USB bluetooth "client" dongle to replace wired solution

[Martin F]

Hi all,

We have a data logger that allows us to stream data via a wired USB connection onto a PC.
Some of our clients would like to be able to use this feature, but without the wire over a short distance (e.g. 1-2 meters).

As such, we've looked at potential USB bluetooth alternatives, but it seems all of these require that our data logger acts as "host", which is not feasible with current hardware/firmware.

Does some product exit that "acts as a regular USB wire", but via e.g. bluetooth instead - and allows our data logger to act as client?

Any help is super welcome!

Martin

[tszaboo]

For example Nordic makes a lot of RF chips, which work quite well. Wireless keyboards and such uses them. Like NRF24. You program the two chips (to have the proper USB device protocol, and the other interface in your device), pair them, and ship them, and it supposed to work almost plug and play.

[tooki]

I think that maybe Bluetooth is the wrong thing to look for. It's a specific standard with specific uses, and probably not suited to this. However, you can get a generic USB-to-IP "hub" that connects to your LAN and then uses a special driver on the PC to see the remote USB port as if it were local. Most of these things have wired Ethernet only, but I did find one company that sells models with WiFi, e.g.: http://www.silexamerica.com/products/connectivity-solutions/device-networking/usb-parallel-connectivity/ds-520an/

Edit: P.S. While those things externally look like USB print servers, they're not the same thing. A USB print server will only work with printers (occasionally scanning is supported, too), by presenting as a network printer. The USB-to-IP converters, on the other hand, act as a virtual cable, so that the device drivers don't see the network in between, they just see the USB device as being plugged in locally.