Asante FriendlyNET Bluetooth Wireless USB Adapter

Rating:
Summary: Fully functional on OS X
Review: I'm using this product to connect a PowerBook G4 running OS X 10.2.8 with a Nokia 3650 telephone. Though Apple certifies only the D-Link Bluetooth adapter, I have found the Asante FBT100 performs well, and its documentation is more complete, especially for Mac users, than that of any competing maker I have found. I have tested the product for file transfer in both directions, synchronization, and GPRS modem connectivity. The configuration can be tricky, but that has nothing to do with whether you get the Asante or another adapter. Also, the adapter has a connector stem that is 1.3 cm (0.5 in.) long, which is too short to guarantee a solid contact in a deeply recessed USB socket, such as that in a Macally keyboard, for which you would need a midget USB extension cable; but no competing maker of USB Bluetooth adapters seems to solve this problem either.

My only quibble with Asante on this product is that its published support policy (on its Web site) appears finger-pointing*. Making this product work involves 4 companies' products interoperating, for example Asante, Apple, Nokia, and ATTWS. It's reasonable for any of these to insist that the others support their own products, but most of us users usually don't know whose product is defective or misconfigured when they don't interoperate. In selling to Mac users, Asante has to face the fact that Apple certifies only D-Link as compatible. The best way to do that is to (1) guarantee compatibility and (2) offer to help diagnose and fix problems even if it might turn out that they are the fault of one of the other companies.

By the way, of these four companies, ATTWS has done the most to provide step-by-step Web pages detailing how to configure both the Nokia phone and the Mac OS X computer to work together with ATTWS's GPRS service. (See its document ATTW8604.)

*The Asante policy on this subject is: "In order to use all the services of the cellular phone - such as Internet access through Bluetooth - please refer to the cellular phone manufacturer's manual. Asante does not provide training or support for third-party products or software."