Hi everyone. I’m hoping someone could help or shed some light on this for me. I’m using an Apple TV to zwift on. I am using the companion to connect my devices as I have more then two Bluetooth devices.
I train in my garage which has a decent and stable wifi connection.
The issue is when I fire up zwift and select connect via companion the Apple TV can’t find my phone. I follow the connection advice given by zwift I have reset the tv and my phone I have disconnected everything and then reconnected everything nothing seems to work!
Here’s the kicker when I take the Apple TV to my living room the companion app is found straight away (training in the living room isn’t an option) and everything works and connects as desired. I do run a mesh wifi network in my home. There is a satellite mesh unit in the garage to boost wifi but even with that turned off it doesn’t connect.
Has anyone experienced similar or can anyone offer some alternative advice.
I certainly can’t give any definite advice on this, as every setup seems to have different quirks, but have you tried turning of the celluar data on your phone while you are Zwifting? it is possible that the wifi signal might be ‘on the edge’ in your garage so your phone is trying to switch back and forth from wifi to cellular data. And if your phone isn’t on the same network as your Apple TV the Companion app won’t connect. Might be worth a shot, at least.
Also, what is your full setup, just in case anyone else has some thoughts on how to solve. It would certainly be great if you could be down to just two BT devices and connect directly to the ATV. Or another option could be to get a CABLE device that would allow for more connections.
Hi thanks for getting back to me. I have tried turning off my mobile data and also using aeroplane mode with wifi and Bluetooth turned on. Still doesn’t work.
My set up is a kickr snap, wahoo cadence sensor and a tickr heart rate monitor.
I used my phone today for the tow. I didn’t use my cadence sensor but still got cadence on the screen but it was about 20 rpm less then my average.
Are your phone and ATV on the same WiFi? That was what got me and I just recently finally figured it out. We have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz connections available, and for some reason my phone was always on the wrong one. Once I had my phone on the same one as ATV everything runs like a dream! Hoping this helps you and if not, that someone out there with tech knowledge can step in.
Hi I checked my connection and both Apple TV and my phone are on my 5ghz internet. I tried everything again today and managed to get it the work. However, when I disconnected everything and tried what I did again I couldn’t connect. I think I’ll end up dropping my heart rate monitor just so I can connect directly to the tv or use an iPad and screen cast it to the Apple TV.
This is probably of little help, but I have heard that a mesh network can make it seem like the devices (phone & Apple TV in this case) are not on network (something about how the mesh works…far from my area of expertise). As such the Apple TV wouldn’t see the phone since it might believe it’s signal is on a different network. That might explain why all is OK inside since the devices my connect directly to the router versus connecting via the mesh.
If any readers are IT experts, please advise if this is correct, partly correct or completely off-base.
It’s worth another look at. However, I have already turned the satellite off in the garage so I’m theory the Apple TV and my phone should have joined the router.
What I haven’t done is turned off my mobile data and rest my phone whilst the satellite is off. I’ll give it a go later on today and see what happens.
So I tried turning the satellite router in the garage off and that didn’t work either. I ended up uninstalling the companion app from my phone and then putting it back on.
Here’s the kicker and the odd thing it worked straight away!! I turned it all off and left it a few hours came back to it and it worked perfectly. Not quite sure why uninstalling it and reinstalling it worked but it did.
I’ll try it again in a few days and see if it’s still working.
So my above success appeared to be an accident as I tried everything again in the evening and the problem occurred again. Zwift support seem to think that it’s a location issue in relation to the Apple TV and the base router. However, I have ran zwift off my iPad and connected to the companion app in the same spot several times. The issue also occurs when I try to use the companion app on the iPad with the Apple TV. I’m starting to think it’s an issue with the tv itself. Although it works fine when I’m in the house the garage is integral.
I don’t think wifi is the issue as I am able to stream Netflix to the spot without an issue on all my devices.
I force quite the companion app but not the tv (I normally just plug that out) I’ll give that a go on my next day off.
I have a very similar setup and manage to get stability every day using this connection method.
I use the remote app on my Iphone to navigate on Apple TV rather than the actual remote provided with Apple TV. I’m in the garage, also at the extreme end of my Wifi network for the iphone and Apple TV
I use a Wahoo Core Kickr and Polar HR monitor that pair directly to the Apple TV - NOT via the companion app. It always works.
I choose what I am going to do using the remote app on my phone to navigate. (It’s a bit sensitive, but it works)
I launch the Companion APP ( although it’s not required) - but it has to be on the same wifi network and doesn’t work if it is on cellular data.
The Companion APP works really well to control the work out - give Ride Ons, see the map etc.
When I finish my ride I use my remote APP again to stop the ride on the screen, it saves, and off I go!
I have tried various other combinations of Apple TV/streaming etc but this has been the most stable, consistent, low latency way to experience Zwift.
I have an update on this issue. Following much tinkering and huffing and puffing I may have stumbled upon the solution.
As previously stated I have a mesh router setup with one base router and two satellite units. One of the satellites is in the garage to help support the connection of camera. The other is in the kitchen.
I have been plugging out the garage satellite to encourage my phone and Apple to connect to the base. A reliable and stable connection wasn’t o occurring. And with a lot of help from customer support and the great people on here a solution was being found.
In a moment desperation I though about plugging my kitchen satellite out. I had not considered this as an option as it’s actually further away then the base unit. Since doing this and only having the base unit powered on I have been able to achieve a stable connection between my devices.
Zwift have confirmed that’s the app and game are designed for a traditional wifi network and not a mesh system. Hopefully I have the solution. Thank you all for your help
I’m glad you’ve sorted it. But I’m afraid that’s a real cop-out answer from Zwift. It should work fine on a mesh solution as long as that network allows all the nodes to see each other. It won’t work if it keeps them from talking, e.g. if there are subnets involved that keep nodes apart.
I have a mesh network and Zwift works fine for me. I’m of course not saying that all mesh networks will be fine. But equally, not all non-mesh setups will work either, e.g. if a router keeps the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks apart and your devices are attached to each of those. That’s why Zwift’s answer is a cop-out.
@Steve_Hammatt i haven’t really accepted their response and I have asked for further input from the development team. So we will see what happens there.
I believe some mesh systems create their own separate network which may appear to Zwift as completely different, hence the lack of visibility between the game and Companion app even though it’s the same actual internet connection being used.
