Review: Belkin F8T001 rev. 2 100 meter USB bluetooth adapter

[Stephen Jonke]

I had heard in the past that getting a 100 meter USB bluetooth adapter 
would only provide such range for connecting to devices that also were 
rated for 100 meter. I decided to through caution to the wind, though, 
and take a chance on Belkin's new revision 2 of their 100 meter USB 
adapter model F8T001. Like other USB bluetooth adapters no software is 
needed for use with a Mac OS 10.2 or later. For Windows there is 
software provided on a CD which I haven't tested since I don't have a 
Windows box.

The new revision 2 model of the F8T001 is better looking than the old 
one and no longer sports the funky little mailbox flag antenna - now 
the antenna is entirely internal. It comes with a little cap to protect 
the USB connector when not connected to your Mac or PC and the cap can 
be placed on the opposite end when it is in use so that you don't lose 
it. On the other hand the adapter also sports a super-bright blue light 
that blinks and blinks and blinks when it is plugged in. If your 
computer is set to be discoverable it blinks slowly and if it is set to 
not be discoverable it blinks fast. As I recall the blinking varies 
when sending/receiving data, but it's never solid on or off for any 
period of time. While it's pretty at first, it quickly becomes 
extremely obnoxious. In a mad dash to stop the insanity I grabbed the 
only thing I could find on hand - a rubber band - and wrapped it around 
it to cover the light. So much for it being a nice looking adapter! :)

My intent was to use this with my Palm Tungsten T PDA and my Sony 
Erricson T68i cell phone along with Salling Clicker software on the Mac 
to control iTunes and other apps, but mainly iTunes. So far I have only 
tested it with the Palm. To make a long story short, the range with 
this 100 meter model is in fact dramatically greater than my old 10m 
D-Link even though the Palm is a 10 meter rated device. With my old 
first generation D-Link 10 meter I could barely reach to the kitchen 
before the connection was lost. With the Belkin F8T001 I have not yet 
been out of range. It worked great even up stairs in the bedroom on the 
opposite side of the house with no apparent loss of speed (album 
artwork popped up in the Clicker Palm application quickly.)

Moreover, with my 1st gen D-Link model I could not use encryption with 
Salling Clicker - it gave me errors. This new Belkin model does not 
have that problem (the latest revision of the D-Link shouldn't have 
problems either considering that Apple recommends it and only supports 
it for use with the bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but it is a 10m 
device). Speaking of which, I can't yet test the adapter with the Apple 
bluetooth keyboard and mouse though sometime next week I'll try this 
out as my officemate has both and I'll borrow them even if I have to be 
sneaky about it. ;)

So... this is a great adapter except for the damnable super-bright 
blinking blue light. Rubberbands are not included in the box.

Steve