Neighbours imac

[cazzo]

Hi all

I couldn't really find a post asking this....probably because its a stupid question

But here goes...I have ipad 2, bluetooth keyboard for about one month. Today I had reason to look at Settings/Bluetooth, and as should be, my keyboard is listed BUT theres also an entry (which I haven't seen before)for my neighbours iMac saying 'not paired'.

Is this normal? I mean seeing someone elses devices. I thought by selecting the entry for him, I would get an option to ignore or delete that device, but instead it initiated a request to pair with it. How embarrassing.

So is all that normal, and if it is, is it possible to remove him from my list? And is it right to see the device search icon keep going round?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Mickey330]

If you select that device - you should be taken to a new screen where you have the option to "forget this device."

But, if you've never paired with it - all your Bluetooth is doing is seeing that there is a device out there that is broadcasting a Bluetooth signal. You can't stop this until you turn your Bluetooth off. It's not wrong - its just the way the Bluetooth works.

Hope this reassures.

Marilyn

 

[cazzo]

Hi again....well thanks for that.

No there was no pairing, that I know of, unless he accepted the accidental request I sent. But I guess he can't have, because the listing says Not Paired (Right?)


When you say selecting his device should take me to new screen so I can choose forget, that's what I tried to do initially, but that didn't happen. It just sent pair request, so I'm reluctant to hit it again, or am I not selecting it correctly? Actually, just realised I think, that as it was never paired, you won't see the blue arrow to the right which is what does take you to the forget screen.

Thanks again.

 

[cazzo]

Hi Guys....

Just an update for anyone interested or has an iMac. Having looked into it because I haven't, it appears that it's the iMac owner that could (or should, after pairing his own devices) uncheck the 'Discoverable' option in the System Preferences/Bluetooth pane.

Then my bluetooth device would not 'see' it, and vice versa.

Also, I think I read somewhere that given that Ipad users have no 'Discoverable' option to uncheck (that I know of), apart from turning Bluetooth off, which defeats the object of having it in the first place, the Ipad bluetooth signal stops broadcasting after 3 mins. Not sure about that one folks.

Anyone agree/disagree....welcome and thanks.

 

[Mickey330]

Thanks for the update/clarification. Good to know those details.

I don't know about the 3-minute thing, either (even after a quick scan through the manual). But, it sounds reasonable as Apple does do a lot of "stuff" for battery preservation.

Marilyn

 

[AQ_OC]

Prior to this moment I had the BT on my iPad turned off because I have not be using it lately. When I turned it on just now, I see 3 devices I have linked with before (my creative speaker, and two different logitech keyboards I own). All of these, that I have linked with previously, show the phrase "Not Connected" to the right to the device name. I am at work and those three are at home, so no chance of linking. Also, as I am in my office, I now see my ThinkPad Laptop which I have never linked with. It says "Not Paired" next to it obviously because I have never linked them together. Right below where these four devices are listed is the phrase "Now Discoverable". I guess this means my iPad is now discoverable. Note that when I clicked on the "Not Paired" next to my ThinkPad, the iPad appears to be trying to connect. However, it failed and I got a message saying "Pairing Unsuccessful" and then a further note to make sure the laptop is turned on (it is), in range (it is), and is ready to pair (Not sure if that is true). Now my Laptop (running Win7) says "A Bluetooth devices is trying to connect - click to allow this". Well, I won't as I don't see any need for these to be connected. But it indicates that the other computer (the iMac) owner might have to give consent to get the pairing done. There is little you can do to keep your iPad from seeing his BT device if he has BT on and it is in range of your iPad. He maybe using various devices with his iMac and thus needs it to be "out there". I advise not to worry about it and don't fret accidentally pressing the device.

Now I will turn BT off again on my iPad. HTH.

Oh...I have a 2012 iPad running iOS 6.

 

[cazzo]

OK Thanks for that. But are you saying then that unchecking his 'Discoverable' option won't stop me seeing him?

