Vik888

I noticed the wireless4mb.com site has a SW version for the RAZR.

How important is that version # to get the phone to be 100% compatible and 100% functional?

I'm buying the MHI bluetooth cradle for $325. I just don't want to pay $229 for the phone and want to buy it from someone other than a dealer.

Thanks.

bigmel

S/W matter if you what to dock you Razr in the cradle. remember if you buy a razr from another source it will have a little rubber plug where the antenna would go.

but you can use almost any razr as only BT...

Vik888

yeah I do plan to dock it for the charging benefit. I just wanted to know how picky the version issue is.

Taht means I need to find a phone w/ the exact version or firmware upgrade/downgrade the phone to make it work?

Skylaw

First, the RAZR does not make a physical connection to the MB/AWS cradle for the antenna connection. It uses RF coupling, similar to the devices glued inside a glass window to transmit signals to an antenna on the outside of the window. The mini-USB connector at the bottom of the RAZR plugs into the cradle for charging only. It is not necessary to remove the round plug covering the antenna connection; I have never removed mine, but used the phone successfully with the cradle, with the boost in signal strength.

Cradles from other sources, such as SmoothTalker, may be different in that regard.

Second, firmware is very important. See http://www.benzworld.org/forums/audi...e+Quality+RAZR near the middle of the first post in the string for why.

A list of approved phones and firmware versions is here: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/audi...formation.html

tommyr

I saw the note that the RAZR MHI BT cradle does not use the USB connection for antenna connection, but I almost always see a one bar improvement in signal when my RAZR is docked. Can anyone else confirm the same? Based on my experience, there is something about docking that improves the signal significantly.

Skylaw

If you read my prior post in this string with any care, and especially if you followed the links, I said that the RAZR antenna is connected to the car's antenna using RF coupling. It does not use a physical connection, but is is connected. That is why you will see an improvement in signal strength if it is docked (a fact I pointed out in the post above as well as in the first post in the first link).

tommyr

I am so, so sorry that I did not read your post with any care. I had assumed (again, my mistake and I am so sorry) that RF coupling implied it would improve the signal with the phone anywhere in the car, and that the phone being in the cradle didn't matter since there was no direct connection. Thinking really hard about it, I guess its a proximity connection to the cradle. Again, if I missed anything in any of your posts, I apologize.

Skylaw

Tommyr,

Sorry if I sounded harsh. I forget sometimes that not everyone is an engineer. The Bluetooth connections indeed occur over radio frequencies, up to a distance of about 30 feet, and you are entirely correct to believe that. The Bluetooth radio signals radiate in all directions, and are transmitted from one antenna to another over a fairly large gap.

RF coupling generally implies a closer proximity between the radio signal source and the device used to receive and relay the signal; an RF coupler is a device designed to minimize the radio signal loss over a small gap in a circuit, and to minimize leakage of the signal to places where it is not intended to be.

I should have been clearer in my original explanation.

tommyr

Skylaw, Thank you for the kind reply; my apology for being sarcastic. Does that mean that when the razr is undocked, you'd still get improved signal strenght by placing the bluetooth in the vicinity of the cradle? I think I might experiment on the way to work today.

Skylaw

It would likely not be a significant signal strength gain until you docked the phone; RF couplers for cell phones are really designed for the transmit and receive portions of the device to be very close. Bluetooth signal range is up to about 30 feet; and cellular signal range is up to about 5 miles. However, the signal range for an RF coupler at the power levels used in cell phones is likely 1/8 inch or less.

You will see, however, that blocking the Bluetooth frequencies (the signals between the puck and phone, as distinguished from the cellular signals between the phone and the network) from the puck or cradle can cause poorer voice quality, even if your phone receives a strong signal from the network - i.e., placing the phone in a metal briefcase or having a significant piece of metal between the phone and the puck or cradle can degrade voice quality. That is also true of locating oneself at the fringes of the Bluetooth device reception (30 feet or so).