Bluetooth Driver

Bluetooth-driver is a collection of drivers that will let your computer use Bluetooth hardware for anything its underlying infrastructure is capable of. In less technical terms, the Bluetooth driver package helps your computer understand how to use Bluetooth receivers and transmitters. For example, if you plug a Bluetooth dongle into your computer's USB port it'll probably need a Bluetooth driver package to operate.

Drivers can be thought of as instruction manuals for operating systems that are trying to make sense of new hardware. Imagine that you've plugged a Bluetooth dongle into your computer. Windows knows how to communicate with any new device over USB. But when it does so it might see hardware that it's utterly unfamiliar with. By default, Windows will look for a driver to explain how to use that new hardware. And Windows will usually be able to find some Bluetooth drivers.

Unfortunately, the default drivers in Windows are often overly generalized and lack applicability to real-world situations. For example, Windows might query Microsoft's update center for Bluetooth drivers that are compatible with your Bluetooth dongle. But if the drivers available don't support all of your dongle's functionality then you'll be left with partially working hardware. You might find yourself in a situation where you can transfer files over Bluetooth but not share your Internet connection with it. Or the drivers might understand how to use your dongle for mono audio but not stereo.

These Bluetooth drivers should take care of that problem. If the standard Windows Bluetooth drivers are an instruction manual then these drivers could be thought of as an omnibus that collects multiple manuals into a single volume. The wider scope ensures that Windows will be able to discover both the basics of your Bluetooth hardware and its full capabilities.

Another nice element of the Bluetooth driver package is that it's not tied down to a single Bluetooth installation. If you install it to use one Bluetooth dongle then you're not locked down to that single piece of hardware. When you swap out that dongle for another Bluetooth dongle the drivers will note the change and look for a matching configuration.

However, there are some issues to be aware of. The first is that Bluetooth is a fairly old protocol. File transfers or shared Internet connections might seem slow when using these drivers. But it's not really an issue with the drivers themselves. It's just that Bluetooth itself can be a little slow when compared to something like a modern WiFi hub.

There's also the simple fact that no driver package can anticipate every single piece of hardware on the market. These drivers will vastly expand your PC's ability to use Bluetooth hardware. But there's always going to be a chance that any given example of Bluetooth hardware won't be compatible with it.

Pros

• Wider level of compatibility than most of Microsoft's default drivers
• Easy to install
• Should fix most common problems with Bluetooth compatibility

Cons

• Not compatible with all hardware
• Has the standard limitations of Bluetooth such as slower transfer speeds