How to get Bluetooth Low Energy manufacturer's name

user_10628738 0
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I'm learning about Bluetooth (and LE), and I'm writing simple desktop application for Windows 10 to communicate with different kinds of BLE fitness devices.

I have Bluetooth up and running and I can send and receive data, but I have a small problem; sometimes I don't get correct manufacturer name from "Manufacturer Name String". I need to know the manufacturer so that I can send manufacturer specific commands to the devices. The problem seems to be related to different computer hardware and/or drivers, because the problem happens only on my friends computers, not on my computers. The devices I use don't support "PnP ID" and "System ID" so I can't use those to get needed information.

I also read somewhere that I can use MAC address to know the manufacturer, but the devices I use don't give me the address in a format that can be used to get Company Identifier.

What else can I use to get the manufacturer name and/or code?

windows-10 bluetooth-lowenergy bluetooth
3 Answers
user_5564950

Looking at the MAC address will probably be very unreliable, as many BTLE devices use a random MAC address for privacy reasons.

However, there is also the UUID of the individual BTLE characteristics, which contains a manufacturer code. See here for a list: https://www.bluetooth.com/specifications/assigned-numbers/16-bit-uuids-for-members (note that this applies to shortened 16-bit UUIDs, not to the full 128-bit ones).

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user_119768480
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