JRiver can send audio via Bluetooth IF the Bluetooth device shows up as an audio playback device in the Windows Sound control panel.
My Lenovo Windows 10 laptop has internal Bluetooth and can physically pair to a Bluetooth speaker, but it doesn't show up as an audio playback device and no audio device selected within JRiver will send sound to the speaker.
A USB Bluetooth dongle I borrowed worked, but that device also did show up as a playback device in the Sound control panel and therefore I was also able to select it as the audio device in JRiver. I think maybe the Bluetooth device just needs to have support for the A2DP profile.
This is with JRiver v20/21, so I'm not sure about older versions, but I would guess if the Bluetooth speaker shows up in the Windows Sound control panel, you're good to go. If the sound needs to be synchronized with another playback zone, the zones can be linked in JRiver and the delay adjusted, but I'm not sure which previous versions of JRiver allowed for zone linking and synchronization.
Bluetooth (Class 2) has a 2.5mW transmit power and limited range of ~ 10m / 33ft and reception can get a bit sketchy at the outer limits. There is a Class 3 100mW (100m / 328ft) Bluetooth, but I haven't seen it offered for Bluetooth adapters or speakers and I suspect it is used in a more advanced and expensive networking application.
Is the patio location close enough to the PC? If not, a Bluetooth + Airplay speaker may be a better choice, but you would also need third party software Airfoil to enable Airplay with JRiver (iTunes supports AirPlay natively).
Steve
