Ant+ Replacement

Hi,

It seems my Ant+ dongle is poorly.
I’m debating a replacment but as i’ve a tacx neo 2 the only thing i’m missing at present is the HRM, as everything else connects via bluetooth.

I currently run on a laptop, but could end up on a TV either with HDMI cable or possibly Apple TV.

Therefore instead of replacing the ANT+ dongle would i be better buying a HRM that transmits bluetooth as well as ANT+?

Is there any benefit to Ant+ vs Bluetooth when connecting?

Thanks

I’ve found ANT+ to be much more reliable with hardly ever having any signal dropouts. However, Apple TV will only work with Bluetooth I think. Bluetooth has so many other devices that cause interference that it was a pain to use, so I switched to ANT+ and have a much better experience.

3 Likes

Seconded.

I’m PC based and run a 10 foot USB extension cable with an ANT+ dongle under my rocker table and right up next to the Kickr 18; haven’t had a “power dropout” or related issues in months.

This verses my bluetooth connected Climb which has, shall we say, “it’s bad days.”

Also, ANT+ lets me use either a Garmin HR chest strap or my Vivoactive HR watch, depending upon which happens to be handy. (Or, heh, has charged up batteries.) Options are rarely a bad thing.

Bluetooth, has it’s issues imho, primarily due to overuse of the technology caused by an ever increasing number of “gadgets” everyone seems to run; it works surprisingly well for wireless headphones/speakers though.

In short, ANT+ just seems to work while Bluetooth is “fiddly” at times.

4 Likes

I seem to have my garmin pedals drop out randomly despite fresh batteries and up to date software and now lately my kickr has started to not be found by my laptop running via an ANT+ dongle, do you think it could be the dongle to blame?

could be, only one way to find out… get a new one and see if it works, make sure you can return it if it doesn’t solve the problem.

1 Like

Hi @Craig_McBrierty welcome to the forum.

Are your dongle close to your pedals with a extension cord. If the dongle is under your bike make sure to put it in a plastic bag so it does not come in contact with sweat.

1 Like

ANT+ and Bluetooth are in the same 2.4GHz frequency band which is also used by WiFi and many other things.

One may work better than the other, they could both be problematic, or they both work great. It depends on your environment.

2 Likes

The dongle is in my laptop. Thanks for your help guys- are the posh dongles worth it?

I would not get a cheap no name dongle. I use the Garmin one with a usb extension cable.

the dongle is where all your data pass thru you don’t want something that does not work.

I have used this one for over 2 years without any issues: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXXDBNK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

1 Like

Thanks guys. I have a cheap one just now without any extension so I’ll try an extension lead before buying a posher one like the garmin or tacx one.

1 Like

Same setup here going on 5yrs now. I did have a dongle die on me 🤷🏻‍♂ I think this was water/sweat related. You can shrink wrap the dongle to prevent this or put it in a plastic bag as @Gerrie_Delport suggested above.

1 Like