Troubleshooting of Bluetooth USB Adapter

We could possibly encounter various kinds of problems when using Bluetooth USB Adapter with Windows PC. This article aims to teach you how to do troubleshooting.

Q1: My Bluetooth adapter is successfully installed but I cannot see the Bluetooth icon in the lower right corner of the Desktop

1. Please check on the Device Manager if the Bluetooth is correctly install.

2. Check the setting of Bluetooth icon in the notification area.

For Win10, please open Setting->Devices->Bluetooth& other devices->More Bluetooth option, tick the “Show the Bluetooth icon in the notification area”.

For Win7/8.1, please open Control Panel->Hardware and Sound->Device and Printers->Change Bluetooth setting, tick the “Show the Bluetooth icon in the notification area”.

3. If still no help, please check the Bluetooth Support Service.

Please press the Win key+R key, then please type in “services.msc”, in the list find Bluetooth Support Service and double-click on it. Ensure that the Service is set to Automatic(Trigger Start) and Started.

Q2: What if my PC can’t recognize Bluetooth USB Adapter when I plug it in? (There is no Bluetooth Radios symbol in Device Manager)

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(1) Please check if the device normally shows on the Device Manager.

(2) Try to insert Bluetooth USB Adapter into a different USB port and different computers. If it still doesn’t work, please restart the computer and check again.

(3) Make sure there are no other Bluetooth devices on the computer. If there are, disable all existing. Bluetooth devices in Device Manager, then insert the adapter and try again.

(4) If the driver can install successfully but the Bluetooth icon no show, please check the Q1.

Q3. There is a Bluetooth Radios in Device Manager, but displays a yellow exclamation point.

Please disable the computer's own Bluetooth adapter and then reinstall the Bluetooth USB Adapter.

1. UB400/UB4A: supports Plug & Play on Windows 10 computer. If not, please download the driver from the official website and install it manually.

UB500: for Windows 10/8.1 system, the driver installation will automatically start when connected to the internet. If not, please download the driver from the official website and install it manually.

2. Disable the Built-in Bluetooth adapter before using UB series device if your computer has the Built-in Bluetooth. (Open Device Manager and right click on the Built-in Bluetooth adapter of your computer and then click Disable Device.

3. To properly use UB400/UB4A/UB500, please remove all third-party Bluetooth driver or program.

Please follow this instruction to install it: How to install the Bluetooth Nano USB Adapter?

Q4: What can I do if the Bluetooth adapter has a weak signal? How to improve the Bluetooth range?

1) Change to another USB port or use a USB extension cable

Please move the adapter to the front of the computers instead of the back of the computer or using a USB 2.0 extension cable to move the adapter away from the computer. Because there is a lot of random radio noise generated by the processor and system parts which will cause the short-range and cut off issue.

An Intel white paper was confirmed that poorly shielded USB 3.0 ports will cause radio interference. If your device is having range issues when plugged into a USB 3.0 port, a USB extension cable can help with this.

2) Ensure the Bluetooth receiver has a good signal

The Bluetooth range depends on BOTH the receiving and the transmitting devices. Please test your receiving Bluetooth device with a mobile phone to confirm its range is acceptable.

3) Eliminate possible interference

Operation range can be affected by physical obstructions (walls, people, etc.) and wireless interference (Wi-Fi routers, Wireless TV adapters, etc.).

4) Make sure the network speed is normal

If you're watching videos or streaming music from an ONLINE source, please make sure the audio dropout issue is not caused by slow network speed.

Q5: Why my Bluetooth devices can’t find my PC after the Bluetooth USB Adapter is installed successfully?

Make sure your PC has enabled the Bluetooth function. Please follow the steps below: right click on the Bluetooth icon on your PC > Open Settings > More Bluetooth Options. Check if the Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC has been selected. This item is unchecked by default. Only after this item is checked, the phone can find the PC.

Note: Similar process for the other windows OS.

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Q6: Why my PC can’t find my Bluetooth devices after the Bluetooth USB Adapter is installed successfully? / What should I do if there is no search result after I click Search Again after a search?

