How many Wii Balance Boards can be used in the same room?

The number of Wii Balance Boards that can be used with multiple instances of LabChart in the same room is dependent on many factors such as the:
 

  • proximity of the Bluetooth receivers to each other
  • number of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) present
  • size of the room
  • number of other Bluetooth device types in the area

Because of these factors, it is not possible to give an exact number of Wii Balance Boards, and other Bluetooth devices in general, that can be used in every situation.  However, the Bluetooth technology employs multiple techniques to prevent cross talk between devices.  A personal area network is created for each computer and its attached Bluetooth devices; furthermore, the broadcast frequency used by each of these networks randomly rotates its broadcasting frequency (known as "Frequency Hopping") approximately 1600 times per second across 79 individual frequencies separated by intervals of 1 MHz.   The Wii Balance Board Extension has been successfully tested with up to four balance boards each connected to unique instances of LabChart in the same 24’ x 14’ (7.3 m x 4.3 m) room in the presence of one WLAN.

Note: When using multiple Wii Balance Boards in the same room, it is important to perform the LabChart Software and Balance Board pairing one at a time.  Attempting to pair multiple Balance Boards simultaneously will interfere with the software pairing process.

If you require further technical assistance with this or any other issue, please contact ADInstruments Technical Support.