Dodgy Dongle! (Bluetooth)

[David_AVD]

I bought this Laser branded Bluetooth dongle a few years ago and it sat in hiding, unused until today when I wanted to try it with some HC-07 modules I got on eBay.

Installing it on a Windows 7 Pro 64-bit machine was an epic fail, so I tried on a XP 32-bit machine.  What a mess of unsigned drivers and bloat.  Promptly uninstalled.

Before throwing this piece of junk in the bin, I thought I'd take a look inside.  The little antenna intrigued me somewhat.

Turns out the antenna isn't connected.  It also appears to be made entirely of plastic!

[Ed.Kloonk]

Looks like it's missing a wire or something.

Looks also like you've been sold a..

[Rerouter]

also turns out it uses the exact same case as the proper device (which i have) however vastly different PCB's, my one has a full blown canned WiFi module surface mounted to a PCB that fits most of the casing, with a real (if currently snapped off ) antenna,

[David_AVD]

I'm no RF expert, but the plastic antenna seems to be just a little implausible.

The "Laser" brand is still used for many generic computer accessories as far as I know.  I wonder how many other bogus products are out there under that umbrella?

I also have some $3 micro Bluetooth dongles on the way from eBay.  Will be interesting to see if they work.

[justanothercanuck]

The fake antenna is kindof funny, but I wonder if it really needs one...  I've seen usb wifi sticks without antennas before.

[David_AVD]

It says 100M (range) on it and I guess the fake antenna was to make it seem plausible.

The HC-07 Bluetooth modules I got have their antenna as traces on one end of the board.  They work too !  LOL

[amyk]

Seen this more than once.

The antenna is entirely decorative. All it needs is the one on the PCB.

Mobile phones used to have fake antenna stubs just to give people the idea that the device really is wireless, as studies showed that they wouldn't be as inclined to buy one without.

[Neilm]

It says 100M (range) on it and I guess the fake antenna was to make it seem plausible.

The HC-07 Bluetooth modules I got have their antenna as traces on one end of the board.  They work too !  LOL

Hope it also says class one device. Most modules like those I have seen are only class two. I've seen (and sucessfully used) a small module with a resonant antenna on it - looked like a 0805 cap. Layout was fun, apparently the thickness of the PCB affected the antenna and we couldn't have anything (plastic or metal) within a certain distance of it.

Neil

[kfitch42]

Hope it also says class one device. Most modules like those I have seen are only class two.

I took a double take there ... this is the first thing that jumped to my mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety#Class_1

[David_AVD]

Here's a link to the eBay page and a picture of the HC-07 module.  It does say class 2.

[jack32]

i have seen this exact fake bluetooth dongle many times on the internet.
seems they are selling a lot of these...