Bluetooth setup questions

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Steve George - 12 Sep 2005 15:27 GMT

I have a general question, and then a specific interest.

Is there some sort of install handshake or security setup for
bluetooth devices?

I. e., when you turn on your bluetooth headset the first time, does it
bind to your phone in some way, so it only works with that one phone?

If not, then you could walk down the street, and grab the use of any
person's phone, if they were close enough.

Here's the specific case. I'm a Nextel dealer. I have a customer who
has a bluetooth headset for his T-Mobile BlackBerry. He is getting a
Nextel BlackBerry to replace it. Can he use the same headset with the
new BlackBerry?

Thanks in advance for any help, speculation, or suggestions for
research.

-Steve

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Isaiah Beard - 13 Sep 2005 21:28 GMT

> I have a general question, and then a specific interest.
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I. e., when you turn on your bluetooth headset the first time, does it
> bind to your phone in some way, so it only works with that one phone?

There is in fact a "pairing" procedure (Motorola calls it "bonding") to
connect and associate two bluetooth devices so that they can operate
together. The pairing procedure requires that a PIN number be
established between the two devices (sometimes the user picks it, other
times one of the devices will radomly generate one), and then each
device records the other's MAC address (Bluetooth's version of an IMEI)
so that they can find each other later.

To do this, you have to get the headset into a special "pairing" mode,
and the same has to be done to the phone. This procedure varies for
each device though, so you'll need to consult the manual for the headset
and for the blackberry to get the two working together.

> Here's the specific case. I'm a Nextel dealer. I have a customer who
> has a bluetooth headset for his T-Mobile BlackBerry. He is getting a
> Nextel BlackBerry to replace it. Can he use the same headset with the
> new BlackBerry?

Yes he can. He just needs to get the headset back in pairing mode, and
the same for the blackberry phone, and then link the two.

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