Why is Bluetooth so bad on Windows devices?

54and56

Hi all,

I'm just looking to understand why Bluetooth performs so poorly on Windows devices (my experience is mostly with laptops) compared to either Android or IOS phones? If I pair a headset with my laptop all is fine for the initial connection but but it really struggles to automatically re-connect when I turn the bluetooth headset back on again going forward and I end up having to launch Bluetooth Devices and manually connect.

I know it's not the Bluetooth headsets themselves as I've tried several over the years and whilst they all connect and re-connect instantly paired with various phones they all fail (about 90% of the time) to automatically reconnect to the laptop when that is the only available device they are paired with i.e. they are not trying to also re-connect to a phone as I make sure to have Bluetooth on my phone turned off if the device is also paired with my phone.

I originally thought the problem might be Windows itself (this problem goes back many years and various versions of Windows) or defective/poor bluetooth components in laptops but the problem remains consistent regardless of the version of Windows or the make/model of laptop. I'm currently on the latest Win 10 with a high end Lenovo laptop and still Bluetooth devices have to be manually connected.

It's obviously not a serious issue just a little bugbear which I can't fathom as it should be so easy given the maturity of Bluetooth technology.

Can anyone shed light on why this happens?

CatInABox

Almost certainly down to the fact that the drivers for it are terrible. They're usually provided by whoever makes the comms board, and they don't really care at all.

Twas the same with the touchpad drivers, they were universally terrible, right up until Microsoft took it in house and started providing their own. Nowadays I would never recommend a laptop with a "Precision Touchpad".

bullpost

Is it just Windows though? I'm always having problems with my Android phone connecting to other devices over Bluetooth. Hunting for ages or just refusing to connect. This is over a number of different phones - All Android.

54and56

bullpost wrote: »

Is it just Windows though? I'm always having problems with my Android phone connecting to other devices over Bluetooth. Hunting for ages or just refusing to connect. This is over a number of different phones - All Android.

Yes for me it's just Windows. Never ever had any Bluetooth problems with Android and I've been an Android user and ROM flasher etc since the early days of Android. I must have had 10 Android phones and at least another 10 media boxes, tablets etc over the years and can't ever remember any Bluetooth specific problems. The odd (typically cheap) device might freeze or require a factory reset but I don't recall any of them having poor Bluetooth connectivity, certainly nothing as bad I currently experience on a €2,500 laptop!!

54and56

Thanks CatInABox, that really helps me to understand the problem.

CatInABox wrote: »

Almost certainly down to the fact that the drivers for it are terrible. They're usually provided by whoever makes the comms board, and they don't really care at all.

Loath as I'd be to do it on my nice (relatively) new laptop are there 3rd party drivers which can replace the bundled ones?

CatInABox wrote: »

Twas the same with the touchpad drivers, they were universally terrible, right up until Microsoft took it in house and started providing their own. Nowadays I would never recommend a laptop with a "Precision Touchpad".

Can't say I've ever experienced poor touchpad performance on any of the Lenovo or Dell laptops I've owned over the years.

CatInABox

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Loath as I'd be to do it on my nice (relatively) new laptop are there 3rd party drivers which can replace the bundled ones?

Honestly, it's a good few years since I've had to look. Find the make and model of your laptop, then go onto the support site. You'll be able to find all the drivers available there, which may be more up to date than your machines. If the latest from there don't work better, then it's down the rabbit hole of trying to find a better, compatible driver from elsewhere, like the comms board manufacturer.

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Can't say I've ever experienced poor touchpad performance on any of the Lenovo or Dell laptops I've owned over the years.

Count your blessings then, touchpad problems have been the bane of many a laptop over the years. There's a reason that Microsoft took it in house before any other feature.

Capt'n Midnight

Take a particular laptop with previously working Bluetooth. It's got an Intel chipset and Intel WiFi card with Bluetooth is about as standard as it gets.

Do a clean install of windows 10 on an new SSD. Bluetooth works.
But Blue Screen Of Death when you try to turn off discovery.

Life is too short to figure out stuff like that.
There's been a few updates since so maybe it's fixed ?



It's 2018 , why do we still have bluetooth lag ?
And why does my TV want pair happily with one set of headphones reliably and is iffy on another set ?

And don't get me started on my phone ...