Bluetooth Pairing & Connecting
Bluetooth Pairing & Connecting
Three things to know about Bluetooth (BT)…
Let’s put this in terms of phones and speakers (or headphones). Your phone needs to become acquainted with your speaker. This is called pairing.
NOTE: Throughout this article, we will talk about your phone. However, it applies the same to tablets, laptops, computers and any other Bluetooth (BT) source device.
1. Pairing: Pairing is like creating a new contact in your phone’s Contacts list. You have to do a little bit of work to create the contact, but once you do, connecting with that person in the future is fast and easy.
Let’s put this in terms of phones and speakers (or headphones). Your phone needs to become acquainted with your speaker. This is called pairing.
NOTE: Throughout this article, we will talk about your phone. However, it applies the same to tablets, laptops, computers and any other Bluetooth (BT) source device.
To get this started, you have to put the speaker into pairing mode. You may have to press a few buttons to make this happen. All speakers work a little differently, but generally speaking, follow these steps…
- For most speakers, quickly press and release the speaker’s BT button. However, with some speakers you may have to press and hold the BT button for a few seconds. Most speakers make a noise or have a blinking LED to let you know they are in pairing mode.
If this does not get you into pairing mode, check your owner’s manual or look for an article pertaining to your specific speaker. - Go into BT settings on your phone. Search or scan for available devices.
- A list of available or discoverable devices will appear on your phone. Select your speaker.
- Two things have just occurred:
- Your phone and speaker are now paired.
- Your phone and speaker are now connected so that you can listen to music.
NOTE: Just as you can have many people in your phone’s Contacts list, you can have many speakers and headphones in your phone’s paired devices list.
2. Connecting: Once you have paired, your phone remembers your speaker, and your speaker remembers your phone. However, the two must connect to play music through the speaker.
Automatic Re-connection: Let’s say your speaker is at home in the living room, and you leave for the day. When you come home and are within range of the speaker, your phone will automatically re-connect to it (assuming it is turned on). You can press play on your phone, and the music will play though your speaker. Of course, if your speaker is off, you will need to turn it on first. NOTE: Some speakers make a sound when they re-connect.
Automatic re-connection does not always happen.
Automatic re-connection does not always happen.
- Some phones may not work like this.
- Someone else may have connected to the speaker.
- Perhaps you connected to a different speaker while outside of your home.
Manual Re-connection: If your device does not automatically re-connect, you can re-connect manually…
- Go into Bluetooth settings on your phone and make sure BT is on.
- Select your speaker to re-connect and play music.
Some speakers allow several phones to be connected at the same time. Others allow only one at a time. Therefore, if you are unable to re-connect, it could be that some other phone is connected to the speaker. In this case…
- Go into the other phone’s BT settings and disconnect the speaker or turn off BT.
- Then follow the steps above to manually re-connect your phone to the speaker.
NOTE: Do NOT Unpair or Forget the speaker in your phone’s BT settings, as this will require you to repeat the Pairing steps above.
3. Resetting: This is a drastic step and should only be done if the unit is not operating correctly. Do NOT reset your speaker every time you want to connect. Resetting erases all pairings to all phones. You would then have to Unpair or Forget this speaker from each and every phone, and start the pairing process all over again. Check your owner’s manual or look for an article with more detailed BT instructions on your specific speaker or headphone model.
Applies to:
Category:
Connectivity
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