Homemade Bluetooth Console Cable

Following on from my Console cable for iPad post I started wanting to find out other ways of connecting to a console port.
I then discovered the Parani SD1000, this is a Bluetooth serial adaptor which you can use to create a Bluetooth Console Cable.

The adaptor comes with a male to male connector which you need to provide connectivity to the Cisco Console Cable. The setup is very easy, once you have the unit and charged up the battery (you don’t need to use the battery option it can run from a DC adaptor or USB) but if you want to use it as I do and for it to be mobile, you will need to purchase a battery, I went for the extended life battery which is supposed to last for 8 hours. I also cut down the console cable so it can be just hung out of the back / front of any device.

From here on it is quite straightforward, you have to install the Parani DS1000 as a bluetooth device on your laptop, simply search for bluetooth devices and add.

During the install process it will add a virtual Serial Port, you then just need to go into your Bluetooth devices and find out what port is assigned.

Then just fire up your choice of terminal client and connect using serial changing the port to match your settings

I am using Secure CRT

For this test I am about 10 metres away from the equipment sat at a desk. So no more balancing laptops on your left arm while trying to type with your right!

The specs on the Parani SD1000 say it will go 100M in the open, but I have yet to test this out, as long as it reaches from the racks to the desk in the corner of the data centre, I am happy.

This is the spec of the Parani SD1000 – http://www.sena.com/products/industrial_bluetooth/sd1000.php

I purchased mine from www.kanda.com – http://www.kanda.com/products/Sena/PARANI-SD1000.html

Having a Wireless Serial Cable gives you the flexibility to setup the serial connection and then position yourself somewhere more convenient to work, normally outside of the data centre in the warm.

To confirm this is a bluetooth only device, if you are looking for a wifi serial adapter then other products are available, but for my use bluetooth is more than suitable.

Since writing this post I have now upgraded to a wireless console cable made by get-console.com which is my favourite console cable now.