User guide

iMZ Series User Guide

Wireless Communications with Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a worldwide standard for the exchange of data

between two devices via radio frequencies. Bluetooth radios

are relatively low powered to help prevent interference with

other devices running at similar radio frequencies. This limits

the range of a Bluetooth device to about 10 meters (32 feet).

Both the printer and the device it communicates with must fol-

low the Bluetooth standard.

Bluetooth Personal Area Network (PAN)

Each Bluetooth enabled iMZ series printer is identified by

a unique Bluetooth Device Address (BDA) loaded into the

printer when manufactured. In order to exchange data, two

Bluetooth enabled devices must establish a connection.

Bluetooth software is always running in the background,

ready to respond to connection requests. One device (known

as the master) must request a connection with another. The

second device (the slave) then accepts or rejects the connec-

tion. A Bluetooth enabled iMZ series printer will normally act

as a slave creating a PAN with the handheld terminal. Up to

seven (7) devices can create a PAN with Bluetooth technology,

and this PAN is referred to as a “Piconet”.

Bluetooth Connections

Bluetooth connections to the iMZ can be created by using

the default user interface for Bluetooth communication that

comes in the handheld device (the master device). Normally,

this process has several steps including “discover the slave

devices nearby”, selecting the printer among those devic-

es and pairing the two devices. The Bluetooth radio in the

iMZ complies to BT spec v.2.1, therefore it supports security

modes 1,2,3, and 4. By default the printer comes with security

mode ”1” (no security). To change the security mode and se-

curity settings in the printer use Zebra Setup Utilities.

If the master device trying to connect to the iMZ only sup-

ports Bluetooth Specification 2.0 or earlier, the iMZ will con-

nect since the Bluetooth standard is backwards compatible

with previous standard versions. If the master device is BT 2.0

or earlier and Authentication is set to “on” from the master

side, then the master device will require a PIN from the printer.