WTH wall tablets as Bluetooth proxy

Month of "What the heck?!"
1

How can we use tablets as a Bluetooth proxy?

2

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/wth-doesnt-ha-have-a-way-to-integrate-the-ble-capabilities-of-old-phones-into-the-environment/470417

An almost duplicate topic They should be merged.

1 Like
3

the android app would need to be updated for the BT proxy stuff as of now you have a few bluetooth options, some of which mimic what HA does like beacon monitoring and transmitting

4

I’ve got a couple of old phones sitting around running the HA android app being sensors and cameras… when are they going to be able to get in on the bluetooth-o-rama that HA is experiencing now? Why make us buy more ESP32 boards when we’ve already got bluetooth hardware inside a device already interfacing with HA?

1 Like
5

An almost duplicate topic They should be merged.

6

I had the exact same though today. Looks like it is not possible?

7

Not yet, I’m afraid.
I don’t see technical hurdles, hopefully, (basically all those BLE devices are made for BLE phones) so it might happen someday, as a wall tablet doing bluetooth proxy at the same time is a definitive win-win.

8

You can at least work with the BLE_scanner in the app. It works not like a proxy, but you can see all scanned BLE devices. You can already work with these in HA. As I said, it’s not really a proxy, but it’s a working solution, if you want to use a tablet/phone to get BLE advertisements. :slight_smile:

template:
  - binary_sensor:
      - name: Presence Mobile Beacon 
        unique_id: presence_mobile_beacon
        device_class: presence
        state: >-
          {% if state_attr('sensor.tablet_flur_beacon_monitor', '066af314-ce57-458b-bdac-xxxxxxxxxxxx_100_1') != None 
            or state_attr('sensor.tablet_kitchen_beacon_monitor', '066af314-ce57-458b-bdac-xxxxxxxxxxxx_100_1') != None 
          %}
            on
          {% else %}
            off
          {% endif %}

Mobile beacon as this is my phone, not one of my other beacons

If the attribute is set, the beacon is “here”, if not, it’s not within reach. :slight_smile:

9

You mean working solution for presence, sure.
But I actually want a proxy, i.e. extending the practical range of bluetooth as far as devices are concerned, not presence detection :wink:

10

You mean to proxy eg. a Xiaomi BLE thermometer to get it “in range”? :slight_smile:

I’ve read something about that, I’ll try to look for that thread. Someone did get his Xiaomi BLE thingies to work with the app… Puh, I can’t remember where that was, but I’ll see if I can find that thread. :slight_smile:

11

Exactly, that’s what a bluetooth proxy is in the context of HA :wink:

12

I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find the thread I’m looking for. I’m nearly sure, I’ve read something about that, but I wouldn’t go that far to say it’s possible.

I’ll keep it in mind, and if I stumble upon that thread, I’ll give note. :slight_smile:

PS: It’s so hot here today, I’m not even sure if my mind isn’t playing some games with me… :crazy_face:

13

Having just put HA Companion on my android TV to show a dashboard of cameras, it’d be great if it could work as a BT proxy as well!

14

Out of curiosity,
What version of HA companion App did you install on Android TV and How?

Thanks

15

sideload the latest version found on github :wink:

16

Theengs app sends BLE data from these sensors to MQTT among other features

17

Except that the link you have provided there, that this is supposedly a duplicate of is dead:

Oops! That page doesn’t exist or is private.

18

Because it was merged into this thread :wink: