Airconsole 2.0 allows for connectivity to the serial port via either WIFI or Bluetooth. 


Before Bluetooth function can work your Airconsole should have Blue LED's flashing on both the top of the Airconsole unit, and on the included Bluetooth dongle plugged into the USB-Serial cable:




If your Airconsole doesn't have both LED's flashing, it is not ready to be connected to over Bluetooth. If this is the case:

- Reseat the USB-Serial cable into Airconsole, and the Bluetooth dongle into the USB-Serial cable

- Power cycle Airconsole

- Check Airconsole is running latest firmware - Bluetooth support was added in version 2.5 Build 527 and later.



Assuming Airconsole is ready to be connected to via Bluetooth, the Bluetooth protocol to use depends on the client operating system / application as per the below table:


Operating System / Application
Bluetooth Technology
Connection Method
iOS (ie Get Console or RapidSSH Apps)
Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy.
NO pairing required. Launch app with Bluetooth enabled in iPad/iPhone settings and wait for discovery
Android (ie SerialBot App)
Bluetooth 2.1 Classic
Pairing required in Android OS Settings to Airconsole adaptor prior to launching SerialBot application.
OSX (Mavericks, Yosemite and later)
Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy.
NO pairing required at OS X level, 
AirconsoleOSX driver package required to be installed and run.

AirconsoleOSX will perform the discovery and connection to Airconsole over Bluetooth.

After connection launch OS X terminal app - i.e. Macwise, Zterm or other terminal application

Windows (7.0, 8.0, 8.1)Bluetooth 2.1 Classic
Pairing required at Windows OS level. NO Airconsole Drivers required.
Windows pairing will create OS level Serial Port via the built in Bluetooth Serial Port Profile (SPP)
Once paired and COM port created, connect to this COM port from Terminal app - i.e. Putty, SecureCRT


Operating System / App Specific Bluetooth Connection and Troubleshooting:


Windows:

Airconsole supports Bluetooth 2.1 EDR connections to serial ports on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 using Microsofts built in Serial Port profile support


You do NOT need to install any Airconsole Windows driver package from us in order to use Airconsole via Bluetooth. The driver package we distribute is only required for Windows connection over WIFI.


The process under Windows is the same regardless of Windows version:


1) Pair with Airconsole over Bluetooth

2) Discover the COM port number dynamically created by Windows after pairing

3) Launch a Windows terminal application (i.e. Putty) and connect to COM port


Windows Pairing

In Control Panel, select Add device under Hardware and Sound.

 

Wait for Airconsole to be discovered via Bluetooth. Initially the name of the device might be "handheld device" and then change to Airconsole after full discovery. Click on Airconsole to start pairing process.

Air console does not need a pin code to pair with. Sometimes Windows will pop up with a long number that needs to be typed in first in order to establish the pairing. If this happens just wait and the pairing will continue without having to enter any numbers.


After pairing, Windows will install a new Serial port and set it up. When the process is complete a small popup in the task bar notes completion


Discover new COM port number

In Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Devices and Printers, double click the Airconsole device.


Tap the Hardware Tab to see the dynamically assigned COM port

Launch Terminal Connection

Change the COM port in the serial connection to be the COM port number discovered above

If Baud Rate, Flow Control etc settings are correct - Serial device will now be connected



Android:

Airconsole supports Bluetooth 2.1 EDR connections to serial ports via our free SerialBot terminal application (version 1.7.4 and later). To use SerialBot with Airconsole over Bluetooth complete following steps.


1) Pair with the Airconsole Bluetooth adaptor before launching SerialBot app



Note if already appears to be paired from previous session you can delete / forget the pairing, then rescan and pair again.


2) Launch SerialBot app, and then start a "Serial-BT" connection using the syntax Speed-Databits-Parity-Stopbits: i.e. 9600-8N1 is 

Windows:



It can take a few seconds after the connection is launched for the bluetooth serial port to connect.

If the connection fails try the following:

- power cycle the Airconsole. Only one Bluetooth connection can be maintained to a client at a time. If Airconsole thinks that it is paired via Bluetooth 4 to an iOS or OS X device then while it will pair over Bluetooth 2.1 to Android, the serial connection will not work as the port will be in use. Power cycling Airconsole will remove any stale pairings or BT4 connections to other devices.


- delete and re-establish the Android pairing from the Android and then try again after clean restarting the SerialBot app.



OSX:

In version 2.5 of Airconsole and later, the Mac OSX Serial port driver "AirconsoleOSX" now supports both Serial over WIFI and also Serial over Bluetooth Low Energy within a single package. Running the AirconsoleOSX app will detect the Airconsole adaptor and present it as a TTY line that any terminal application can connect to as if it is a physical serial port directly attached to OSX.


As OS X connection to Airconsole uses Bluetooth Low Energy, do NOT try to pair with Airconsole in OS X System Preferences. That setup is for Bluetooth 2.1 connections which is not used by Airconsole with OSX. Airconsole therefore requires a Mac that supports Bluetooth Low Energy, which is most new Mac's since mid/late 2011.


After the Bluetooth connection is established via the AirconsoleOSX driver, the serial port will be presented to OS X as if directly connected. It will work with terminal applications such as the comprehensive OSX terminal applications (for example) Macwise, SecureCRT or Zterm that require a kernel mode installed serial port.


iOS:

iOS Bluetooth connectivity is covered in the QuickStart guide and also in the Get Console User Manual. The below walks through the connection steps required in iOS and Get Console application:









What can go wrong?

- Bluetooth not actually enabled on iOS Device


- More than 1 iOS device has a BLE pairing: In environments where multiple engineers have Get Console running on their iOS devices it often happens that more than 1 iOS device has a connection to Airconsole via Bluetooth. Unfortunately only the first to connect will be able to work. Disconnect any other iOS devices or reboot the Airconsole to remove unwanted earlier BLE connections.


- Trying to "Pair" with the device from iOS Bluetooth Settings - this is NOT needed and will break the connectivity: On iOS Airconsole connectivity is via BLE (Bluetooth 4). This does NOT require pre-pairing. The pairing dialog in the iOS Settings Bluetooth page is for Bluetooth 2.1 connections not BLE connections.


- Airconsole not ready to be connected to - See LEDs and make sure the Bluetooth dongle is actually plugged into the USB-Serial cable


- Actually the bluetooth connectivity is working perfectly, but the reason for the inability to connect to a serial device is due to some other physical/serial misconfiguration issue. See the overall troubleshooting flow chart here