Can a Bluetooth wireless connection bridge a USB Host and USB device?
Now that Bluetooth modules are dirt cheap, I’m wondering if I could make a pair of wirelessly connected objects that would act as a «virtual USB cable». One would have a pig tail with a USB Male plug (USB-host side), and the other would have a USB-device end on its pig tail. The goal would be for them to be able to wirelessly act like a wired USB cable, but wireless. Requirements are simple: 1) Commodity hardware. If the cheap Bluetooth modules, plus a cheap MCU or two can do it, it’s fair game. I can code and design circuits, but this project doesn’t warrant me designing PCBs from scratch and coding protocols from scratch. 2) Does NOT need to support high speeds or charging port or anything fancy. If it can do USB 1.0 reliably, great. Primary usage would be for either USB printers or programming MCUs (Arduino, Launchpad, etc.) Neither of which need huge bandwidth. If this is doable, what would the basic data chain look like? (Example: Host-side would be a generic PC USB dongle (just needs to support _____ protocol), and it would communicate via Bluetooth Serial (or other protocol) to the client that would be a generic Bluetooth module hooked to a ATMega32u4 board configured to use _______ protocol on it’s USB out.) I could swear I’ve seen online projects of guys doing this, but now that I’m interested in attempting it, I can’t seem to find a similar project online to get a basic idea of how it would be done. If anyone knew of one, and had a link, I’d appreciate it. Just as valid of an answer would be to point out why something like this won’t work. (Obviously, such devices aren’t being sold on E-bay en-masse, so their could be a real answer why USB signals can’t be bridged across a wireless link due to latency or some-such.)
\$\begingroup\$ This would be impractical to do in a general sense, but it might be possible to hack something together for specific peripherals that don’t mind a lot of delay. The best way to do a proof-of-concept would probably be two linux PCs/embedded boards with USB and bluetooth, and try to have one proxy for the other for your peripheral of interest in software. If you really want to appear as a USB device to the client system, then you will need something with device-side USB as well. \$\endgroup\$
\$\begingroup\$ amazon.co.uk/Nulaxy-Adapter-Convert-Keyboard-Bluetooth/dp/… Already exist if its just keyboard and mouse you wish to use. \$\endgroup\$
Can a Bluetooth wireless connection bridge a USB Host and USB device?
Now that Bluetooth modules are dirt cheap, I’m wondering if I could make a pair of wirelessly connected objects that would act as a «virtual USB cable». One would have a pig tail with a USB Male plug (USB-host side), and the other would have a USB-device end on its pig tail. The goal would be for them to be able to wirelessly act like a wired USB cable, but wireless. Requirements are simple: 1) Commodity hardware. If the cheap Bluetooth modules, plus a cheap MCU or two can do it, it’s fair game. I can code and design circuits, but this project doesn’t warrant me designing PCBs from scratch and coding protocols from scratch. 2) Does NOT need to support high speeds or charging port or anything fancy. If it can do USB 1.0 reliably, great. Primary usage would be for either USB printers or programming MCUs (Arduino, Launchpad, etc.) Neither of which need huge bandwidth. If this is doable, what would the basic data chain look like? (Example: Host-side would be a generic PC USB dongle (just needs to support _____ protocol), and it would communicate via Bluetooth Serial (or other protocol) to the client that would be a generic Bluetooth module hooked to a ATMega32u4 board configured to use _______ protocol on it’s USB out.) I could swear I’ve seen online projects of guys doing this, but now that I’m interested in attempting it, I can’t seem to find a similar project online to get a basic idea of how it would be done. If anyone knew of one, and had a link, I’d appreciate it. Just as valid of an answer would be to point out why something like this won’t work. (Obviously, such devices aren’t being sold on E-bay en-masse, so their could be a real answer why USB signals can’t be bridged across a wireless link due to latency or some-such.)
\$\begingroup\$ This would be impractical to do in a general sense, but it might be possible to hack something together for specific peripherals that don’t mind a lot of delay. The best way to do a proof-of-concept would probably be two linux PCs/embedded boards with USB and bluetooth, and try to have one proxy for the other for your peripheral of interest in software. If you really want to appear as a USB device to the client system, then you will need something with device-side USB as well. \$\endgroup\$
\$\begingroup\$ amazon.co.uk/Nulaxy-Adapter-Convert-Keyboard-Bluetooth/dp/… Already exist if its just keyboard and mouse you wish to use. \$\endgroup\$
USB over Bluetooth? Am I insane?
At the local computer stores, I have seen devices which connect to a USB port on your PC, then connect to the USB port of a printer. They promise to provide a Bluetooth to the printer they are connected to. I am curious to know if anyone has (or has heard of someone) connecting one of these to other USB devices. Do similar devices exist which do not restrict themselves to printers only?
My goal is to have a bluetooth card in my laptop and be able to connect to a number of USB devices wirelessly. If one of these store-bought devices (or a recommendation) would do the trick, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it, how it works and where to get it.
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The items I have seen do not use serial (in the older form of the word). They physically connected to the USB port. Here’s an example:
Are any of the items on the ExpanSys page capable of what I am asking, or are you saying there is no way to do this? I’ve seen countless USB adapters meant to connect to a PC, but I am looking for a device capable of connecting to a USB hub allowing access to all of those USB devices over Bluetooth.
Thanks for the quick response!
There are Bluetooth devices for all kinds of devices (computers, printers, phones, PDAs), and each of them have different capabilities — Bluetooth devices for printers (USB or not) usually come with limited BT profiles (for just printing), but if you have a USB device for a PC, you can send files to other PCs, files to print, even share out that computer’s internet connection to other BT devices (including PDAs, as I do at home via integrated Bluetooth into my F-S LOOX).
Bluetooth is amazing, just have to becareful what device you get, becaue some makers implement shoddy BT capabilities into their hardware, but this is NOT the fault of Bluetooth.
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