| D-Link DBT-120 Wireless Bluetooth 2.0 USB Adapter |
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Model: DBT-120
Brand: D-Link
Manufacturer: D-Link
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 254
Operating system: Apple MacOS X 10.1.4 or later
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Bluetooth
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| Features: |
Sync Data between Your Bluetooth PDA, Mobile Phone, and PC
Secure Encyption for Enhanced Network Protection
Experience The Convenience of Bluetooth Headphones, Cameras, Mice, and Keyboards
Works with PC & Mac
Plug and play |
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| Description: |
| D-Link DBT-120 PersonalAir Wireless USB Bluetooth Adapter - Finally, thanks to Bluetooth technology, we can kiss those annoying wires goodbye! Using this Bluetooth adapter on your PC or Macintosh computer, you can wirelessly access any Bluetooth-enabled device. Devices such as printers, cellular phones, PDAs, & more. This adapter supports up to 7 such Bluetooth devices and has a range of 33 feet. Extremely portable, this adapter can be taken with you anywhere. Use it on your notebook or desktop! |
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| User Reviews (254 total): |
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Got it working under Windows 98SE with some effort, January 9, 2005
By user (California)
For those who have an older computer like me, I was able to get this device working under Windows 98SE. As earlier reviews state, the Rev 4 drivers on the CD that came with the product don't work. DLink support said that if the Mac ID (on the label on the device) begins with 000D, I would need to download the Rev B3 drivers from dlink's support site, then get a 32 digit security code (check the PDF install instructions on the support site for how to get the code).
When you install the drivers from the CD, if you get an error "Valid security code not found" when you plug in the device, then you have the same problem. Running the install program again will uninstall the drivers. Unfortunately, the Rev B3 drivers are an 18mb download from Dlink.
But, after installing the B3 drivers, I was able to get the device working with my Motorola V551 phone.
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On a Mac, just plug it in and it works!, December 30, 2004
By user (NYC)
I think the booklet that comes with it says it all. For Windows, installation is a 5-page, multi-stage process that requires installing drivers. For Mac, it's basically one short paragraph: "plug it into a free USB port and it's ready to go." And that's exactly what happened on my G4 running OSX. I have the rev-B4 version. I recommend that Mac users go to the Apple site and download the firmware updates for the D-Link, along with those for the wireless Apple keyboard and mouse. It fixed some problems with waking a sleeping Mac by clicking on the mouse or keyboard (which didn't work prior to the firmware update). Now it works great.
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The very worst product I purchased in 2004, December 29, 2004
By user (Sunnyvale, CA, USA)
Thankfully - I was able to return it to the store after 5 days. So what was wrong with it -
Firstly - for hardware revision B4, the software just would not install (some error about security code not being valid). Wasted many hours over this. A call to D-link tech support resulted in an email from them that only repeated steps I had already tried. Not very helpful and more waste of time.
I wrote back in a stern manner - and tech support finally got back with a solution that involved installing the older driver along with a security code that they generated.
OK - I was willing to live with this much. When I tried to use the device with the Jabra 250 BT headphone, I managed to get a range of around 18 feet and there was absolutely no signal one room away. Even within a room - signal was weak by the time I went to the end of the room. What was this claim about 30 feet range? This was awful performance and I decided I had enough and returned the product.
Fast forward to my Linksys USBBT100 - . Firstly - it installed in a snap. The Jabra 250 now works through the furthest corner of the other rooms - no breakup - nothing. Boy - what a glaring difference.
I for one will stay away from D-link for a long time to come!
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Works great on iBook 1.2Ghz, December 20, 2004
By user (Euless, TX USA)
Not much to say - it just works as expected on my iBook 1.2Ghz (Mac OS X 10.3) with both mine and my wife's Sony Ericsson T637 phones.
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DON'T BUY IF YOU ARE RUNNING XP SP2, December 15, 2004
By user (West Chester, PA)
Bought it, DBT-120 REV B4
1. Installed drivers from CD, they don't work.
2. Called D-Link Tech Support, they had me download REV B4 drivers from the web, they don't work.
3. Called D-Link Tech Support, was told to download and install REV B3 drivers, they don't work.
4. Called D-Link Tech Support, case was elevated to Level 2, was told drivers don't work on XP SP2, they are looking into it, my best bet was to return it.
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Great Bluetooth Reciever!, December 11, 2004
By user (Odenton, MD, USA)
Works great with my Toshiba laptop and my Sony Ericsson T610 phone. I use it to transfer data from my phone to my laptop and vice versa and also to use my cell phone as a modem and dial out to access the internet when I am on the road. I have had no connection problem within a 10 ft. radius. Didn't have to install any software- popped it in right out of the box and it was ready to go.
