Adding Bluetooth-Enabled Devices

Many different types of Bluetooth devices are available on the market. Most have some means of making the device discoverable (visible) to other devices. Whether you have to make your PC discoverable to install a device depends on the type of installation you’re about to perform. As always, you need to read the documentation that came with your device for specifics. But if you do need to make your computer discoverable, it’s simply a matter of choosing the Allow A Device To Connect option, visible in Figure 45.3.

On the shortcut menu for the Bluetooth Devices Notification icon, clicking the Add A Bluetooth Device option opens the PC Settings window with the Devices option showing. Windows attempts to locate any devices available. The sections that follow show you how easy it is to connect Bluetooth devices to your laptop or computer. This example shows you how to set up an Android-based smart phone to your computer. We then walk you through the process of transferring files to and from that device.

Connecting an Android smart phone

To add an Android smart phone to your computer using Bluetooth, you must have an Android device that supports Bluetooth. Also, your computer or laptop must have built-in Bluetooth or a Bluetooth adapter plugged into it.

Use the following steps to connect the Android to your Windows computer:

1. On the Windows 8 desktop, click the Bluetooth icon on the notification bar.

2. Click Add A Bluetooth Device, as shown in Figure 45.4. The Devices screen appears.

FIGURE 45.4 Choose to add a Bluetooth device.

3. Turn on the Bluetooth feature on the Android phone. How you do that depends on your version of Android and the model of phone. The Droid2 device listed use the Wireless & Networks tool in the Settings menu. From here, you can turn on the Bluetooth feature and then use the Bluetooth settings item to make the phone discoverable. Windows searches for all Bluetooth devices that are nearby, including the phone.

4. When the computer and phone find each other, a window similar to the one shown in Figure 45.5 appears. Click the item you want to connect with in Windows.

FIGURE 45.5 Windows finds the Android phone device.

5. A message appears on both your phone and in Windows. A passcode should appear that is identical on both devices. If they are, click Yes on your phone and in Windows to set up the Bluetooth connection. Figure 45.6 shows an example of a passcode that appears during this transaction.

FIGURE 45.6 Windows and your phone display a passcode.

Windows sets up a connection between the two devices.

Joining a personal area network

Once your two devices are connected, you can join them as a personal area network (PAN) so you can transfer files between them using the Bluetooth connection. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Click the Bluetooth icon on the desktop notification bar.

2. Click the Join A Personal Area Network option, as shown in Figure 45.7. The Devices And Printers window appears, as shown in Figure 45.8.

FIGURE 45.7 Setting up a personal area network

FIGURE 45.8 Selecting a device to connect to the PAN

3. Click the device you want to join to the PAN, which in our case is the DROID2 GLOBAL phone.

4. Click Connect Using – Access Point. Once connected to the PAN, the command choices change to Disconnect From Device Network. Your phone will say something like Connected To Pan or similar.

Now that your devices are joined to a PAN, you can transfer files between the two. Read the following two sections to find out how to do this.

Receiving files from a Bluetooth device

There’s not much you can do when you connect a smart phone to a computer via Bluetooth. One feature that is handy, however, is the feature to send files from your phone to Windows. You can, for example, send picture or video files from your phone to your computer. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Click the Bluetooth icon on the desktop notification bar.

2. Click Receive A File, as shown in Figure 45.9. The Bluetooth File Transfer window appears (see Figure 45.10). Windows 8 now waits until files from your phone begin transmitting to your computer.

FIGURE 45.9 Receive a file from a smart phone

FIGURE 45.10 The Bluetooth File Transfer window

3. On your phone, locate the feature that enables you to send files to a remote location or a media-sharing app. Some Android-based phones include an app called Media Share. With this app, you can share media files (pictures, videos, and audio) with devices on a Bluetooth connection.

4. On your phone, select the file you want to transfer to Windows and transfer it.

5. In Windows, the Bluetooth File Transfer window shows device information, file information, and progress of the file transfer. Figure 45.11 shows an example. In Figure 45.12, the transfer is finished and you can see the filename and size of file, and browse to the location to which it was saved.

