The UB400 is a tiny dongle that brings the magic of Bluetooth connectivity to a laptop or PC.
However it doesn’t always work as expected.
In this post we go through a series of steps to troubleshoot this problem starting from the easiest. Without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Device Compatibility
As a first check, let’s make sure that the dongle will work with the device that it’s plugged in to. The UB400 is compatible with the following Windows operating systems only. Specifically Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP. It is not compatible with Linux or MacOS.
Unplug adapter
If your UB400 Bluetooth isn’t working, unplug the adapter, and plug it back into your PC. Sometimes this trivial hack is all you need to fix the Bluetooth connectivity issue. If this tip doesn’t work for you, read on
Disable built-in Bluetooth
There will be times when your UB400 Bluetooth won’t connect to any of your devices. You plug the UB400 adapter into to your PC, windows recognizes it, and the available devices are also shown in the list. But it simply fails to connect.
Sometimes the PC or the device you are attaching your UB400 adapter has built-in Bluetooth that causes the problem. Try disabling your PC’s internal Bluetooth by following the steps below:
- Go to the Device Manager
- Right-click on your device’s built-in Bluetooth and
- Select disable the device
Check if the Adapter is Functional
Sometimes the reason behind UB400 Bluetooth issues is faulty USB hardware. The following steps show how to check if the USB adapter is defective.
- First, insert the UB400 into any of the PC’s ports. If the taskbar shows a Bluetooth notification, the adapter is functional. If not, go to the next step.
- Go to Devices and Printers from the start menu. If the Devices section shows your Bluetooth adapter’s name – i.e. UB400, it means the adapter is functional. If not, it means the adapter is faulty or not connected properly. If the adapter is connected correctly and still not working, try the next step.
- Right-click on My Computer and click Properties. Select Device Manager from the left pane. Choose Network Adapter from the drop-down list. It will show the list of connected adapters. If your adapter shows up in the list, it is connected and functional.
- If the UB400 dongle is still not connecting, try plugging it into other USB ports in your laptop/PC. Repeat the above steps. In addition,
- Try switching between different USB port versions, i.e., 2.0 and 3.0.
- Don’t use the USB hub.
- If the adapter doesn’t work well in any of the ports, try connecting the adapter to another PC/Laptop.
- If it still doesn’t work, check with the drivers of UB400. Sometimes outdated or no drivers are the reason it does not work.
Download the drivers
If you don’t exactly know how to download and install UB400 drivers, this section will help you with this.
- Download the latest UB400 Bluetooth drivers from the official website
- Un-zip the downloaded file.
- Open the extracted file and click on setup to install the Bluetooth drivers on your PC.
- Restart your PC or laptop to complete the installation.
Update Drivers
If the Bluetooth drivers are already installed on your PC and UB400 Bluetooth is still not working, it’s time to update them.
To update,
- Go to Device Manager and right-click on your adapter’s name
- Select Update Drivers and click search automatically
- It will search the updated drivers from your PC and the internet to complete the process
Disable nearby Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices
If your UB400 Bluetooth isn’t working, the reason might be interference from surrounding Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices. Communication signals from these devices might be swamping the Bluetooth signals of your UB 400 adapter and stopping it from connecting.
Move or relocate these devices. For instance if you have a Wi-Fi router on your desk, move it a certain distance away.
Once you have done this, check to see if the UB400 is functional.
Check Compatibility
UB400, is compatible with Windows 8, 8.1, 10, and 11 out of the box.
If you’re using it with Windows XP or Windows 7 it will require manual driver installation as the driver is not bundled with these Operating Systems.
The UB400 is not compatible with Linux, Mac, and TV. Also, the PS4 or XBOX controllers can connect to a PC through this Bluetooth adapter, but UB400 cannot work directly with PS4/XBOX. In other words, plugging UB400 into a USB slot on the PS4 or Xbox won’t give it Bluetooth functionality.
Please note that for successful operation of the UB400 with Windows 10, make sure your PC is connected to the internet.
The Wrap Up
This article has given multiple solutions to the problem of a non-functioning UB400. We hope one of these solutions will work for you. If they do, please tell us in the comments. You can also add another solution if we have missed any.