SOLVED Elusive Bluetooth

[BearPup]

I am not sure if this is the right forum, if not, please feel free to move it to the correct one!

I recently purchased a refurbished Dell Latitude 2100, a 10.1" netbook, with 2 GB of RAM, running Windows 7 Home Premium. I love the little machine. Graphics, sound, and Ethernet are all onboard the motherboard. It has 3 USB ports, a VGA port, a six-cell battery, VGA camera, etc. It also comes with Bluetooth, and therein lies the problem. It loads in the autoruns section of startup, but I can not isolate it or make use of it. There is no software application tied to it, and the tray app that is supposed to be there is nowhere to be found.

My reason for wanting the Bluetooth is to transfer files between computers (I have 3: a desktop, a laptop, and the netbook) As it is, the other two computers are not Bluetooth enabled, but I had hoped to use nano receivers to make them Bluetooth enabled. Currently I'm using Microsft's OneDrive app to transfer files, but it seems a slow and cumbersome process. I'd be interested in hearing other people's take on Bluetooth vs OneDrive.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Shintaro]

You would be best to use WiFi.
Connect the desktop to the WiFi Access point via ethernet cable and then connect the Laptop and Netbook to the WiFi.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks for replying. I don't mean to ask a stupid question, but I will anyway! What WiFi access point? I don't have WiFi. Everything has to be hard-wired here (steel frame building with a signal strength of 1/2 bar). But perhaps I'm not understanding your reply correctly?

 

[Shintaro]

You would be better of with WiFi (Wireless communication) because Bluetooth has a more limited range than WiFi.

Some links for you:
http://www.squidoo.com/what-is-wifi

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/computers-software/home-networking/wireless.html

WiFi access point / routers on ebay HERE
The brand of WiFi Access point / router will depend on how much you want to spend.

In regards to coverage, often, depending on the brand, you can get different types of antenna's that will increase the coverage and signal strength.

 

[BearPup]

Thanks for all the info and links - I have some reading and research to do! Again, my thanks.

 

[BearPup]

Just wanted to get back to you. I got a recommendation to try out Dropbox, which I did, and found it to be exactly what I was looking for.

1. Its free.
2. No hardware needed so no start-up cost.
3. Its more secure (wired network vs. wireless).
4. Its fast and all three of my devices have talked to each other and kept files synced with no effort (unlike MS OneDrive which I've now uninstalled).
5. No learning curve.

It really came down to trying out a free option that worked. And, I very much appreciated your help / suggestion. The dummies article was particularly helpful.
Regards,
BearPup

 

[Shintaro]

Ok, I'm confused?

How are you transferring files off the Netbook and Laptop to dropbox?

Or another way of asking this is, how does the Netbook and the Laptop connect to the internet?

 

[BearPup]

All three devices have Ethernet capability. So why not use file sharing in Windows? Because Windows requires me to have log-on passwords to use file sharing, and since I am the only person with access to my computers, I bypass that step. And to access their OneDrive program it kept asking me to do "security checks"; once is OK, every time I wanted to transfer files is a pain too far. So by copying files from my desktop file structure to Dropbox, the files are instantly available to my other devices, both for backup and work projects. And those are the two reasons I need the devices to talk to each other.

If I didn't make something clear in my original posting, I apologize.

 

[Shintaro]

Ok, you said Bluetooth. Bluetooth is for connecting things like headsets, speakers etc. Typically used on, but not exclusive for, mobile phones. It can be used for file transfers, but it is less secure and slower than a WiFi (Wireless) connection.

So if all computers (Netbook, Laptop, Desktop) are connected via Ethernet then I would use windows peer-to-peer file sharing with a the desktop computer synchronizing to the cloud (OneDrive or Dropbox).
However that is based on the fact that the Laptop and Netbook never leave you home.

BUT, if the laptop and netbook are going to other places then it is the best option to have them access DropBox individually.

 

[BearPup]

My original question was based on the premise that with one of the devices having Bluetooth (which I still can't access), the other two could be adapted with nano receivers. And given my negative experience with MS OneDrive, I wasn't expecting an application would work as well as Dropbox does.

As for setting up Dropbox, I've installed the desktop application on each of the devices, linked to the common account on my desktop ("mainframe"). As I work on my mainframe, files are sent to Dropbox as either backup files, or folders for work projects; only the netbook actually travels with me. As before, I appreciate your input and help.