FIGURE 45.11 Receiving a file from a smart phone

FIGURE 45.12 After Windows receives the transferred file

6. Click Finish when you are sharing files from the phone.

Sending files to a Bluetooth device

Not only does Windows 8 make it easy to receive files from a Bluetooth device, such as an Android-based smart phone, it also makes it easy to send files to a device:

1. Click the Bluetooth icon on the desktop notification bar.

2. Click Send A File. You can see this option in Figure 45.9 earlier in this chapter.

3. Select the Bluetooth device to which you want to send the file. In the example shown in Figure 45.13, our choice is the DROID2 GLOBAL device. In some cases, you may have multiple devices showing, so be sure to choose the correct one.

FIGURE 45.13 Select a device to send a file to.

4. Click Next.

5. Specify the path and name of the file you want to share, as shown in Figure 45.14. Use the Browse button to locate the file or files to send. If you choose multiple files, they are separated by a semicolon.

FIGURE 45.14 Select files to send.

6. Click Next. The Bluetooth File Transfer window appears showing the progress of the file being sent (see Figure 45.15). Make sure your phone is turned on. You may need to confirm the file transfer on your phone.

FIGURE 45.15 Sending files from Windows to a smart phone

Windows sends the file(s) from your computer to your phone. Depending on the size of the files, the transfer process may take several minutes.

Creating a Bluetooth personal area network

You’ve seen how to create personal area network to allow a smart phone to connect to your computer. You also can create a Bluetooth PAN as a short-range wireless network to connect other types of devices together wirelessly. It’s commonly used to connect a laptop to a desktop PC, although it can be used to connect other types of Bluetooth devices. As a rule, there’s not much to joining Bluetooth devices to a Bluetooth network. Most of the action takes place automatically behind the scenes.

To understand the basic procedure, let’s assume you already have a desktop computer with a functional Internet connection. You’ve already installed a Bluetooth USB adapter on that computer, so it’s now a Bluetooth device. On that desktop computer, click the Bluetooth adapter icon in the Notification area of the Windows desktop. Click Open Settings and make sure Allow Bluetooth Devices To Find This Computer is selected, as shown in Figure 45.16.

FIGURE 45.16 Make sure Bluetooth is set up on both computers.

On a laptop computer (or second computer), activate Bluetooth or, if necessary, plug in a second Bluetooth USB adapter. You want to connect the laptop to the desktop in a personal area network. To do so, starting from the laptop computer, follow these steps:

Once the connection is established, you should have Internet access on both computers. You can share printers and folders, and move and copy files between computers using the techniques described in Chapter 28, “Managing Files and Folders,” and Chapter 32, “Installing and Managing Printers.”

Note, however, that if you made the Bluetooth connection to only one computer in an existing LAN, you’ll have access only to the shared resources on the Bluetooth-enabled computer, not all the computers in the LAN.

Troubleshooting a Bluetooth network connection

If you can’t get any connectivity at all using Bluetooth, try the following remedy:

1. Go to the computer that’s having trouble connecting to the PAN.

2. Open the Network And Sharing Center by pressing Windows+X and choosing Control Panel Network and Internet Network and Sharing Center.

3. Scroll down to the Bluetooth Network Connection group. If you’re unable to locate the Bluetooth Network Connection group, you’ll need to follow the steps outlined earlier, including entering a passkey from the other system in the PAN.

By the time you complete the wizards on both screens, you should have a connection. The Network and Sharing Center folders on each PC should have similar Bluetooth network entries.

Sharing an Internet connection

If you’re unable to get Internet connectivity from the computer you are connecting to the PAN that already has Internet connectivity, go to the computer that’s connected to the cable modem or router. Open Network and Sharing Center and click the network item next to the Connections label. In the Activity area, click Properties and click the Sharing tab. Choose Allow Other Network Users To Connect Through This Computer’s Internet Connection and click OK twice to save your settings.

If you still have problems connecting to the Internet, check the settings for the Windows Firewall:

With these settings, you should now be able to connect to the Internet from the other computers in the PAN.

Remember that many different Bluetooth devices are available on the market. If none of the techniques described here help you make the connection between two computers in a personal area network, be sure to refer to the instructions that came with your Bluetooth device.