Bluetooth and wireless keyboards/mice

[mcseguy9]

Hello everyone. I'm wondering about the effectiveness of bluetooth for wireless keyboards and mice. In one of our conference rooms we have an A/V system that includes a PC. The PC is inside a cabinet on the floor. The door to the cabinet is always closed. I'm wondering if I were to get a bluetooth wireless keyboard/mouse combo in which I plug a bluetooth adapter into a USB port on the PC are the odds good or bad that the signal strength will be sufficient to make it through the cabinet door, as well as through the person sitting at the table using the wireless keyboard/mouse? Any thoughts?

[jdc2000]

What is the cabinet made of - metal, wood, plastic, etc.? A metal cabinet could be trouble.

[mcseguy9]

Its definitely not metal or plastic, so either wood or fake wood.

Here's a link to what I'm thinking about putting in that conference room - Logitech diNovo Edge. I checked it out and it comes with Class 2 or version 2 Bluetooth. Hopefully that means we'll be good.

Picture a long conference room with, of course, a long table. On one end of the room is a screen that drops down for the projector and on the other end of the room is the desktop PC inside some cabinets sitting on the floor. So someone would sit at the end of the table nearest the cabinets and with their back to the PC inside the cabinets, and blocking signal, they'd use the keyboard/mouse. So the Bluetooth signal would need to go through the cabinet door and the person using the keyboard/mouse. The person sitting at the table using the setup would be literally inside of 3 feet of the PC and thus the USB Bluetooth adapter.

Do you think this would work fine with Bluetooth technology? They currently use another Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard in there and it uses regular RF wireless technology and it's possible (we're just not certain) that the issues they're having are related to this older wireless technology and/or the hardware itself which is a couple years old (2-3 at least).

[jdc2000]

If the case is not metal, you should be OK. I'd use a front USB port on the system if possible for the Bluetooth adapter. Of course, the only way to know for sure if it works satisfactorily is to try it.

[mcseguy9]

I'm gonna go for it. I also ordered a USB extender cable so that I can put the Bluetooth adapter outside of the cabinet if needed for added coverage.

[SuperSparks]

I think Class 2 Bluetooth should be OK for what you describe, but in an ideal world Class 1 would be better. It is a lot more powerful (100mW as opposed to 2.5mW), and with sufficient range that you would be able to use the KB and mouse from anywhere in the conference room.