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I'm using the pyBluez module on Python 2.6 on WindowsXP. I'd like to get the RSSI of other bluetooth devices around. I foudn some code but it makes use of _bluetooth, which I cannto find anywhere for Windows.

Is it available / is there another way to circumvent the problem, getting the RSSI without using _bluetooth?

Thank you all!

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3 Answers

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MS bluetooth stack does not support RSSI measurement in the API. This is confirmed for Windows XP till SP2 and situation seems not be changed in Vista nor Seven. Windows Mobile 6 has a different API for the BT management and offers the function BthReadRSSI. The only way to get the RSSI from a bluetooth dongle in Windows XP seems to use a different stack like WIDCOMM. Once you use it, you can get the RSSI using the function GetConnectionStats. You can find more informations on Google typing "GetConnectionStats widcomm". In python, (I whish) you can call the function directly through ctypes module, however I don't know if pybluez porting supports WIDCOMM, please try and post the results. Otherwise you can check with a different BT stack.

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The _bluetooth module is a part of PyBluez. If you have installed a Windows release of PyBluez, it should work.

I don't know enough about Bluetooth to even know what "getting the RSSI without using it" means or why it should be a problem, so can't help you there. :)

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On Windows you cannot get the RSSI, at least if you're using MS Bluetooth stack, I don't know for Widcomm. PyBluez is a wrapper over the Bluetooth API and if the underlaying stack doesn't offer the feature neither the Python project can't.

So probably this is the reason why you don't have it in Windows. Also you could follow this thread you will find more information, even if it is about Windows 7, it applies well for Windows XP too.

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