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beware of revision B4, December 6, 2004
By user (california)
with revision B4, D-link apparently claims to have gotten rid of the necessity to enter a security code during the installation. sounds great in theory, however, once installed, I get repeated error messages 'valid security code not found'. the drivers on the CD are the same version as the most recent ones from the D-link site, so no solution from there. uninstalling, restarting, reinstalling, all day long wouldn't help. calling D-link tech support wouldn't help either, they seemed to know less than I.
as much as i hate to give bad reviews, this is really completely unacceptable. i'm going to return the DBT-120 and give the competition a try.
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Small device, big headache., November 27, 2004
By user (Frisco, TX)
I'm always up for a challenge to get things working, however, for the life of me, I could not get this little sucker up and running right w/ Win2k. It appeared that the CD software version was incorrect w/ the device version (version B4, BTW). I just kept getting "Security code invalid" errors. I checked D-Link's support website; the FAQ was horribly bland and the "updated" driver did not work as well (it seemed my CD software version was the same as the downloadable updated version). I searched Google w/ no help.
Horrible, horrible, horrible. Fire the QA dept!
I returned it today and bought the Belkin F8T001 and things couldn't be any simpler. I was up and running in under 5 minutes (the software installation and reboot took the most time).
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Does not pass windows logo, October 13, 2004
By user (USA)
The problem is its drivers are not digially signed.
Well mine dbt-120 is version b4. Although it didnt require any security code but to make it work as per instructions is a task.
The problem is everytime u plug in the device, windows loads default drivers and the dlink software didnt detect the device as the drivers r overridden by xp. So to make it work u have to go to device manager and update the drivers from CD Rom.
Talked to customer to drivers of other versions.
I am going to return it back and would look for something that is fully compatible with win xp
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Works perfectly with an iMac G5., October 10, 2004
By user (NJ)
If you were like me and couldnt wait for Apple to BTO one of the iMac G5's with bluetooth built in, and bought yours in teh Apple store without BT, this is the unit for you. I painted mine white to have it not stand out so much on your beautiful new iMac G5. works perfect without any software installations or tweaks. Plug and Play.
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The device gets 5 stars... but the technology doesn't, October 3, 2004
By user (Colorado, USA)
I've had this bluetooth radio for about a year now, and it's really worked just like it's supposed to. The software that comes with it fights a little with Windows XP, if you have all of the XP patches (including SP2)... I ended up uninstalling the software that came with it, because XP wouldn't relenquish control. No matter, XP controls the device great, and it's easy enough to set up new devices.
I use it with my phone and a few other trinkets that pass across my desk, and the bluetooth technology is still pretty inconsistent. There are too many standards and too many gateways that can be implemented per device (or not). Example, the audio gateway would be great for my phone, and would allow me use my headphones and mic for phone calls--except that the audio gateway service doesn't exist on my phone, so that's no joy.
Keep in mind that every device manufacturer can implement any one of many (nearly 100) bluetooth services, or they can devise their own and then release their own hardware to support it. This technology needs more standardization and that 'gotcha' can cause frustration for many people unfamiliar with the standard.
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Ought to call it "Weak Link" - failed after 3 months, September 5, 2004
By user (Lake Forest, IL United States)
Yeah, I bought one. And it worked. Flawlessly... for a while.
Used it from June to August, and then it died.
Why? I don't know. I plugged it in once and left it, but one day, the bluetooth mouse and keyboard would not respond.
I brought it back to the Apple store where I bought it, and they replaced it. I didn't have my receipt or any packaging, but Apple gave me no hassle at all. They didn't even ASK for the receipt. Cool. They exchanged it on the spot. Now I'm on i-link number 2. I hope this one lasts longer than 3 months.
I give it two stars because it works well, and if you buy from an Apple store, you can apparently get a new one if it fails.
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Works great, August 15, 2004
By user (Los Angeles, CA USA)
I use it to talk to Apple's Wireless Keyboard and Wireless Mouse. It has amazing range, far beyond the 10m is is supposed to have.
