The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Bluetooth 3.0 USB Hub?

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by Nick, Dec 10, 2010.

  1. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

    Reputations:
    3,870
    Messages:
    4,089
    Likes Received:
    643
    Trophy Points:
    181
    Is there such a thing as a bluetooth 3.0 hub? For attaching external HDD's, thumb drives, mice, etc.
     
    Nick, Dec 10, 2010
    #1
  2. DboogieC

    DboogieC Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    580
    Messages:
    1,010
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I dont think so, why do you want a bluetooth hub ?
     
    DboogieC, Dec 10, 2010
    #2
  3. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

    Reputations:
    3,870
    Messages:
    4,089
    Likes Received:
    643
    Trophy Points:
    181
    My Macbook only has 2 USB ports. Plus it would be something I'd leave at home, hook up all my junk to.
     
    Nick, Dec 11, 2010
    #3
  4. metril

    metril Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    420
    Messages:
    968
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Bluetooth 3.0 is still very slow compared to other data transfer standards. You probably want a wifi USB hub. Those do exist.
     
    metril, Dec 11, 2010
    #4
  5. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,354
    Messages:
    4,449
    Likes Received:
    476
    Trophy Points:
    151
    What you need is a USB 2.0 hub. That will do everything you need it to do. And USB 2.0 hubs are a dime-a-dozen, sold everywhere, in any shape or size you can imagine.

    I don't know if you intentionally said Bluetooth, or if you were perhaps confused. But Bluetooth-anything is not what you need.

    You also have absolutely no use for USB 3.0. Your laptop doesn't support USB 3.0, and none of the peripherals you own support USB 3.0. Someone in your position buying USB 3.0 anything would be a waste of money.
     
    kent1146, Dec 12, 2010
    #5
  6. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

    Reputations:
    3,870
    Messages:
    4,089
    Likes Received:
    643
    Trophy Points:
    181
    I meant Bluetooth 3.0 as its the fastest version. But, as someone posted, a wifi hub works basically the same.
     
    Nick, Dec 12, 2010
    #6
  7. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,354
    Messages:
    4,449
    Likes Received:
    476
    Trophy Points:
    151
    Uhhh, I'm not aware of any external hard drives or thumb drives that connect via Bluetooth. There are some mice that connect via Bluetooth, but most connect via USB.

    Are you SURE you mean Bluetooth, the wireless connectivity technology?
     
    kent1146, Dec 12, 2010
    #7
  8. Nick

    Nick Professor Carnista

    Reputations:
    3,870
    Messages:
    4,089
    Likes Received:
    643
    Trophy Points:
    181
    What I meant was a hub with USB ports on it. The hub itself connects to my computer through bluetooth. The device's(HDD, Thumb drive, etc) connect with USB to the hub.
     
    Nick, Dec 12, 2010
    #8
  9. kent1146

    kent1146 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,354
    Messages:
    4,449
    Likes Received:
    476
    Trophy Points:
    151
    Ah, I get it now. Thanks for the clarification.

    Hrm, well, I don't think that device exists. But even if it did, I would have to advise you against it. Since everything would need to connect to your computer via Bluetooth, you will be limited to the bandwidth of Bluetooth.

    And the bandwidth of Bluetooth is HORRIBLE. It's somewhere around the neighborhood of 0.2MBps - 0.4MBps. I don't even use Bluetooth dial-up networking to tether my smartphone to my laptop, because even a 3G cellular signal is bottlenecked by Bluetooth.

    Even if you could find something that does 802.11n WiFi to connect, you'd be limited to around 10MBps. Meanwhile, a hard drive can pump out 60MBps - 80MBps natively, and is usually bottlenecked by the 30MBps limit of USB 2.0.

    My advice to you is to just get a USB 2.0 hub. It's much cheaper, easier to find, and gives you considerably more performance. The only concession you make with USB 2.0 is that you connect 1 cable to your laptop when you need to use peripherals, instead of 0 cables.
     
    kent1146, Dec 13, 2010
    #9
  10. jnjroach

    jnjroach Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    431
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    jnjroach, Dec 13, 2010
    #10
  11. H.A.L. 9000

    H.A.L. 9000 Occam's Chainsaw

    Reputations:
    6,415
    Messages:
    5,296
    Likes Received:
    552
    Trophy Points:
    281
    The Macs only support Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR... not 3.0. Bluetooth bandwidth sucks though.
     
    H.A.L. 9000, Dec 13, 2010
    #11