How to use Bluetooth Low Energy Standalone Desktop app for coded PHY testing

[alliebarrett]

I have been working on ap project that involves testing rssi strength with two nrf52840 dongles and recently have needed to flip over to using coded phy due to needing to use low data rate mode 125kpbs and have a longer range.

Up until this point I have been able to use the ble desktop app to flash my central dongle and used the peripheral_hr sample for my other dongle. However now that I have switched over to coded phy I no longer see my device in the list of discovered devices, is there a setting that I can change to make this possible, or a sample project that I can use for my central dongle that would still be compatible with the desktop app?

Additional Info:

I had been looking at this example:  nRF52840 Dongle long range (coded PHY) testing and it looked like it was not possible when that was posted but that was also over 5 years ago so I was hoping some things had changed.

Additionally, I have noticed a section when I click on setting for the central device where it looks like I might be able to change things with the phy, but I do not see a way to actually change it. Clicking connection parameters just results in options for slave latency, timeout, and connection interval.

[Vidar Berg]

Hello,

Unfortunately, coded PHY is still not supported by this app. Part of the reason is that the SoftDevice used by the connectivity firmware on the Dongle does not include coded PHY support. As an alternative, you may use our nRF Sniffer for Bluetooth LE. Or if you have an Android phone with coded PHY support, you can use the nRF Connect app (note that iOS does not support it).

Best regards,

Vidar

[alliebarrett]

Thank you for the quick reply @Vidar Berg . To clarify, if I use the sniffer I will unfortunately just be able to detect coded packets, not connect to the device itself correct? Also, will I be able to specify a specific device to sniff for or will I be collecting all ble packets that the device can detect.

Alternatively, could I used a different device such as the nrf52840DK as my central device and be able to use coded phy with the ble desktop app? Or is that just not an option for any device.

[Vidar Berg]

The sniffer can only passively listen for packets and cannot initiate a connection. However, you can select which device you want to receive packets from. Additionally, it will also track connections between your peripheral and another central device. The RSSI reported in Wireshark will be the signal strength seen by the nrf52840 Dongle / sniffer.

You can select which device to follow from the dropdown menu here:

alliebarrett said:

Alternatively, could I used a different device such as the nrf52840DK as my central device and be able to use coded phy with the ble desktop app? Or is that just not an option for any device.

The app does not support the newer Softdevices required for coded PHY. So this limiation applies to all devices even if they have HW support for the coded PHY.

[alliebarrett]

Okay thank you for the information, I will use a nrf52840Dk for the central device and the dongle for the peripheral and use the _hr_coded examples in that case.