Bluetooth slows wifi

Well this needs to be addressed again. I cannot use bluetooth headphones for any streaming video (Youtube, Netflix, Vimeo, NASA, etc...) because the wifi slows to a trickle. Turn off BT and it rockets back up. I've already turned off the Autobright function and got the speed boost from disabling that "feature" (only brightens, doesn't dim anyway).

I am using AT&T iPad 2 and iPhone 4 with the latest IOS as of today's date and Sennheiser MM 100 BT headphones, both of which I purchased at the local Apple Store. The MM 100s were $150 and I really thought I might be able to use them for what I bought them for. Seems Apple Geniuses forgot to tell me something when I was spending all this money in their store. Just tell me I can't, don't avoid it, if you're not going to fix it. (I know, Apple doesn't read this but I have to vent somewhere because where can I post that Apple does read?).

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Oh thank you.

<Edited by Host>

In fairness to Apple, there simply is not much they can do. Even the FCC has notices on Bluetooth and Wifi interference, and HP and others have whitepapers out about it as well. The bottom line is the two standards share the same frequency spectrum, and so when used in close proximity to eachother, they will interfere with eachother. It is not a device issue, nor is it a software issue - it is something inherent to the two technologies.

Until some new wireless technology and standards come out, there is no way to stop them from doing that.

Look at page 2 of this doc - http://www.hp.com/rnd/library/pdf/WiFi_Bluetooth_coexistance.pdf for one explanation of the problem.

Michael Black wrote:

In fairness to Apple, there simply is not much they can do.

Perhaps there isn't much Apple can do technologically, but they could certainly take a more up-front stance before they sell a Bluetooth audio device.

Apple store employees could be told to make it clear to customers that using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth together can cause problems with one or both especially in a Wi-Fi streaming video with BlueTooth audio scenario.

It should not be Caveat Emptor when entering an Apple store be it physical or web oriented.

I appreciate the article link and realize that when that was written bluetooth was new and I'm not sure HQ audio was more than an idea for BT. It's been almost a decade now though and I guess I just wonder if anyone has heard of anything that helps improve the performance of wifi and bluetooth on iDevices. I'm willing to try solutions that do not include jailbreaking or any other tampering with the IOS.

I can tell you that without the BT headphones connected (BT still active though) I get consistant speeds of 9+Mb/s on download (SpeedtestX) but with the headphones connected it starts at around 1.5Mb/s and slows down to almost a stop. As the article Mr. black shared suggests, wifi must slow down to mitigate what it believes to be packet collisions or some such. Does this sound like something that can be fixed with software?

I know the article seems a bit dated, but, my understanding is that the priciple is exactly the same now as then and really nothing has changed, other then the fact that more bluetooth devices are being used in close proximity and at the same time as wifi data connections. Even then, it likely only really matters in things like your case (ie. high bandwidth wifi use) where the drop in bandwidth actually causes a noticeably data flow issue.

You can experiment with the available wifi channels to try and find the one that is "furthest" removed from the frequency range being used by your bluetooth.

The ultimate fix would be to have an iPad change to use the 5Ghz 802.11n channels, but I imagine Apple would be reluctant to do that since there are many more routers using the 2.4Ghz than the 5Ghz range.

P.S. bluetooth is 2402-2480 Mhz and 802.11 is also 2400-2483.5 so maybe try channel 11 which is centered down around 2460 or so or channel 1 which is centered around 2412 or thereabouts?

Unfortunately "dated" in tech could be last week 🙂

I have indeed tried the range of channels on my home router and do get the best overall wifi performance in the higher channels. Sadly, the BT effect is the same though. I mean exactly the same. That makes me wonder if it's more than just frequency conflict causing the slowdown, which also makes me wonder if software can solve the issue (or at least improve it for what must be a popular use of these two technologies on iStuff).