Bluetooth personal area network (PAN) is a technology that allows you to create a wireless Ethernet network between desktop computers, laptops, mobile phones, and other types of portable devices. When you connect to a Bluetooth personal area network (PAN), you gain access to all Bluetooth enabled devices and computers that are part of the PAN. Connecting to a PAN automatically creates a TCP/IP connection between your computer and Bluetooth enabled devices or other computers.

Steps to setup a personal area network on Windows Vista:

1) Make sure your Bluetoooth enabled device is in the discoverable mode
2) On your PC, open Network Connections by going to Start—>Control Panel—>Network and Internet—>Network and Sharing Center—>Manage network connections.
2) Under Personal Area Network, select the Bluetooth Network Connection icon.
3) On the toolbar, click View Bluetooth network devices.
4) In the Bluetooth Personal Area Network Devices dialog box, under Bluetooth devices, click the device that you want to connect to, and then click Connect.

Some people have reported better compatibility and results with the Toshiba Bluetooth Stack which supports more profiles and can be downloaded here. If you want to downgrade to the default Microsoft Bluetooth stack, follow this article. To troubleshoot common problems with Bluetooth enabled devices, check this Microsoft Help article.