Bluetooth/USB RS-232 converter recommendation

Hi,
As laptops haven't come with a serial (RS-232) port for a long time, would anyone have recommendations on what to use (Manufacturer, model, etc.) to do that? I need to connect to various routers, switches, servers, etc. with 9600 8N1 and the Bluetooth or USB device needs to be able to pass the BREAK signal correctly but those are pretty much my only requirements.
Also, do people use kermit or something else (zterm? is there an universal binary?) on OSX as their serial communications program? Googling didn't really help this time.
Thanks
Kaj
MacBook Pro 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hi, Kaj —
and welcome to Apple Discussions.
Your serial-device-related needs are outside my experience, but I may be able to help get you started with Bluetooth-related resources beyond Googling. From your query, I presume that you are aware that "Apple Bluetooth software lets you add virtual serial ports to your computer to enable incoming and outgoing connections with Bluetooth devices."...?
Links to Bluetooth-related resources.
First, here are results from a < serial RS-232 > search within Bluetooth.com — the "Official Bluetooth® website". Bluetooth.org —home of the Bluetooth® SIG (Special Interest Group of lead companies developing the open-source specifications) has lists of products and organizations, and may also be worth a look. Various technical associations such as PaloWireless Bluetooth Resource Center and Bluetooth White Papers also provide access to a lot of Bluetooth-related info. Sorry — I don't have time right now to help with the search, but my guess is that your efforts with one or more of these links will prove fruitful. [1]
Another resource you may want to bookmark and keep up with is MacInTouch's Universal Binaries and Intel-Native Mac Applications listing...
I hope this helps to get you headed toward answers — at least until someone with this specific expertise "drops by" your thread...
Regards,
Dean
[1] If/when I find anything more specifically helpful, I'll post back...
[2,129 ⊥ 3,535]

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Hi All,
Taking a long shot hoping someone has an idea on what the possible solution could be. Hoping I've just missed something obvious. I have a customer who is using the NI usb to 232 converter. The software he is using is emh camcal software. He says the comms worked fine on his XP machine, then he moved it across to a machine with Windows 7. He installed the latest driver, NI serial 3.5.1 I think it is, which supports Windows 7. Now the communication doesn't work. I've got him to run the troubleshooting wizard for ni serial and everything seems fine.
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Here is a few other things I would try. First does the Windows 7 machine see the COM port in the device manager? If it does, I would make sure to see if MAX sees the device on the customers machine. From MAX you can test the connection with it by using the NI-Serial communicator. I have copied the steps to do this from the manual below.
Launch MAX.
Expand the My System directory by clicking the
+ next to the folder.
Expand the Devices and Interfaces directory by clicking the
+ next to the folder.
Select your serial interface and expand it to see its ports by clicking the
+ next to its name.
Right-click on the serial port you want to use and select
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Communicator.
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http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/allkb/E8CAFBC41A7B9BF086256D3C00650011
JimS
Jim St
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RF Product Support Engineer

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Hello
I an working on a project that will use LV to send a string to a 8051 MCU. Prior to my knowledge of the NI USB-232 device that already has a driver written I spec'ed a radio shack USB to 232 cable. I selected that cable because I have used it in the past and it alwasys seemed to work without a problem.
BUT (isn't there always a but) I noticed that sometimes when the cable is plugged into the PC it does not always get configured as the same com port.
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Best Regards
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1:30 Seconds ARRRGHHH!!!! I want my popcorn NOW! Isn't there anything faster than a microwave!

I know that I am replying to an old thread, but I thought I would fill in some information for anyone else who happens upon this. Windows utilizes the product serial number in order to uniquely identify USB devices on the system. If there is no serial number (which is optional for USB devices), the device is identified by the USB port to which it is connected.
Many "electronics store" USB to serial converters (and even some more expensive ones) do not provide serial numbers, so Windows has no way to recognize when the same hardware is plugged into a different USB port. This means that any time you switch USB ports, you are likely to receive a new port number.
You will probably always receive the same port number as long as you are careful to always use the same USB port.
This should not be a problem with any product which supplies a unique serial number to Windows, although this is dependent on the individual driver implementation. Unfortunately is is virtually impossible to tell without buying a product whether it will identify itself in this way. All NI USB-232 and USB-485 products identify themselves uniquely to the operating system, and we take care to ensure that you
will always receive the same port number, even when switching USB
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LittlemanTAMU wrote:
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