Maybe I got it wrong, but I thought I read that once devices have been paired, they are held in memory (ie. previously discovered and paired) will therefore wake on use via BT, and so does not need to have 'Discoverable' permanently on his iMac for BT to work.

I get your point though, he may have various devices, but as you can have more than one device paired simultaneously, and I don't think he's constantly doing pairing/unpairing, from what he said, the uncheck option should do the trick?

Many thx.

 

[AQ_OC]

Actually, I wasn't trying to say anything about that. But since you asked I looked on my ThinkPad laptop and see that I have it set to allow BT devices to find this computer. There is a note along with that saying "To protect your privacy, select this check box only when you want a Bluetooth device to find this computer."

I unchecked this checkbox. Now, when I open up the Bluetooth dialog on my iPad, I no longer see my ThinkPad. My BT mouse on this laptop is still working just fine. Based on this, I think your solution will work exactly as you think it will. He can just turn it on when he wants to connect/pair a new device and leave it off the rest of the time and others won't know his iMac is there and the risk of someone unknown to him connecting to his computer is reduced, and you don't have to see it on your iPad.

 

[cazzo]

Ahhhhhh.....thank you so much for testing that out !! Great stuff.

Its a pity there's not an 'undiscoverable' on ipads too.

ipad.. best thing since sliced bread, lol..(Got v.2 iOS6)

 

[twerppoet]

Once you've paired a device it will show in the list, whether it is available or not. You can only remove it by forgetting it. This is distinct from discovering a new device, which will only show if that device is in range and set to allow discovery.

Devices that have been paired are in blue, and wills say Connected or Not Connected.

Devices that are in range, discoverable, but not paired will show up in black and say Not Paired.

 

[twerppoet]

Ahhhhhh.....thank you so much for testing that out !! Great stuff.

Its a pity there's not an 'undiscoverable' on ipads too.

ipad.. best thing since sliced bread, lol..(Got v.2 iOS6)

As near as I can tell iPads and iPhones are only in discoverable mode when you have the BlueTooth settings open, and on.

I used my Bluetooth settings on the iMac to search for devices. The only time I could find the iPhone or iPad was when I had the Settings app open to the Bluetooth page on that device. It was a bit confusing at first, because the iMac would continue to show the devices, even after I turned their bluetooth off; but restarting the search on the iMac cleared it up.

So Apple does not leave your device discoverable by default. It doesn't even let you leave it discoverable by default.

 

[cazzo]

OK thx for looking at that.

Just a comment on that logic, is that I can vouch for the fact that I have not had ipad BT settings open for ages, but the other person involved says they see me all time, and that can only be because (re what you tested) 1. They have left their machine in sleep mode permanently, or 2. They are always actively searching for new devices.

I see that in either scenario, as discoverable at all times, if your BT is left 'on'.

In other words you are discoverable to the other party, whatever.

 

[twerppoet]

I'll I can say is what I saw personally, in a relatively controlled experiment. If you really want to know what is happening with your setup I suggest you set up a similar experiment with your neighbor, where you can control and observer.

I'm not saying you are wrong, only that in my experience memory of 'what happened' is the weakest troubleshooting tool in the bag. Of course, that could have something to do with my own less than stellar memory for details.

 

[cazzo]

Heh....I wish ! I wouldn't be here asking for input from you guys if I could do that.

As I said, I had no idea what was going on re BT, till now, and he's never mentioned it.

I only contacted out of courtesy, cos accidentally hit his BT device, but is unfortunately not forthcoming type.

Sent email too to resolve his BT setts , if only for his own security......no reply and device is still there.

Must want to be seen, or else nosy ! Lol

 

[twerppoet]

Ah well. We can only work with what we have.

I'll keep an eye out for any real tech info on iOS and bluetooth discovery behavior. I did not find anything in a (brief) search, but now that I'm thinking about it I'm unlikely to ignore it if it's right in front of my nose.