Do You Really Need Bluetooth Dongle – Complete Guide
My laptop’s Bluetooth suddenly stopped working, and it really freaked me out when I couldn’t connect my headphones to my PC. Because the problem could be related to the Motherboard, I looked for alternative solutions to fix my Bluetooth issues.
A lot of time the inbuild Bluetooth which comes with laptops or desktop computers stops working. Or sometimes it becomes outdated and does not work correctly with the latest Bluetooth devices that you want to connect to your computer.
In this case, a Bluetooth dongle or adapter comes as a very handy device to resolve this problem and provide you with a portable solution to connect your other devices.
But before jumping on whether you should have or buy a dongle or not. You should check on your system if you have integrated Bluetooth or not.
How To Check For Existing Integrated Bluetooth on Your Computer
So, before you start learning anything about Bluetooth Dongle, you should check if your computer has integrated Bluetooth or not.
Step 1: Go to the Start Menu of your Windows 10 and search device manager.
Step 2: Once Device Manager is Open. See for Bluetooth, if Bluetooth is present then it means that you have an integrated Bluetooth device.
This laptop has integrated Bluetooth named Inter(R) Wireless Bluetooth(R) as shown in the above image. Hence this device may not be required to have an extra portable dongle unless the integrated one stops working.
What is Bluetooth Dongle?
Bluetooth Dongle is a portable Bluetooth device that you can connect to your laptop or desktop in a USB slot.
After you have connected the device you can start using it as a Bluetooth service for your computer and you will be allowed to connect a mouse, keyboard, controllers, printers, and headphones.
A portable Bluetooth dongle is very small in size. And it looks something like the below images.
Usages and Types
There are different ways of dongle present in the market. One such common dongle is the one that comes with a mouse. So, if you will buy a Bluetooth mouse then most of the companies provide an external Bluetooth dongle with it.
That dongle is specific for the mouse and it only connects that specific mouse only. Similarly, there are other dongles that are for general purposes.
So, the general-purpose dongle is a portable one that can be used with any device based upon which devices it supports.
Note that if you connect a general-purpose Bluetooth Dongle or adapter and you are having a Working integrated Bluetooth then only of them will work at any given time. Since Windows support only one radio connection at a time.
Features to Look
So, if you have decided to buy a Bluetooth dongle. Then you should look for the below-mentioned features in it.
- Bluetooth Version: Since the latest version of Bluetooth in the market is 5.0, you need to keep it in mind while buying it. Though 4.0 is still fine and works with almost any device. It is always better to go with the latest specified version.
- Device Support: If you are looking for a dongle to connect to a specific device, for example, you want to connect PlayStation 4 controller with your dongle they need to check whether that dongle supports it.
- Device Driver (Plug n Play): The device driver is the software you need to install before using that dongle. But there is a various dongle that does not require a device driver to be installed and it is more like a plug n play device.
- Technical Support and Warranty: You should check for technical support reviews as well. Whether the company is providing valuable support if something goes wrong. Also, a longer duration of warranty provides much more satisfaction than the ones that provide less warranty.
Final Words
I think I covered most of the think required and for you to know what is Bluetooth dongle and how you can use it. To conclude, dongles or adapters are very portable devices that are cheaper and resolve to connect with wireless devices.
Bluetooth is the major wireless technology and is widely used to connect devices wirelessly. And a dongle is a portable device that hosts Bluetooth radio to provide you the wireless service immediately.
Further Read:
