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Show HN: Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay – Bridge Bluetooth Devices to USB

(github.com)
233 points bahaaador | 7 comments | 13 Nov 24 13:24 UTC | HN request time: 1.013s | source | bottom

Hi HN! I built Bluetooth USB Peripheral Relay, a tool that lets Bluetooth devices (like keyboards and mice) connect to USB-only hosts using a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

Why? My friend needed a way to use his Bluetooth mouse and keyboard on a PC with Bluetooth disabled due to policy restrictions. This tool acts as a bridge, relaying Bluetooth input over USB. It also lets you use Bluetooth peripherals with older devices that only support USB input.

Tech: Written in Go, optimized for Raspberry Pi Zero W.

I love HN’s community and often lurk here—I’m hoping this project is useful or at least sparks some interesting discussions. Feedback and contributions are welcome!

1. imhoguy ◴[13 Nov 24 14:03 UTC] No.42126183[source]▶
Cool stuff! Actually that tempts me to start a new rabbit hole research: could we do BT -> Internet -> BT. I would have so many uses to that.
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2. bahaaador ◴[13 Nov 24 14:21 UTC] No.42126302[source]▶
Thank you, I'm glad you're finding this inspiring. I've been thinking about some similar ideas that excite me. Would be happy to help as well if you ran into any blockers.
3. trklausss ◴[13 Nov 24 14:29 UTC] No.42126373[source]▶
Well, you need a frame converter that sends it to an IP address/DNS server, and on the receiving side something that receives that packet on a specific port and translates it to a BT command.

I would say the most complicated part would be the TCP/IP stack, and binding/publishing your address, but if you are running something with Embedded Linux it is doable :)

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4. mtucker502 ◴[13 Nov 24 14:39 UTC] No.42126437[source]▶
ESPHome has this feature (called btproxy). It works well with BTLE devices. I use it for remote temperature sensors and a few other IoT btle devices.

https://esphome.io/components/bluetooth_proxy.html

replies(1): >>42130319 #
5. sciencesama ◴[13 Nov 24 15:22 UTC] No.42126803[source]▶
Hp had a wifi mouse !!

https://www.techspot.com/review/420-hp-wifi-mouse/

6. dspillett ◴[13 Nov 24 16:07 UTC] No.42127248[source]▶
> could we do BT -> Internet -> BT

Quite probably, though there might be protocol latency issues that you need to be careful of and they might limit the effective range (lookup the “We can't send mail more than 500 miles” tale for a related issue!).

7. g1sm ◴[13 Nov 24 21:41 UTC] No.42130319{3}[source]▶
This seems to be specific to Home Assistant:

> Note that while this component is named bluetooth_proxy, only BLE devices (and their Home Assistant integrations) are supported.

One specific use-case I have in mind is controlling a Chromecast over the internet. So a smartphone should have its bluetooth signal relayed over an IP network. I haven’t found anything that would allow me to do that yet.