Is it just me or does the bluetooth on the N900 leave something to be desired?

I have a Motorola S9 headset that I have paired with the N900. I have just started using the phone functionality over the past few weeks (it's so nice not having to carry two phones). Well, I find that I get some garbling on calls, and when using it with MediaBox, sometimes it drops out completely, disconnecting and reconnecting. At times it plays normally. But about every other day, depending on how much I use it, the N900 will disconnect from the S9 and patently refuse to pair again. I have to go in, delete the S9 and redetect and pair it again.

Does anyone know whats going on or if there is a fix for the bluetooth? Things work much better on my blackberry with the same headset.

Thanks,
--vr

I use the n900 almost every day with a plantronics backbeat (stereo), no issues at all except dropouts when too much stuff gets between phone and headset.

Are you thinking that it is the headset rather than the phone? I have had this happen when it is on my hip, when it is in the center console of my car (I have one of those universal mounts that sits in the cupholder (one of these to be exact), and with it sitting on my desk within arms reach.

--vr

in that case you certainly have an other issue. If there is no obstruction between headset and phone, it should just work.

Maybe it's the rocks in my head.

Hmmm. More wierdness. I disconnected the bluetooth from the N900 and put it back on my Blackberry for a few days. When i reconnected back to the N900 over the weekend (so I didn't have to carry multiple phones), it worked on saturday, but sunday, when I tried to reconnect, the remote control functions worked, but audio was playing through the speakers. I powered off the headset and made it reconnect, and it continued the same behavior. I then rebooted the N900 and powered off the headset, and it only had audio in the left ear, as if I were taking a call. (the S9 is stereo, but calls are mono in the left ear...)

So is the bluetooth a problem with all N900s or should I consider attempting to exercise my warranty? I would hate doing that since it is likely to be painful, from what I have heard about Nokia's lack of customer service...I'm not convinced that the S9 (which is about 2 years old) is the problem, because it works fine with the Blackberry.

Thanks,
--vr

i notice disconnects with bluetooth file transfers if I'm also using wifi.

I get brief drop outs now and then using my BH 905i. Nothing major though.

Thats an interesting point, since I was at work when I rebooted. My N900 autoconnects to the wireless there. Hmmmmm...I'll have to reconnect when I'm not near a wireless that I autoconnect to.

There is a known issue with the N900 that if you have the "autoconnect to WiFi" function enabled it will interfere with Bluetooth every time you come into range of any WiFi connections.

As its a hardware issue due to Bluetooth and WiFi sharing the same antenna, I do not believe Nokia have been able to fully fix it in software.

Interesting...I wonder
a) why Nokia would think sharing an antenna between bluetooth and wifi would have been a good idea, especially since the two share a common frequency range and

b) whether it would be possible to put the bluetooth and the wifi on separate antennae. This is probably not possible, since both probably also share the same chip. I remember a project on the N810 last summer in which someone was able to extend the range of the wifi by using a piece of desoldering braid. I realize this is an order of magnitude more complex, but it would be cool if it could be done.

As it turns out, it may well be my bt headset. I connected it to the blackberry today, and the sound came over the speakers. I turned it off and back on a couple of times, and the stereo headphone function on the blackberry was a red X. So apparently I have bt headphones that are in the process of dying. It just manifested first on the N900, no doubt due to the shared antenna situation.

Thanks,
--vr