Does Bluetooth keyboard need line of sight?
#1
I'm just trying to figure out if I should buy a new PC or use one that I have.

Currently, the TV is in one room and a PC is in an adjoining bedroom. The two are connected via an HDMI cable but I can't see the PC from the TV room.

Would a bluetooth keyboard work without line of sight so that I could sit in the TV room and access the PC in the bedroom?
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#2
No Bluetooth does not require line of sight.
You can also use a remote such as the official XBMC remote for ios or android on your smart phone to control what you are watching, volume, and many other aspect.
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#3
(2013-11-08, 21:19)nokdim Wrote: No Bluetooth does not require line of sight.
You can also use a remote such as the official XBMC remote for ios or android on your smart phone to control what you are watching, volume, and many other aspect.

This sounds interesting, how does this remote work?

If it's on your Android tablet which is on the same WiFi network as the PC that has XBMC, how do the two devices communicate? Do you have to open ports or somehow grant permissions to the Android tablet so that it can access XBMC?
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#4
In XBMC you need to go to System --> Settings --> Services and enable the Webserver, you can specify a username/password and modify the port if you need.

Once this is setup in XBMC you can install the remote app on a tablet or phone and point it to IP of your XBMC machine.
(Zeroconf is supposed to pick it up but I have had little success with that so I just enter the IP and port)

I use the remote to control my kids TV's to stop when its dinner time or turn down the volume if it gets loud or to change what they are watching without getting my lazy ass off the sofa Smile

I have like 5 XBMC instances around the house and can control all of them from my phone.
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#5
That's pretty amazing, thanks for the info.

This is a little off topic, but since you did mention that you have 5 instances of XBMC running around the home, what is the hardware that you are using. I'm not quite set on the setup in my original post and wouldn't mind looking for a low cost XBMC box running Windows (preferably) or Linux.
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#6
I have 2 ATV1's 1 Pi 1 Neuros link and a few ipads and I have it on a windows laptop but just for testing so most of mine is either IOS based or Linux.

I am not a big fan of windows but if you are not familiar with Linux it can make the experience harder so go with what you know.

My systems were built between 3 - 5 years ago so If I were to install any new boxes I would probably be looking at the Intel_NUC (wiki) or Q190 myself.
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