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by wzy 3148 days ago
I wonder if this why my new Logitec mouse works poorly in the default wireless mode but is OK in the Bluetooth mode.
2 comments

Yes. I've fought this battle with Logitech wireless devices for years since I upgraded to a 15" MacBook Pro with retina (USB 3 only, no USB 2) and added a USB 3.0 hub. It's impossible to put the dongle in a USB port that doesn't incur massive interference. I've even tried using USB extension cables. It's terrible.

EDIT: I came across this whitepaper when looking into the problem a few years ago and just accepted that performance of wireless mice and keyboards is going to be bad. I haven't yet seen any good bluetooth replacements. Most of the bluetooth keyboards I see are smaller without 10-key. I think I had a bluetooth mouse at one point and the lag was unbearable (given, this was years ago, so maybe they're better now).

That would make sense, as flaky as Bluetooth can be one of its more futuristic features is supposed to be aggressive frequency hopping to avoid interference.
Yeah i think the biggest source of flakiness with Bluetooth is when people pretend it is wifi and stick devices behind various objects but expect the connection to remain flawless.

Only usb-to-bluetooth dongles are likely to have the signal strength to penetrate walls. Mobile devices, and in particular earpieces and similar small devices, are likely to use weaker signals that rely heavily on being reflected off surfaces to get around obstacles.

And one such obstacle is the human body. Thus putting you phone on one side, and the ear piece on the other side may results in poor reception. But standing near a surface, be it a wall, a car, or something else, in front or behind may allow better reception as the signal can bounce off said surface.

Not meaning to contradict you because most of my experience matches this, but I would really like to get more detail on Apple’s W1 enchanted bluetooth as used in AirPods, which consistently work smoothly through 2 or 3 walls.
That W1 is magic. I'm blown away by its range.