ZEXMTE 5.4 USB Bluetooth Adapter for PC, Plug & Play Bluetooth Transmitter & Reciver, EDR & BLE, High Gain Antenna, 590FT / 180M Long Range for PC Windows 11/10/8

I’m reviewing this on behalf of my fellow Home Assistant users. Specifically, I’m using this with my Beelink EQI12 that runs Home Assistant baremetal. The aforementioned Beelink has built in Bluetooth. Which is great, however, I recently got a outdoor ceiling fan that only listens for BLE advertisements to change modes, setting, light, fan speed etc, so a Bluetooth proxy on a simple ESP32 wasn’t going to work. My issue was range, my Beelink internal Bluetooth was not nearly consistent enough to work with the fan, which I attributed to a range issue. So I purchased this with it specifically being identified as long range Bluetooth.There is a warning in the description that doesn’t work with Linux, and since HA is kind of built around Linux I was concerned, but since HA provided its own drivers I figured wouldn’t be a issue. I plugged this into my machine with A like 9ft extension because it’s all I had, but really only have it like 2 feet from the server itself. I needed the extension for form factor being an issue, this dongle to bulky to fit between the other stuff I have plugged in, plus a little separation is good to minimize interference. I am using a 2.0 USB cable in a 3.0 port.HA immediately recognized it and I was able to add the fan via a BLE Advertising HACS integration once I went through the setup process. So far, it’s working great. Time will be more of a data driven success of this product. But as it stands now, solved my needs!

I had been using the built-in Bluetooth adapter on a raspberry pi for my home assistant. While it worked, the range was lacking. I plugged this into the pi (I used an extension cable) it detected it, I clicked add. I then disabled the onboard bluetooth adapter. All my devices appeared on the new adapter. Total time, under 10 min. The devices I was trying to locate outside just work. With the old adapter, they were too far. Recommended.

The ZEXMTE Long Range USB Bluetooth Adapter does exactly what it promises—fantastic range and solid connectivity—but getting it up and running wasn’t quite as “plug & play” as advertised.I had to uninstall my old Bluetooth driver and go through a couple of restarts before it started working properly. Not the end of the world, but definitely something to keep in mind if you’re expecting an instant setup.Once installed, though? Smooth sailing! The high-gain antenna really makes a difference, and I can stay connected from another room with no dropouts. If you don’t mind a little troubleshooting, this adapter is a great upgrade for long-range Bluetooth needs!

Woke up yesterday only to find out that my built in BlueTooth devices was no longer working, I did everything I could to try & reinstall the drivers, work through the settings to try & get it to power up. Nothing I did would revive the thing, researched the latest configuration & speeds available for a Bluetooth device & found that this one was the latest standard, max speed, greatest coverage, purchases it last night & it showed up this morning, plugged it in & instantly connected to all of my devices & best of all it gave me more coverage areas than my old built in device. A++

I had high hopes for this Bluetooth adapter, and while the hardware itself seems solid, the driver installation on Windows 11 is problematic. The device doesn’t automatically install the necessary drivers, and since there’s no official website to download them from, getting it to work is a hassle.I was able to temporarily get it running by uninstalling and reinstalling, but after a reboot, I kept encountering driver errors. This makes it unreliable unless you’re willing to troubleshoot frequently.If ZEXMTE provided proper driver support, this could be a great product. As it stands, it’s frustrating to use on Windows 11.

Great replacement for internal device Bluetooth failure on my mini PC. I can go all over the house both in the basement and upstairs and still pick up reception on my headphones with these attached to the computer that drives my tv. Easy to connect to, very pleased with them.

Update: The good: the second one plugged in and was immediately recognizing BT devices. Connected my headset and was up and running within minutes. No messing around with removing old devices, multiple reboots, or anything.The not-so-good: while it has better range, it's only slight compared to my old BT 4.0 adapter with no external antennas. It works, but isn't an impressive upgrade. If you have no BT adapter, this is better than nothing.Removed my 4.0 BT adapter (different manufacturer), removed it from device manager (Win10), rebooted. Plugged this in and Windows saw it immediately, great. Went to connect headphones and... nothing discovered. Removed this adapter, went back into device manager and removed it, rebooted again. Plugged in the 4.0 adapter and it was seen. Went to connect headphones and 6 BT devices seen. Sending this back hoping this one is defective and hoping to get a new one that works. Will update after the second attempt. Hoping it works, would like to use BT 5.0+ for my BT 5.0 headphones and not BT 4.0.

Worked great as soon as it was plugged into a USB port.