What connection is best with a PC, Bluetooth or Ant+??
Ant+ with a USB extension for a more robust connection.
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Neither is ‘best’, but ANT+ has fewer potential issues IMO, especially on PC.
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I had issues with an ANT+ dongle and switched to Bluetooth and now it’s problem free. I was getting power dropouts.
Bluetooth is faster and has more bandwidth than ANT+. I also believe the signal is stronger.
If you are not connecting to multiple devices at once, than I would choose Bluetooth. Google “ANT vs Bluetooth” for more info and videos about it.
As for the multiple devices, if I choose an indoor activity on my Wahoo Elemnt, I can connect it passively while still having Swift on the PC connect via Bluetooth.
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that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of anyone getting less dropouts with Bluetooth. Maybe your trainer manufacturer does a better job of making Bluetooth work. What trainer do you have?
Wahoo Kickr.
Could be due to any number of issues I guess. PC location, interference, poor ANT+ dongle, etc.
I find it works better for me and all my Wahoo stuff does support it ( Tickr, Cadence, Kickr) and allows me to use other Bluetooth stuff like my mini keyboard. I had the PC right next to the bike with ANT+ and I was failing sections in cruise intervals which was driving me mad. Read and watched info on it and choose Bluetooth for it’s power/bandwidth advantages and now it’s a bit farther away and flawless.
Try them both. Depending on several factors (e.g., environment, hardware, etc.,) one may work better than the other. Since Bluetooth is built in to your PC, I would start with that. If you do not have any issues, then there is no reason to test out ANT+ which would require you purchasing an ANT+ dongle.
I have been very happy with ANT+. I don’t want to say it out loud but I never had a drop out since 2016.
And before Zwift I used ANT+ on my out door bike problem free.
I have a new (2021) kickr. Not only did the ant+ (garmin brand) continue to have drops the same way it did with my old Hammer, I found that when using ant+, Zwift would drain the battery in my Macbook Pro down to 4% over a three hour ride (Haute Route). Switching to Bluetooth solved the issue with the battery and the dropouts.
I had drop outs with Ant + connected to ISB 3.0 but it works fine in the USB 2.0 port.
Maybe a bad port.
I think USB has fewer headaches.
Bluetooth has been way, way more reliable for me on a Windows laptop than ANT+.
That said, it is still less reliable than Apple TV + Bluetooth.