Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2022 September 29

= September 29 =

Does something like a Usb to bluetooth device exist?
Does something like a Usb to bluetooth device exist? I am talking something like as some example, USB keyboard > this device > bluetooth signal > Notebook or another device that allow Bluetooth use. 186.212.164.232 (talk) 23:56, 29 September 2022 (UTC)
 * I am not clear on your use case, but yes USB to Bluetooth is very common. Here is a magazine article listing some: .  Google "USB to Bluetooth" to get many more.  RudolfRed (talk) 01:34, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * USB to Bluetooth adapters are very common yes. But these are generally designed to plug into a host device, i.e. some sort of computer (e.g. desktop or laptop, mini computer like a Pi, tablet or phone or maybe a smart device like a TV etc) and provide Bluetooth support to said host device. For example, they could be used to connect a Bluetooth keyboard to a host which has a USB port but does not have Bluetooth (or an old version). While I only just glanced at your list, I fairly doubt it has what the OP seems to be asking asking for which from their description is something which can attach to a USB keyboard and output a Bluetooth signal to connect said keyboard to some other device with its own Bluetooth support (whether built or via a USB adapter). I suspect theoretically you could do something like this with certain hobbyist devices maybe a Pi, but you'd probably generally get annoying latency. Note that this is likely a lot more complicated than it sounds since while I think USB HID is somewhat standardised, you'd still need to understand it enough to be able to connect to any random device, and then also be able to transmit the Bluetooth HID standard.  Note that the adapter device would need some sort of power supply whether from the mains or a battery.  But anyway beyond the complexity, there's simply no reason for much demand for such a device. There are plenty of wireless keyboards out there for people who don't need Bluetooth and plenty of Bluetooth keyboards for people who do. And these are devices designed for such operation with built use of batteries (generally either an unremovable rechargeable one or one or two AA or AAA  batteries). And the keyboards themselves are likely to be somewhat designed for low power which might not be the case for some random USB keyboard not to mention the power needed to parse USB HID and "convert" it to Bluetooth HID. (And I suspect the complexity is likely to mean even a specialised device by someone who knows very well what they're doing may still have latency issues.)  (In the audio field, there are quite a few different devices for connecting different things via Bluetooth but that's most commonly using an analog signal and there are reasons why this is a field where there's demand for a variety of different connection devices.)  Nil Einne (talk) 11:53, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes I was talking about nil einne style of thing not rudolfred one. My one (and nil eine one) USB Hardware you want to conect at something else > USB to bluetooth adaptor > bluetooth signal > another devide that allows bluetooth, the rudolfred one is: Hardware with blutooth conectivity > bluetooth signal > bluetooth usb adapter > another device where you want to plug this bluetooth hardware and dont have bluetooth suport but had usb support. Also I just used usb keyboard as some example, I was just curious if such thing existed, also yes, the adapter would have a rechargable battery (or would require AAA batteries or similar stuff).186.212.164.232 (talk) 23:20, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * USB adapters don't typically need batteries, since they draw power from the bus itself. Elizium23 (talk) 23:28, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * If you want the "adapter" to be able to support any arbitrary USB device that is a lot more difficult and in some ways not even possible. For example even if you adapter understands the USB video device class and can somehow use Bluetooth to transmit this to the computer in a way that the computer will be able to understand it as a webcam, the low speeds mean most video modes are not going to function. Nil Einne (talk) 20:12, 1 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Are you trying to turn a USB device into a Bluetooth device? As someone mentioned, I think the driver would need to know about the USB keyboard.   A bluetooth driver might not have details of all USB keyboards.
 * Instead of buying "this device", you could just buy a Bluetooth keyboard for likely the same price. David10244 (talk) 05:35, 7 October 2022 (UTC)