1. Make sure your Bluetooth device is set to be discoverable.

2. Reboot the Bluetooth device and computer.

3. Please unplug the Bluetooth USB Adapter and reinsert it. Or disable it in the Device Manager and enable it again.

4. Please try to manually install the driver again.

Please follow this instruction to install it: How to install the Bluetooth Nano USB Adapter?

5. Once the device was paired, it cannot be scanned again unless you delete it. So please try the following steps on your PC before another scan:

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers, and then you will find the devices that was previously connected to your Bluetooth USB Adapter on the Devices page. Right click on that device and select Remove device. And then try to scan one more time on Bluetooth USB Adapter and you will be able to find the device.

6. For the devices with non-standard Bluetooth protocols, there may be some compatibility problems. Please refer to Q7 to check out the compatibility list.

Q7: Why the adapter is not working with my Bluetooth devices?

(1) Make sure that your device has Bluetooth function.

(2) The following compatibility list is based on the TP-Link lab environment. The models supported are much more than the ones listed.

Note: For devices with non-standard Bluetooth protocols, there may be some compatibility problems.

P=Pass, F=Fail

UB500:

Bluetooth Devices		Motherboard		Mobile Client
Edifier M300	P	MSI B360M MORTAR	P	GALAXY S20+	P
MI speaker	P	GIGABYTE B250-D3H	P	Galaxy Z Flip	P
Sada v196	P	ASUS PRIME Z270-A	P	Galaxy Note 20	P
Soaiy S-35	P	ASUS Z170-AR	P	Honor V20	P
JBL LINK20	P	GIGABYTE B150-HD3P	P	Xiaomi 11	P
Bose SoundLink Revolve	P	ASUS B85-PRO GAMER	P	HUAWEI P20	P
HuaWei FreeLace Pro	P	GIGABYTE GA-H81-D3	P	Galaxy S10e	P
Airpods pro	P	ASUS PRIME X370-PRO	P	neffos c9	P
Aminy UFO	P	Intel Haswell-Lynx Point	P	Xiaomi Mi Band 5	P
Newmine	P	MSI Z390M	P	GS43VR Phantom Pro-069	P
Urbanista	P	ASRock-H110-Pro BTC	P	New Inspiron 13 7000	P
Xiaomi FlipBugs Pro	P	ASUS B450-F	P	Dell XPS 15	P
Logitech K480 Keyboard	P	GIGABYTE H77	P	Surface laptop 3	P
Rapoo 7200M Mouse	P	GIGABYTE H97	P	Macbook	F
Apple Mouse	P	ASUS Z170 PRO	P	Surface Go 2	P
xbox	P	LENOVO 80W0	P	iPad2018	F
PS5	P	Intel P55/H55/57	P	iPad2020	F
Switch pro	P	GIGABYTE H87-HD3	P	iPad Air2	F
		GIGABYTE B365-HD3	P	iPad Mini2	F
		GIGABYTE GA-H77-DS3H	P	iPad Mini3	F
		HP 280G1 MT	P
		BOHL-wxx9-PCB	P

UB400&UB4A:

Bluetooth Devices		Motherboard		Mobile Client
ivolks S3	P	GIGABYTE_GA-Z68X-UD3R-B3_A1	P	Galaxy S7	P
EDIFIER M300	P	ASUS_M4A88T-M_A3	P	Galaxy S8	P
Sony WF-SP700N	P	ASUS_F1A75-V PRO_A5	P	GALAXY S9+	P
Honor xSport AM61	P	ASRock_890GX pro3_A6	P	Pixel 2 XL	P
Jabra EASYGo	P	GIGABYTE_GA-Z77-UD3H_A8	P	Mate 10 pro	P
Remax	P	MSI_880GMA-E35_B1	P	P20	P
Sony SBH50	P	GIGABYTE_GA-870A-UD3_B3	P	Xiaomi Mix 2s	P
JBL C45	P	ASUS_Z87-A_B5	P	iPad Air 2	F
Sennheiser HD45	P	GIGABYTE_B150-HD3P_B7	P	iPad Mini 4	F
Beats Solo	P	ASUS_F1A55-V_C1	P	iPad(2018)	F
Bose Soundlink Mini 2	P	MSI_P67A-GD65_C2	P
Harman Kardon Go & Play	P	MSI_890GXM-G65_C3	P
Marshall Acton	P	GIGABYTE_GA-H67A-UD3H_C6	P
B & O Beoplay 6	P	GIGABYTE_GA-H81-D3_C7	P
Sony WH-H900N	P	GIGABYTE_GA-H77-DS3H_D1	P
Sony SRS-YB31	P	GIGABYTE_GA-P67A-UD3P_D2	P
JBL C45	P	GIGABYTE_GA-970A-D3_D3	P
Yamaha MC20	P	GIGABYTE_GA-X58A-UD3R_D4	P
PS4 Controller	P	ASUS_B85 PRO GAMER_D5	P
Xbox Controller	P	ASUS_F2A85-V PRO_D6	P
Beats Solo3	F	GIGABYTE_GA-P61-USB3P_D8	P
Apple Airpods	F	ASUS-PRIME X370-PRO	P
Logitech M185	F	MSI-B350-TOMAHAWK	P
		ASUS-PRIME Z370-PRO	P
		ASRock-H110-Pro-BTC	P
		ASUS_P8B75-V_B8	F

