Linux and bluetooth connections

General Linux Question
1

I have been trying to connect Debian to the internet via our mobile phone, because our adsl internet link is out.
I can bring a bluetooth connection up, but when I try to use the connection with DHCP it says I need authorization.
When I do the same thing from our android tablet, it connects immediately, without asking for authorization.
Does anyone know what sort of authorization Linux requires ?

2

I solved it after 2 days of fiddling

The route table had 2 default routes

nevj@trinity:~$ ip route
default via 10.0.0.138 dev eno1 proto dhcp metric 100 
default via 192.168.44.1 dev bnep0 proto dhcp metric 750 
.............

I had to delete the first one which was the nonfunctioning modem connection. So

ip route del default via 10.0.0.138

then it would use the second, which was the mobile phone link.

NetworkManager made the 2 default routes, and that should not be a problem. If the default route with the smaller metric is down, it should use the second default. It did no such thing.

Now maybe I can get something done. I am writing this via the mobile phone link.
Cheers
Neville

2 Likes
3

Well, not quite a full solution it seems.
NetworkManager keeps bringing back the default route to the nonfunctioning adsl modem.
So , the final ultimate solution
Pull the ethernet cable out of the modem
All problems are not solvable by software

1 Like
4

Bluetooth works reliably in Void Linux with Xfce, but in Debian 11 with Gnome it behaves erratically, sometimes pairs, sometimes will not pair, sometimes crashing the system. I suspect bluez in Debian is an earlier version than in Void.

My phone seems to see Debian and Void in the same computer as two different devices. It uses the hostname to label the device when talking to Debian, but when talking to Void it uses ‘bluez5.64’. So the phone is not confusing the two devices. It can only talk to one at a time.

So as a way of getting an internet link… I would not recommend a phone bluetooth link if you use Debian. It is unworkable.

1 Like
5

I NEVER tether using Bluetooth (or USB even) - but - I often WiFi tether… From my MacBook and/or one of my Linux destkop or laptop machines…

I guess if you still want LAN access to your network over WiFi this could be a problem?

When I’ve done this at home, I’ve still got ethernet, and only use the WiFi tethering if my VDSL link goes down (and it DOES - shitty 19th century tech!) - but most times I’m e.g. in a data centre, and their WiFi AP is so dodgy, I prefer to use my own… Never had a problem with it over WiFi whether from Linux computer or Mac… Don’t recall ever trying this on MS Windows…

Note also - I really kinda HATE bluetooth on Linux (and even Mac sometimes) - but the best BT experience I’ve ever had on Linux was when I shelled out for a PCIe WiFi and BT card, instead of using a shitty little Targus USB dongle… that as an investment for sure!

1 Like
6

Yes, with hindsight I should halve used WiFi tethering.
Its not a cheap bt dongle, its a builtin interface. Works fine with void, but not debian.

Anyway, the problem has reduced somewhat.
We signed up for a fixed wireless link (replacing adsl) and we have a new modem. It has the ability to switch to the 4g network if the wireless link is down. So I can use it on 4g, until the nbn technician gets here and puts in the fixed wireless gear.
The new modem on 4G does about 13 Mbps download and 4 Mbps upload… better than our broken adsl.
Will let you know what we get when fixed wireless is installed.

I will try Wifi tethering… just to see. Thanks for that
Neville