Help Guide | The BLUETOOTH wireless communication range is short, or the sound skips. (2024)

FAQs

Help Guide | The BLUETOOTH wireless communication range is short, or the sound skips.? ›

The BLUETOOTH wireless communication range is short, or the sound skips. Set the headset to the “Priority on stable connection” mode. For details, refer to “Switching the sound quality mode.” Remove any obstacles between the antenna of the BLUETOOTH device to be connected and the built-in antenna of the headset.

Its short range is intentional for close connections. Bluetooth's slow data exchange and low power usage differentiate it from WiFi, which consumes more power. These design choices help Bluetooth save energy and avoid interfering with distant devices, resulting in its limited range.

Bluetooth is a wireless technology that allows devices to communicate over short distances (typically up to 10 m) using low-power radio waves. Bluetooth enables short-range data and voice communication between devices, such as smartphones, headphones, speakers, laptops, printers, and medical equipment.

How far does Bluetooth usually reach? Commercial electronics, including most smartphones, headphones, earbuds, and portable speakers, fall into class 2, which gives them a range of about 33 feet.

Bluetooth operates at frequencies between 2.402 and 2.480 GHz, or 2.400 and 2.4835 GHz, including guard bands 2 MHz wide at the bottom end and 3.5 MHz wide at the top. This is in the globally unlicensed (but not unregulated) industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) 2.4 GHz short-range radio frequency band.

Fortunately, there are several ways to increase the range of Bluetooth, including keeping your devices up to date, reducing interference, using an external Bluetooth antenna, using a Bluetooth range extender, using a Bluetooth amplifier, and keeping your devices cool.

As a rule of thumb, increasing the transmitter power by 3dB doubles the range of the device. Therefore, using a stronger Bluetooth transmitter can significantly improve the range of the device. In conclusion, transmitter amplification is an effective way to extend Bluetooth range.

Short-range wireless technologies include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NearLink, near-field communication (NFC), LPWAN, ultra-wideband (UWB) and IEEE 802.15.

How to determine Bluetooth range? ›

Higher-powered Bluetooth devices can transmit signals that are more likely to pass through walls. However, even with a strong signal, the quality may degrade as it passes through obstacles. The distance between the transmitting and receiving devices will also impact the signal's ability to pass through walls.

Class 1 is the longest-range Bluetooth classification. It supports approximately 300 feet (100 meters) of communicable distance. However, the most potent Bluetooth radios can transmit more than 10 times that distance outdoors. Class 1 Bluetooth radios are for industrial applications and not used for consumer products.

Radio Spectrum

However, the lower the frequency the lower the data rate it can support. As a result, selecting a radio spectrum comes with tradeoffs between range and data rate. Bluetooth^® technology uses the 2.4 GHz ISM spectrum band (2400 to 2483.5 MHz), which enables a good balance between range and throughput.

The only way to pick up the signal from the lost Bluetooth device is if the Bluetooth radio is switched on. Install a Bluetooth scanner app like LightBlue. This kind of app detects and lists all Bluetooth devices that are broadcasting nearby. You can get LightBlue on iPhone or download LightBlue for Android.

Bluetooth devices use frequency hopping to help minimize the effects of interference with other devices. Frequency Hopping is a technique where when a link is formed the devices are synchronized to change channels together many times a second.

There are two ways of increasing the range of a radio transmission: Increase the transmitter power or increase the size of the antennae array. A 3rd thing might help a bit. Increase the size of the receiver antenna.

Bluetooth has a shorter range and slower speed compared to WiFi because it operates on the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which is shared with a range of other devices. This means that Bluetooth has to share the same bandwidth with these other devices, which can cause interference and slow down data transfer speeds.

Check for sources of interference.

Try disconnecting the power cord from any such nearby electronics (i.e. laptop/phone charger, TV, cable box, seasonal lights, microwave, etc.). If the issue is resolved, try connecting the device or your product to a different power circuit or farther away.

The four primary causes are distance, interference, obstructions, or battery charge.