Lets fix Bluetooth range problem for Headsets on E200

[Guest t12345uk]

I will start with some background

I have a SPV E200. It was my favouritest ever phone until I had to use a Bluetooth headset on it. I got myself a Sony Ericsson HBH65 (as advertised on Orange's accessory page for the E200.

When using the headset with the E200 the range is appauling. Phone in left coat pocket, headset in right ear, crackling galore. It needs line of sight along with a distance of less than 1 meter.

I borrowed a P800 and a P900 and managed to get a good 8 meters from the phone with the headset on and no crackling. So the headset is fine.

I then activesynced via bluetooth with no problem. The laptop is 2 meters from a Wifi access point and you know the hassle those things cause with Bluetooth range. But anyway I decide to test a theory. I go through to the other room and to a distance approximately 8 - 10 metres from the laptop and click "connect via bluetooth" in activesync, connecting, connected, syncronising, syncronised.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So this issue only seems to affect the bluetooth range when the phone is in headset mode eh?

Right that means it can be fixed/bodged.

My theories (please note the follwoing is from my wierd and twisted brain and probably isnt true) on why it only happens in headset mode is thus:

When you using the phone in headset mode via bluetooth you are actively using the gsm transceiver and the bluetooth transceiver. Now I think this caused a lot of battery usage. So some bright spark decided to reduce the output power of the bluetooth transceiver as in all likelihood when someone is using a bluetooth headset the phone will most likely be on their person (ie for use in the car whilst driving) so it wouldnt matter if the range wasnt 10 meters. However what if the power output for the bluetooth transceiver was just a little bit too low which would be causing the problems a large number of users seem to be having?

Plausible?

Well if it is plausible then a fix can be found. For if it is possible to turn the power output down it can also be possible to turn it up. (Sod it. For proper range in headset mode I'll quite happily recharge the phone until the C500's come out or the P900's come back into stock).

Is there anyone out there who thinks this is a plausible idea and wants to have a go at ripping apart the E200's OS, etc etc and finding the super power boost switch to get the headset mode of bluetooth working at the same range as the activesync (bluetooth serial port) does?

(Footnote: Sony said their Vaio computers were incapable of Activesyncing over Bluetooth with mobile devices, but I found a way of doing it as can be seem on geekzone.co.nz forums. Which prooves to Sony that it can be done. I believe this can be fixed too. Help me please?)

Regards

Starfury

[Guest bleugh]

I got one of those Itech clip bluetooth thingies, easilly gets 6 meters in free air in the office here :-)

(e200

version 4.20

Radio version 1.12.01

Rom - 2.6.1.3

and 1.11.1.4

[Guest bolasz]

What are those Itech clip bluetooth thingies?

Posted from my SmartPhone!

[Guest t12345uk]

Its this:

http://www.drivesafemobile.co.uk/

Doesn't really help much though.

Isnt there anyone out there up to the challenge of this?

There must be someone who has the ability to have a crack at this or knows someone who works for the maufacturer, or knows someone who works for Orange, or Microsoft, maybe someone who can get access to dev kits to try and sort this out. Its got to be possible to fix it.

Starfury

[Guest t12345uk]

Mr Bump strikes again.

[Guest hardcore]

I am using the Ericsson HBH-65 with the Xphone. I have been trying many ROMs... and so far the Bluetooth range has been disappointing. However, after upgrading to the latest iMate ROM, Bluetooth range for my headset has improved tremendously! Now there is no crackling, etc. when I use Bluetooth headset with the phone in my pocket. Previously, sometimes I would get it. It is probably due to the much newer radio version of the iMate ROM.

So guys, if you dont mind risking an "unauthorized" ROM, then do try the iMate ROM.

[Guest ajb3000]

Something to try (can't be arsed doing it myself at the moment), make an activesync bt connection, then make a phone call and transfer a large file at the same time, see if the range is the same as without making a call or more like headset range. It may be there's not enough current to use full range bt and gsm call at the same time as opposed to just headset profile using reduced power.

[Guest t12345uk]

Can you be connected to two different BT devices at the same time? Dont think you can. Never managed to get the laptop to connect to the BT AP and my Smartphone at the same time.

Also if thats the case with the current, how come hardcore managed to fix it using an iMate ROM....?

hardcore, you got a download link for that ROM?

Anyone know Oranges stand on it and how well the phone will work with the Orange network still?

[Guest puckster]

I have just posted a new post about this Here. (I probably should have read through all the forum properly first hehe) :wink:

In my post i reported that i-mate are apparently working on a fix for this now. I'll let you know when it arrives and if it works. I'm not holding my breath though as i-mate seem to take ages to release updates. :?

Regards,

Chris

[Guest ajb3000]

You can connect to two different devices at the same time, but it's really really poor. For example, I was transfering a large file to my phone over bluetooth when I call came in, I answered it with my Bluetooth headset. The call quality was quite crackly even when the phone was close and in a direct line of sight with the headset, also the file transfer slowed down, however they did still *work* simultaneously.