Moto Hell - The Motorola Modding Community

I've noticed a strange problem with the GSM KRZR K1.  I've tried several different bluetooth headsets and all of them have a very limited range.  I mean a VERY limited range (less than 1/2 a meter), which means you
can't even use the phone in your pocket - you need to hold it near your ear, which slightly defeats the whole purpose of having a bluetooth headset while driving in California...

I thought this might be a compatibility problem (please don't tell me bluetooth is a standard - the
problem with standards is there's too many of them to choose from), so I've been through 4 different types and manufacturer of bluetooth headset, three different K1 phones and various different firmwares and flexes on each of the K1s.

What I've noticed is that one of the K1 phones has a slightly better range than the other two (independent of the software on the phones), which suggests there may be some variability in hardware, however, none of the K1s have an acceptable range, which for me, needs to be at least 1-2 meters.  Curiously, I've not had this problem with my previous V3 or V3i phones.  The bluetooth range on the V3 and V3i phones is very large - I can be at the other end of the house and still have no drop outs.  Also, the K1s work OK (acceptable sound quality, very large range) when transmitting A2DP stereo to the Motorola DC800.  Why then is the basic mono headset range with bluetooth so poor on the K1?

I was hoping there might be a simple seem edit to adjust bluetooth power or frequency settings, but haven't been able to find any information on this.

Anybody have any ideas?

CSGLinux

This question really confuse me. I never ended up with such problems but it really sounds like incompatibility in standards between the hardware. Your phone may be engineered for Europe users and the headset for USA or reversed... I am not sure. Mine ex E398 and the current E2 have a very good range

Unfortunately, the K1's bluetooth has a range less than that of previous motorola models. It's OK if the phone is isolated, but the BT headset in right  ear/phone in left pocket combination doesn't work without lots of crackling and drop-out.  Perhaps this is a class 1 vs class 2 BT issue?  I don't believe this has anything to do with Europe vs USA.  3G GSM frequencies are certainly different in the US and Europe, but K1s are just quadband Edge.  Bluetooth bandwidth is also different in France, Spain and Japan, but the USA and Europe share the same 2400-2483.5MHz frequency range. 

Bottom line is - it will depend on your handset.  If the BT range on your motorola phone is enough for you, then ignore this posting and go away happy.  If you're unlucky, you're stuck with it, because Motorola won't accept there's a problem.   

If you don't believe there's a problem, try a Google "I'm Feeling Lucky" search on "weak bluetooth signal" and see what cellular phone manufacturer pops up ;-)

Wouldn't it be nice if a seem edit were able to increase the power of your bluetooth transmitter, just a little bit?

it's definetly not in the known seem map... who knows