Get Console Wireless Console Cable
The Airconsole 2.0 XL sold by www.get-console.com is advertised as “The only serial adapter you will ever need!” This is certainly going to be my new favourite wireless console cable.
Airconsole XL 2.0 Bluetooth Console Cable
The generous guys at Get-console have sent me an Airconsole XL 2.0 to try out and I have been using it every day for the last few weeks. This post is my review of this product and I have to say that my current bluetooth console cable is not going to be coming out of its box again as I am very very impressed.
So what do you get in the box?
You get the Airconsole unit, a console/bluetooth lead a couple of serial adapters and a usb charging cable.
Key Features
- 12 hour battery life
- Bluetooth (low energy or 2.1)
- Wireless
- Wired Ethernet
- Lightweight
- The only Serial Adaptor you’ll ever need!
Lets go through the most impressive features first.
Battery life is 12 hours and this is brilliant as it allows you to not worry about leaving it on all day. The only caveat is that the extra battery power does require a bigger battery pack. It does make the item a bit heavier and one of the key features is it is lightweight. I am not sure of the exact weight but no more than an iphone4s. Compared to the Airconsole Pro 2.0 which is a lot lighter but only comes with a 4 hour battery life. So not a problem at all.
Bluetooth connectivity works perfectly and the device connected to my laptop (Lenovo T440) without any problems.
Wireless connectivity, the Airconsole XL also has a built in wifi access point which you can connect your laptop to. I do not use this as if you are connected to another wireless network as I typically am you have to drop that to connect to the Airconsole. So for my usage I use my wireless for internet connectivity and the bluetooth for my bluetooth console cable.
Price
One of the great features of this awesome bluetooth console cable is the price point.
The top of the range 12 hour battery XL retails at $139
The 4 hour battery life Pro model retails at $119
I would recommend spending the extra $20 for the bigger battery pack!
How to use the Airconsole XL
Setup is very easy you just turn on the device by sliding the power switch to R – search for a new bluetooth device and connect to it. You should now see it in your list of bluetooth devices
If you right click on AirConsole-B4 and go to Properties then click on Hardware you will see the Serial port that has been assigned to it.
Then in your terminal application change the serial port to what yours is set to.
In my case it is COM36 – I am using SecureCRT
Then plug the console cable into your chosen device and open up your session.
You will then be connected over bluetooth to the console port.
Range is very good and I have worked very easily outside of data centres and on the floor above.
Typically I will set this up and then find a desk outside the DC or somewhere where you can sit instead of holding your laptop in one hand for hours.
Conclusions
The Airconsole XL 2.0 could very well be the only serial cable I ever use! In my trials over the last few weeks I cannot find a fault with it. If there was one niggle it would be that the bluetooth cable that connects to the device via usb should be integrated into the device I am sure there is a valid reason for having this extra bit but I would be happy with a bigger device if it could just have a console cable coming right out of it.
My other advice would be if you going to buy this wireless console cable, get the XL model for an extra $20 – the 12 hour battery life is so worth it!
Watch the Video from Get-Console below