Q8: Why there is no audio output during audio playback after my PC has paired with a Bluetooth headset or stereo?

1) Resetting your default playback device.

1. Please right click the Sound icon on the task bar, click Sounds. Then after the sound window is up, click the playback tab.

2. Then you will see a list of the audio devices, click the Bluetooth devices. Then please press the set default button and save the change you made, then click the apply and ok.

2) Adjust the audio level.

1. Go to the taskbar and right-click the Sound icon, select Sounds.

2. When the sound window pops up, go to the playback tab, right-click Bluetooth devices then properties.

3. Click the levels tab, drag it to the far right. Click apply and ok.

3) Remove and repair the Bluetooth device.

1. Go to the Setting and click the Bluetooth.

2. Remove the Bluetooth devices and reconnect again.

Q9: Why is the audio quality so terrible?

Method 1:

1) Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers.

2) Find your Bluetooth device and if you see an orange alert, go ahead. If not, you can continue to Method 2.

3) Right click on your device and choose Troubleshoot. Windows will try to fix your problem.

Method 2:

1) Go to Control Panel > Devices and Printers.

2) Find your headphone/audio device.

3) Right click on your device and go to Properties.

4) Go to Services tab and uncheck Handsfree Telephony.

5) Hit OK, then restart your machine.

For Windows 7 users:

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Manage Audio devices > Right-click Bluetooth Audio Renderer; go to the Advanced tab, and set the Quality to DVD.

Method 3:

Please try to change another USB port to use the device. And also, please try to plug the UB device to another laptop to test it. (Note: If your computer has bluetooth built-in, you need to disable the original Bluetooth function.)

Method 4:

Please try to disconnect Other Bluetooth Device.

Q10: Audio is intermittent when listening to music

Please remove the Bluetooth headphones from devices. (Right click on the Bluetooth symbol in the lower right corner of the desktop and select Show Bluetooth Devices. And then in the Audio section, you will find the headphone that has already been connected. Please click Remove device)

Then re-pair the headphones and add them back as a device. Sometimes you must do this a couple of times and then the audio starts smoothly playing music and streaming video.

If the adapter is installed on Windows 10, please try to disable the built-in microphones via bluetooth. Then try again.

Q11: Why is there a delay with Bluetooth adapter?

1. It is recommended that the distance is within five meters, please try to be closer to your computer to see if it is better.

2. Please keep Bluetooth adapter away from the Wi-Fi signal source, because the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal will affect the Bluetooth signal.

3. USB 3.0 introduces radio frequency interference in the 2.4GHz to 2.5GHz range, which is the same radio spectrum used by Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Therefore, it is not recommended to use USB 3.0 port, and the Bluetooth adapter should not be too close to your router or working USB 3.0 devices.

Q12: Why my UB400/UB4A cannot find or pair my PS4 PS4TM controller?

For most Bluetooth devices, a computer can find them after UB400/UB4A installed successfully. But when you want to pair your PC and PS4TM controller, you need to install the extra application RemotePlayInstaller.exe from Sony. For more detailed content, please refer to the FAQ below:

https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/2743/