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Installs flawlessly with a Mac and PC., July 7, 2004
By user (Los Angeles, CA)
This product has been with me for years. I have the revision 3 and I believe they are up to revision 5 already. It has worked flawlessly with my old Sony Ericsson T610 phone. And it works even better with my current Nokia 6600 mobile.I installed the product in my Apple PowerBook G4 and iBook Dual USB and it instantly recognized the product without any drivers. I also believe this is the same product found inside every Bluetooth-equipped Mac because Apple did release a firmware update to their internal Bluetooth and it included these external D-Link DBT-120 units, if a user had one. (The only problem is that if you updated the firmware that Apple provided, you will not be able to use the D-Link on a PC. I haven't updated mine and never ran into sync problems). I sync my address book and calendar in Jaguar and Panther OS to my mobile phone and iPod without any hitches. Pros:
1. Small, compact, light
2. No drivers needed for Mac OS Jaguar and Panther and Windows XP OS. 3. Price. This product used to cost a lot. Now it has dropped down to USD40. Which is great, because this very same product that is installed internally in Macs still cost USD45 for the option. Shouldn't an OEM product installed during production be cheaper? Furthermore, if it's installed internally then you cannot transfer it between computers. The external is cheaper and transferrable. Cons:
1. The only difficulty I can think of is the implementation of the Bluetooth standard across products. I love gadgets and find myself tinkering with anything technological so I usually don't have problems making one product operate with another. The problem with Bluetooth is that there is no standard way to activate and access operation between products. Each product has its own graphic user interface to contend with. Bluetooth is being billed to consumers as an easy plug and play product. I'm sure it is - just not right now as manufacturers are still fiddling with how to integrate it with their products. Hence, other consumers will have to read the manual on how to access and use Bluetooth across products. In products that come with no manual, they will have to be used to fiddling the interface. Until then, I can't wait for the time where Bluetooth actually performs the way it is billed. If it doesn't work the first time, try to understand the logic behind each product's interface. The problem is that if they can't get it to work, they blame D-Link. If you're computer recognizes the product upon install, then there is no problem. If it doesn't and the activity lights don't work, then send it back. Unlike Wireless/Wired Ethernet products, the user interface is not embedded in the Bluetooth unit. This Bluetooth product is only a vessel. The actual operation is dependent on the computer and interface it has been programmed to interact with Bluetooth.
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Excellent device, June 13, 2004
By user (Gettysburg, PA United States)
This is a great adapter which is high quality, and relatively low price. I use it with a laptop running windows XP and a Hewlett-Packard iPAQ 2215.This adapter is very easy to setup and all of the necessary instructions and software come with the adapter. Setup is a farily automated process and the installation wizard and instruction booklet will guide you through the process. The adapter lets you use a variety of different services such as internet connection sharing, ActiveSynch, file transfer, and others. All of these services can be enabled/disabled at any point after installation and configuring them is for the most part a simple procedure which can be done by following the instruction on the computer. The adapter has a very good range of twenty to thirty yards, which is about the maximum a PDA can handle, so connecting to the adapter won't be an issue. Several of my friends and I have PDAs, so I got this adapter so we could all use my laptop as a wireless hub to get online. None of use have had any problems and it can handle several devices using it at once. As an added bonus the adapter comes with a free USB extension cable.
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Has not failed me once, June 3, 2004
By user (Powell, OH United States)
This product has not failed me once since the day I bought it. D-link makes quality goods for cheap prices. It is not hard to use, if you have Windows XP it requires no setup, though you might want to install their software anyways, because of its features. I highly recommend this.
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no help from d-link support, May 29, 2004
By user
update 12-05: it's still working, so there's something to be said, just about that! I have also used this with my bluetooth GPS receiver. I tried it with my bluetooth headset, to do voice over IP and it didn't work as well as when just using the laptop's speaker and mic. And I'm not just talking about sound quality, there was some sort of echo thing happening, no idea what was up with that.
update 12-04: I use this a few times a month, to get internet access via my t-mobile phone's GPRS service. it works fine for that. if you can get it for less than a jackson, not a bad deal.
original review:
I recently obtained a palm tungsten t3 and so wanted to make use of bluetooth for wireless sync primarily. I was able to install the D-Link DBT-120 easily enough but when I tried to make use of it on the palm, no go. I was able to go through the pairing process but was not able to sync via bluetooth and not able to set up an internet connection sharing either. So I called D-Link phone support and they were not able to help me, saying how they can't support this device or that device or any other device. Any "use" of the product appears to be considered advanced by them. If you get the product installed and activated, that's the limit of the help they can provide. After that you're on your own. If I call the palm people, I'm sure I'll be in the same boat "we can't be expected to support someone else's hardware..."
bluetooth is sort of stupid, for networking at least, I'm going to find something that works with WiFi.
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D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth USB adapter, May 12, 2004
By user
I purchased this after having no success with one from Keyspan.
My Apple G-4 I-Book recognized the D-Link Bluetooth adapter immediately. I was able to configure the computer to communicate with a Sony Ericsson 610 phone within 20 minutes. I was on-line using my cell phone as a modem within 30 minutes. Buy this adapter if you have a Bluetooth enable Apple computer.
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works great...on PC, April 19, 2004
By user (new york)
It's plug and play on my XP notebook and XP desktop. Strangely, it doesn't work on my iMac. The iMac doesn't detect it at all. Amusingly enough (or not, depending how you look at it) my iMac doesn't detect my 256MB USB key either. That also works great on my PCs.
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Works fine with Linux, April 10, 2004
By user
Put it on the back of my laptop and it worked fine with Linux. The system beeped, found it and it worked fine. So, OSX and Linux work fine... I guess it's not a problem with the unit.
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