Better to use Bluetooth or Ant?

Bugs and Support
1

I just purchased a hammer and setup zwift on my macbook pro. I’m currently having some issues with the resistance, from time to time I lose all resistance and have to let the freewheel slow down to near 0 before the resistance kicks back in and I can start pedaling again. Not ideal for workouts or races as it usually takes 2 or 3 minutes.

I’m wondering if it’s better to be connect via bluetooth or ant and if there is anything else I can do to fix this problem.

2

There is a whole thread for resistance and Bluetooth issues.

BLE Issues

Out of convenience I prefer to use my Apple TV 4K which only supports Bluetooth. That said, if I use ANT+ w/my MacBook Pro, everything is rock solid. I have never had an issue. That said, I recommend a USB extension cable to put the ANT+ dongle under your trainer or bottom bracket to minimize any possible signal strength or interference issues.

3

Thanks @Lin

And yes, if you are having trouble with BLE and you have an ANT + connection available it could definitely help.

4

And here we are, July 2019, and still having technology/computer/sensor/interface issues…
My point, as related to “bluetooth vs./and/or ant+” is to use them both, with the handy device called a “Cable” (Convert Ant+ to BLuEtooth) made by North Pole Engineering, and no, I don’t work for them, no free devices…I’m just as frustrated as anybody else here, trying to simply “Zwift” but I had to buy a dang $60 device, so I could get a 2019 ipad pro to be able to accept Ant+ signals, that are converted to Bluetooth, with the help of the aforementioned device. Not a knock on zwift, not trying to dig up the dead horse of this thread, done ranting (back to Zwifting for me) and just happy I found the “Cable” device/converter. Made zwifting much easier, as every Ant+ sensor is now converted then broadcast into Bluetooth and the ipad pro is working without any issues (e.g.-picks up all Garmin Ant+ sensors now, HR, Speed, Cadence, & Kinetic smart road trainer, etc.)
Thought it was an appropriate reference here as well. Happy zwifting all, Ride on!

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5

(smacks forehead with palm…)
“Connect Ant+ to Bluetooth Low Energy” and the links to the folks who make and sell this magical, $60 device;

https://npe-inc.com/cable-applications/

6

My personal opinion is that ANT+ is far superior to Bluetooth.

Use Zwiftalizer.com to look at your log file you may find some information.

Also if you use bluetooth try to eliminate unneeded bluetooth devices like headphones, speakers or other phones.

Also check your Wifi router channels.

Zwift can only work with what is send to it and that is all hardware dependent.
Zwift is very susceptible to dropouts because it has to be interactive and that is why we like Zwift.
If it was just a graph on a screen the software could reed every 10 seconds and average the data and update the screen every 30 and no one would care.

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