USB Bluetooth 5.1 Dongle / Adapter for PC 5.1 works well inside a house

As per Bluetooth Adapter Verified Working · Issue #26141 · home-assistant/home-assistant.io · GitHub

Just surprised with how well this works for me. PnP auto configured with no setup. Can reach the 2nd floor from the basement. I use a USB extension cord (10ft / 3m). Not sure if that helps or hurts it.

ZEXMTE USB Bluetooth Adapter for PC 5.1, Long Range Bluetooth USB Adapter for Windows 11/10,492FT/150M Bluetooth Dongle 5.1 EDR,Plug & Play for Desktop, Laptop, Printers,Mouse, Headsets, Speakers

https://a.co/d/5mK7zuL
https://www.amazon.ca/Bluetooth-Printers-Keyboard-Headsets-Speakers/dp/B0BL3RJGM8

cc: “amazon affiliate link” for home assistant

For USB signal integrity you want to limit use of hubs and extension cables.

I am currently using a Targus Bluetooth 4.0 Dual-Mode Micro USB Adaptor - JB Hi-Fi which comes up as a kogan bluetooth adapter in device manager, covers my full home since it has a 33m range.

The main thing to keep in mind with adapters you get is the device limit per adapter some have a limit of 7 per so you may need another adapter to have more BT based gear connected in your setup.

I vote we get this added to the list of known working devices. Literally was just searching for a new adapter…now I’m set. Do we know if this uses the RTL8761B chip?

@Dvalin21 is that question for me or @TH3xR34P3R ?

Whomever, but also for anyone else who sees this post, I found it for a little cheaper. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL3RJGM8?psc=1&smid=A3RK1DQF0192P5&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

May I ask in which OS you are running the antenna?
On Amazon they say it is not compatible with Linux; since I’m running HA on Debian, I would like to know on which OS you are.
Thanks

@GitWally I am using Linux. The qcow2 from Linux - Home Assistant I am using it with a virt pass through. My host is Debian. I don’t think I installed anything, just PnP and it worked. I know it says no Linux support but it workes fine with no issues so far.

Thanks @robertsearle I will try with the ZEXMTE 5.3 which is declared to be working 180m: hope this will be enough to work from home to the garden.

Thanks

In my configuration ZEXMTE 5.3 was not working, initially: had problem with Realteck firmware. So the bluetooth was switching off every time I tried to enable it in Debian.
In HA the integration was always “initializing” and then “failed …”

With

sudo dmesg | grep Bluetooth

found error messages about firmware, like these:

[    5.897790] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin failed with error -2
[    5.897795] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: firmware file rtl_bt/rtl8761bu_fw.bin not found

Found step by step solution here.
Now it is working.

I read this could happen again due to updates.
Bye

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