Bluetooth hub/re-broadcaster device - question/request for advice
I would like to get a device which would act as a Bluetooth hub. I want to connect multiple audio sources to it (phone, tablet, laptop) and also multiple speakers (a bunch of low cost Bluetooth speakers at home). I want the thing to handle just one stream at a time. So ideally, whatever is played on the source side (just a “merge” of all the source signals) should be broadcasted to all the speakers. The motivation is to stop playing a discotheque with my little soundbars/speakers and audio sources. It’s a bit annoying, so I guess we can do better…
The thing is, I cannot find any device like that. Apparently Bluetooth transceivers act exclusively either in RX xor TX mode, but never simultaneously. I do not care for reasons why that is the case (protocol, single chip, whatever), I would like to get pointers to technology which could do this for me.
Does such a thing even exist? And if yes, how’s it called?
Thanks for any constructive advice.
Disclaimer: I am an electrotech layman, apologies for naivete.
@soundwave Well, connecting 2+ devices on the speaker side is one thing, there are plenty of such gadgets on Amazon. That little broadcast thingy you have at home: is it connected to your TV via Bluetooth, or by a cable?
What I am looking for is a gadget which can connect your two pairs of headphones AND the TV/phone/PC as the audio source on the other side, all by Bluetooth.
@FailForward
Cable.
Your hub may not exist ... yet. You might be just one of the earliest customers to have identified the need. The market will fulfil the need eventually, when there are enough numbers of buyers with the demand.
I think streaming to multiple sinks is possible with more bandwidth but also reading from multiple sources... You'll definitely have to modify stack to support that.
Continuuing this thread as a bunch of research notes.
Alright, so it seems things like Bluetooth hub actually (did?) exist:
Furthermore, Bluetooth 5 seems to support this: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/73488/sending-to-two-bluetooth-speakers-at-once
So the question is how is it called today (all those posts are almost 10 years old) and how to wire that together with a linux pc.
@FailForward
My TV Headphones are bluetooth, they come in a set of two - ie. (a pair of(a pair of(headphones)). They both *separately* connect to one little broadcast thingy, which takes a single input and sends it to two headphone receivers simultaneously. So, what you want already definitely exists. At least, for TV-watching headphones it does, anyway. Brand name = Avantree.