is a switch. I'm assuming the router you have also has an Access Point built in or we wouldn't be talking about WiFi. The router WAN side will accept the IP address that Adelphia provides, and it will hand out appropriate addresses to the hosts on the LAN side, assuming they are configured for DHCP (server assigned address).

Doing this with a switch, requires you to connect Adelphia to one PC, through the switch, and turn ICS on, on that PC. That PC then should provide addresses to the other PCs that are attached to the same switch. What you have done then is turned your PC into a router, and it will need to be on for any other device to access the internet. Since you are using a router/switch/AP, you are not using the router portion of that box, though as you found, the LAN side IP can very easily conflict with what ICS tries to set up.

So, if it's working and you are happy with it, don't mess with it. If you do get a wild notion to set this up properly though, using the router you bought, post again and well try to work it out. The BT stuff really shouldn't figure into this at all. The BT software on a PC can normally just pass the packets that come in over BT from a PPC to the internet connection the PC has.

[ziggy]

Thanks for posting Sven. That is EXACTLY what I'm trying to do is to get it set up properly. I'm fairly knowledgable about computers, but a near stranger to networking in general, and less than a week into wireless networking (unless you count sharing an internet connection via bluetooth with a PPC). I bought "Wireless Home Networking For Dummies" yesterday and have read about fifty pages of that so far, and it seems to agree with you assesment, but I haven't actually started changing things yet. I actually have two PC's upstairs, each with a printer, as well as the one in my office downstairs, and I'd like to get all three of them linked so that I can share internet, files and all three printers. Plus have the PPC get in through Bluetooth. I guess I can also get my TV/Home Entertainment center involved and stream audio media out into the living room, which would be awesome. You are correct about the router. It is a router/switch/AP, at least according to what I've read. I couldn't verify that through experience yet, but that's what the box says.

Thanks again,