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Jon00 Bluetooth Proximity Detector V2

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    #1

    Jon00 Bluetooth Proximity Detector V2

    This is an updated version of my original Bluetooth package which allows you to use Bluetooth enabled devices such as mobile/cell phones to determine if you are home or away.

    There has been considerable work done on the client to make it work more effectively on new generation smart phones including the iPhone etc. Depending on your setup/settings, the client can be much faster to detect and inform Homeseer of a detection. Multiple pairing is supported with various phone 'keep awake' modes.

    There is no longer the need to create file shares as the clients now connect directly with Homeseer. Multiple clients can be installed as required.

    Bluetooth data is read by each Bluetooth client (Jon00 Blue) using a Bluetooth dongle or integrated Bluetooth hardware.

    The package will create a virtual device called Discovery. This is populated will all the Bluetooth devices detected by each client.

    This includes an ID number (its MAC address in decimal), Name (if available) and last detected date/time.

    Additional virtual devices will be created if you wish to monitor specific devices to see if they are within range or not. These can trigger events to determine occupancy etc.

    Additional backup detection is provided by pinging the phone if Bluetooth detection fails.

    As Bluetooth dongles are extremely cheap and most people have cell phones with Bluetooth capabilities, a reliable proximity detector with next to no outlay is possible!

    As always, it is available from my Homeseer site (click on my banner below). If you use V1, it is highly recommended that you upgrade to V2.

    Please post your comments/suggestions here!
    Jon

    Tags: bluetooth, client, jon00, proximity
    #2
    This looks nice,

    Can you tell me which stack is needed for this plugin to work? I have an external dongle and can't seem to be able to install the Microsoft stack, but the Wincom came with the dongle. Any other pre-requisites needed?

    Thanks
    Bernie

    Comment

      #3
      I have used this package with a couple of iPhones over the last 2-3 weeks, and with much help from Jon and others we have found a configuration which seems to be pretty reliable with an iPhone.

      Why did we need to do anything special? Many modern smartphones, for both security reasons and for battery saving, will only stay in Discovery mode for a limited period. The iPhone, for example, is only in that mode while the Bluetooth screen itself is displayed.

      This has been used with an iPhone 4 and with an iPhone 4S. The latter is more reliable at maintaining its visibility; the former works most of the time.

      To set up, follow Jon's instructions to the letter to pair the phone with each PC on which you are running his client. You MUST use his software to pair the phone, and if it is already paired with the PC separately I would recommend unpairing it and re-pairing through his client. His client does also run the PC's own operating system pairing software so both get done.

      Then edit the Settings.txt file in the folder from which you ran the client. Add a "^" (without the double quotation marks) to the end of the Device ID of the iPhone which you wish to track. This sets the mode by which the client looks for the presence of the phone to a combination of protocols which seems to be reasonably reliable.

      Simon

      Comment

        #4
        Originally posted by bernieb View Post
        This looks nice,

        Can you tell me which stack is needed for this plugin to work? I have an external dongle and can't seem to be able to install the Microsoft stack, but the Wincom came with the dongle. Any other pre-requisites needed?

        Thanks
        Bernie
        Only the M$ stack is supported. No other pre-requisites!
        Jon

        Comment

          #5
          I have three different types of dongle / adapters and found that if I ignored the supplied instructions and just plugged them into the PC without loading the supplied drivers, the Microsoft drivers (ie stack) handles them fine.

          if it does not, then you will have to load special drivers in which case I think you cannot use Jon's routine.

          Comment

            #6
            Thanks guys,

            So anyone have found a way to load the MS Bluetooth stack after the fact? From what I've read, MS only installs this stack if it finds a bluetooth device on the PC. I may be wrong, but I haven't found a source for it/

            Comment

              #7
              The Bluetooth stack is built into Window XP SP1 upwards. No need to install drivers. You need to un-install any propriety drivers that come with the dongle. If Windows fails to recognise it, then you are out of luck.
              Jon

              Comment

                #8
                A small note, I tried this with my "WidCom" based Dongle. Under Win7 actually had a HARD time getting the custom drivers to install. The default ones appeared to work (see devices), but the Jon00 BT V1 script/combination of stuff (including the "other" Blue program mentioned in the documentation) did not work.

                I probably just have to try some other stick.

                Was going to USB extend the sticks I have and run them in Virtual Machines so I could put sticks around the house in different areas (i.e. try to get about 30' worst case distance between any phone and any stick).

                That was the idea at least.

                Now with T-Mobile...we use the WIFI calling, so I just use the Jon00 network app to determine if the phones are present over IP.

                --Dan
                Tasker, to a person who does Homeautomation...is like walking up to a Crack Treatment facility with a truck full of 3lb bags of crack. Then for each person that walks in and out smack them in the face with an open bag.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Out of interest, how quickly do you find a phone will be detected when you return after an absence (as it will have lost its IP address and need to get a new one)

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Well I guess I'm out of luck, too bad
                    I do have Win XP SP3 installed and when I plug in my Belkin dongle, it doesn't recognise it. It asks to install drivers which I never installed the one that came with it.
                    I even tried this method with no luck
                    http://www.shootingsoftware.com/Widcomm.htm

                    Comment

                      #11
                      You can get cheap BT dongles on Ebay for a few $ if you want to try it.

                      If you want to use this in anger, buy one of these! They work great!
                      Jon

                      Comment

                        #12
                        dongle

                        Anybody know of a particular cheap dongle that works? I know that there are a ton on ebay.

                        Comment

                          #13
                          This should work fine...its not going to break the bank!

                          http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-USB-2-0...item4aa9cb4756
                          Jon

                          Comment

                            #14
                            I need just a little help.. Thanks

                            This is working perfect for me, a lot better one then the one I paid a fortune for. I am watching the popups and it show the phone is missing just in a few seconds after I turn the Bluetooth off. Boy is that fast. 100 percent faster than my other program. The only problem, and I have read the instruction a few times and I must not be understanding something. I am trying to figure out where do I configure the device I want to turn on and off. I use it on my oxygen machine that sucks a lot off electric. I use it so when I leave the house it will turn off my main unit, and then when I come home it turns it back on. This is a great program, if I just get this part figured out. After I get this part figured out, next is the alarm system.
                            Thanks so much in advance
                            danielbo

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Originally posted by jon00 View Post
                              This should work fine...its not going to break the bank!

                              http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-USB-2-0...item4aa9cb4756
                              You're right. I bought three of them for a whopping $3...

                              Comment

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