Enable Bluetooth® Low Energy and configure the Bluetooth Low Energy password using XBee Studio

Some of the latest XBee 3 modules support Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) as an extra interface for configuration. If you want to use this feature, you have to enable Bluetooth LE. You must also enable security by setting a Bluetooth LE password on the XBee device in order to connect, configure, or send data over Bluetooth LE.

The Bluetooth LE password is configured using XBee Studio. Make sure you have installed or updated XBee Studio to version 1.2.0 or later. Earlier versions of XBee Studio do not include the Bluetooth LE configuration features. See Download and install XBee Studio for installation instructions.

Before you begin, you should determine the password you want to use for Bluetooth LE on the XBee device and store it in a secure place. Digi recommends a secure password of at least 8 characters and a random combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Digi also recommends using a security management tool such as Bitwarden or Keepass for generating and storing passwords for many devices.

Note When you enter the Bluetooth LE password in XBee Studio, the salt and verifier values are calculated as you set your password. For more information on how these values are used in the authentication process, see Bluetooth® Low Energy Unlock API - 0x2C.

  1. Launch XBee Studio .
  2. Navigate to the device settings page by one of the following methods:
    • Hover over your device and then click Open Settings.
    • Click on your device and then click Settings in the left menu.
    • Click Configuration in the sidebar, then click Settings, then finally click on your device.

    3. Note Make sure the radio you're inspecting is a Bluetooth LE compatible radio module.

  3. In the Bluetooth Options section, select Enabled[1] from the BT Bluetooth Enable command drop-down.

  1. Click the Write setting button . The Bluetooth authentication not set dialog appears.

    Note If Bluetooth LE has been previously configured, the Bluetooth authentication not set dialog does not appear. If this happens, click Configure in the Bluetooth Options section to display the Configure Bluetooth Authentication dialog.

  2. Click Configure in the dialog. The Configure Bluetooth Authentication dialog appears.
  1. In the Password field, type the password for the device. As you type, the Salt and Verifier fields are automatically calculated and populated in the dialog as shown above. Make a note of the password, as this password is used when you connect to this XBee device via Bluetooth LE using the Digi XBee Mobile app.
  1. Click OK to save the configuration.