What's up with my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse

Arch

Right, I know Bluetooth can be pretty bad, but this seems unreasonable.

The context is that I'm using this Bluetooth keyboard and mouse: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-us/products/keyboards/designer-bluetooth-desktop/7n9-00001

I like the form factor and the portability of the Bluetooth. I bought them for my Surface Pro years ago, but the Pro died (see my previous thread in here).

I built a new desktop that is Bluetooth-capable, and I wanted to keep using them.

The problem is they're doing something they never did on the Surface. Quite frequently they seem to.....go to sleep? There's no other way to explain it. I'll hit keys and nothing will happen, I'll move the mouse and nothing happens. Click the mouse, nothing happens.

The computer doesn't pop up a "disconnected" message, the lights on the mouse and keyboard are still on, they just take several (sometimes up to 15 seconds, I counted!) to wake back up and do things. This is really frustrating, especially when I'm trying to record lectures and advance slides, because many times the mouse or keyboard will fire multiple times after waking up and advance way past where I want it to.

So the question is- is this a common thing that happens to Bluetooth peripherals? Why didn't it happen on my Surface? I've reinstalled the drivers a few times, put fresh batteries in, and paired and unpaired the devices a bunch, is there anything else I could try?

BlazeFire

I recently had a BT keyboard which would "go to sleep" if inactive to conserve battery. Definitely sounds like what is going on. Maybe the surface was somehow pinging it to keep it from going to sleep.

Did you see this? https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/bluetooth-keyboard-keeps-going-to-sleep-after-10/a2765db7-dfb5-4ed5-ac3a-9daa36a508fc#:~:text=Right click on the “Bluetooth,this device to save power”.

Arch

Yeah, I saw that and messed with the settings as recommended and it didn't help. Makes me wonder exactly what's going on.

BouwsT

One question that comes to mind, is your Bluetooth Adapter a USB adapter, and do you have lots of other things plugged into the other USB slots on the PC? I had many drop-outs with my USB stuff when running my VR headset, mostly because some onboard USB chipsets suck and can't run that many items simultaneously... I had to purchase a stand-alone USB-PCI board and plug that in to give myself the additional bandwidth needed. Just some food for thought.

mRahmani

To be honest, I've had this experience with every bluetooth mouse I ever used. Jittery response, delayed response, randomly going to sleep... all kinds of problems. I gave up and went back to RF. Honestly I'm amazed the Surface didn't have any issues.

I think BlazeFire has the right idea with the devices going into a power save mode. Not sure if this is something to be toggled on the keyboard/mouse side or on the Bluetooth dongle.

Arch

BouwsT wrote: »

One question that comes to mind, is your Bluetooth Adapter a USB adapter, and do you have lots of other things plugged into the other USB slots on the PC? I had many drop-outs with my USB stuff when running my VR headset, mostly because some onboard USB chipsets suck and can't run that many items simultaneously... I had to purchase a stand-alone USB-PCI board and plug that in to give myself the additional bandwidth needed. Just some food for thought.

I don't actually know. Or, more accurately- I didn't have to plug anything into my computer to get the bluetooth working, it seems to be built-in. I don't know if it's built into the motherboard or what, I didn't really build this PC by hand.

mRahmani - that's good info, at least, that this seems to be "Common" and my surface was just blessed.

romanqwerty

I've had poor success with many built-in Bluetooth adaptors. I think many manufacturers just throw them in to be able to say it's there rather than making sure it is well placed for functionality. I was having terrible dropouts with my bluetooth headphones and spending $15 a dedicated USB adaptor like this one (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00VWEK4IG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) completely fixed it.

Arch

romanqwerty wrote: »

I've had poor success with many built-in Bluetooth adaptors. I think many manufacturers just throw them in to be able to say it's there rather than making sure it is well placed for functionality. I was having terrible dropouts with my bluetooth headphones and spending $15 a dedicated USB adaptor like this one (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00VWEK4IG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) completely fixed it.

Hmm! That might be a good idea to try, thanks!

Cauld

I had this issue and it turned out my device was connecting to another computer/phone. I just use a wireless dongle now, it's not as cool looking but it works a lot better to me.