How to increase bluetooth dongle range

Question

I just bought a blue-tooth dongle about 2 days ago but for some reason I can't get it to work when my cell phone is 10 feet away . It only works when I am within 1 metre range. According to what it says in the box, the dongle is suppose to provide me with 100 metre range. I was not provided any CD/DVD driver. Is there any other additional settings or changes that I need to perform. I am using windows XP SP3, 32 bit.

Edit:

Its very small in size (hardly 1 cm long) , can it be due to the size of the dongle ?

Answer 1

These are the actual number from bluetooth.com ( http://www.bluetooth.com/English/Technology/Pages/Basics.aspx)

* Class 3 radios – have a range of up to 1 meter or 3 feet
* Class 2 radios – most commonly found in mobile devices – have a range of 10 meters or 33 feet
* Class 1 radios – used primarily in industrial use cases – have a range of 100 meters or 300 feet

Despite what is written on the box, the Class type has to be written on the device directly, I suggest you use that reference instead.

Perhaps you should try another OS to see if is it a driver related issue.

I guess the old trick of using half a can of pepsi also applies. ( http://www.metacafe.com/watch/811090/how_to_make_a_wifi_antenna_out_of_a_soda_can/)