Avatar Stops Moving - Data Dropout

Bugs and Support
1

There are quite a few threads about this sort of thing, and I don’t want to be redundant. That said, a lot of the threads are a year or more old, some go either unanswered or the answers aren’t solving the problem, and in certain cases, the issues are actually very different even though they appear to be the same. So what I’m going to do is explain my issue in detail, and then follow the steps provided in the Zwift troubleshooting guides. If I’m able to resolve the issue, I’ll report back with root causes and resolution. If not, maybe someone can help here on the forums, and if that doesn’t work…then I will submit a trouble ticket and keep this topic updated with information and troubleshooting steps performed. Ok, let’s get started.

– Equipment –

Output Display: Sony Bravia 55" Dumb LCD TV

Zwift App Source: HP Envy Desktop (HDMI to Sony Bravia)

  • OS: Windows 10 Home - 64-bit
  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 @ 3.10Ghz
  • RAM: 12GB DDR3
  • GPU: nVidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti
  • HDD: 2TB 7200rpm Drive
  • Zwift Settings: High (1080p)
  • Zwift Performance: Between 31fps and 58fps, avg 42fps
  • Bluetooth: Off (tried using built in and could not get it to connect to the devices)
  • Network: Hard wired to router via Cat 6 cable

Zwift Companion App Source

  • Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S7
  • OS: Android 7.0

Phone Settings

  • Airplane Mode: On
  • WiFi: On (connected to same network as HP Envy Desktop)
  • Bluetooth: On (used to connect all devices for Zwift)

Bluetooth Devices

  • Wahoo Kickr Snap
  • Garmin Bluetooth HRM-Dual
  • Favero Assioma Duo Power Meter Pedals

– Process –

1.) Set phone to airplane mode. Then turn on Wifi and connect to home network. Turn on bluetooth.
2.) On HP desktop, start Zwift app. Login and get to connection screen.
3.) On phone, start companion app.
4.) Spin pedals to wake up power meter and wahoo kickr snap.
5.) Zwift Companion app goes to “Game” screen and begins connecting to devices. Bluetooth icon turns blue.
6.) Zwift game on HP desktop finds all devices and starts auto-countdown and sticks me in the menu to pick world.
7.) I start riding.

That is my process, and it always works flawlessly. There are no issues actually connecting any devices, or getting things to show up where they should.

Once in game, things usually work fine for the first 5-10 minutes. After that, I begin to get dropouts every so often, where my watts and cadence go to 0. My HRM still shows heart rate though. Common sense would say…well, if you’re using your Assioma Duo pedals as both your power source and cadence, then it’s probably your pedal connection to the companion app. And that would make sense, but even when I stick my phone as close as possible to the pedals, it still happens. And when I started using Zwift back in November, I wasn’t having these issues. I also charge my pedals at least once a week, and I don’t ride enough to charge them more than that. If I look at the companion app, the Bluetooth icon has a triangle on it indicating issues, and if I click it, it will pop up a window showing that all my Bluetooth connected devices are having issues. Sometimes it will autocorrect in a few seconds, other times it won’t. When it doesn’t fix itself in game, I have to exit the game on the computer, shut the companion app down on the phone, cycle wifi/bluetooth, and do the process above all over again.

This only started happening about 2 weeks ago, and my phone hasn’t undergone any kind of system update, so I’m a bit puzzled by it all. The one thing I do know that we did a couple of weeks ago was install 2 new Amazon Echo devices that were received for Christmas. I’m wondering if perhaps the signal is interfering? But I have unplugged them the last 2 rides I’ve done and still had dropout issues. Will continue to try additional troubleshooting steps and report back if I get it all sorted. Oh, and I’m not using ANT+ on anything, just Bluetooth.

2

My first reaction is why not get an ANT+ dongle? then you can eliminate the phone.

1 Like
3

Oh believe me, it’s on my list of things to do at this point. I just never realized that was a thing. I thought only people who didn’t have bluetooth needed/used ANT+. But now I am edumacated. :wink:

4

In my humble opinion I think ANT+ is far more superior to BT. ANT+ was developed to transmit training data, it is older than BT and it has only one job to do and it do that job very well. BT tries to do everything and does an OK job at most. As they say " Jack of all trades , master of none"

5

They definitely do say that haha. I have ordered the dongle and will report back with results! :slight_smile: Thanks.

1 Like
6

So I wanted to come back and say that I had been using my phone to do ride ons and such, so I kept it up on the table by my bike. As part of the troubleshooting process, I stuck the phone on the floor directly under the rear tire, right behind the pedals. I have done a couple of rides since then, and have had zero issues. So it really does seem to be a simple issue of signal. Now, I still haven’t figured out what is interfering with the signal, but I have so many wireless and bluetooth devices that it would take ages to go 1 by 1 and figure out which item is the culprit.

Because of that, I’m just going to chalk this up to a poor bluetooth signal due to signal interference, and say that if you experience this, you can either go ANT+, or just put your phone directly by your power meter/trainer (which means you won’t be using the companion app to do things like chat or give ride ons).

I have never used my phone’s companion app without the bluetooth connections going through that, but presumably it still works the exact same way even if you have your devices connected through your computer or whatever you’re using to run Zwift. Since that’s likely the case, I will mark Gerrie Delport’s response as the answer, since getting an ANT+ dongle will solve the issue and will allow you to still use your phone for the companion app chatting/social aspect.