I use Zwift with a Windows 11 PC (MS Surface Studio 2), a Kickr Bike V1, a Wahoo Tickr HR monitor, a wireless headphone and Zwift Click V2, all connected via Bluetooth directly with the PC. At least until end of June everything worked well.
I was under a doctor’s no sports order for a while. Last weekend I tried to start Zwifting again. But now I have odd Bluetooth issues. As soon as I start Zwift, my headphone has occasional dropouts. When I am some minutes into a ride, my bluetooth devices starting to have dropouts and finally, they entirly loose connection, but not all at the same time. Usually, my Bluetooth keyboard and my HR monitor are dying first, a while later the headphone. The Kickr Bike dies some minutes later, so my avatar finally stops riding midride, which is super frustrating. Sometimes even the entire Bluetooth adapter deactivates itself after such session and needs to be reactivated in the device manager.
I tried every possible fix that was suggested somewhere. I even bought an external Bluetooth adapter in case the internal one got a defect. Nothing worked. The only thing I can imagine is that the problem came with a Windows update and/or a Zwift update in July or August.
Does anyone else experience similar issues?
Tom
did you put the external bluetooth dongle on a usb extension chord so it can sit right next to your kickr bike? You also might need to disable the internal bluetooth adapter in your device manager first, then it will be forced to use the external.
Yes, I disconnected the internal adapter before I installed the external one. I have not used a cord yet. All devices should be well within reach. The PC is right in front of the bike and I had no issues until end of June.
Tom
Which dongle did you buy?
A TP-Link UB500 nano BT 5.4. But the adapter should not be the issue when I see the same behavior with the TP-Link as with the internal adapter, right?
Tom
have you made any other changes to the equipment you are using, added any fans for instance (one user just found that the magnetic shielding on their new fan was causing interference).
Nothing that I am aware of. I was not able to use Zwift for weeks, just wanted to start again with the same equipment as always.
my next thought is run the log file through trainerdx.com and see what that might tell you
I will do that as soon as possible. I will also check the windows update history for unusual updates. From the reactions here so far I understand that it is not a problem experienced by others, so it should not be caused by a recent Zwift update. Some device specific driver update is more likely to cause the issue, I guess.
That is a popular adapter among Zwift users, often solves Bluetooth problems. But there are others that are not so good, and it wouldn’t have been a huge shock if you told me that both adapters were BT 4.x in which case I would have suggested buying what you bought. It appears that the Surface Studio 2 all-in-one PC shipped with Bluetooth 4.1 support (the Surface Laptop Studio 2 has Bluetooth 5.3) and in any case going to a Bluetooth 5 adapter like the TP-Link UB500 is a good idea. I’m not sure why it’s unhappy but the most interesting part of your story is that you say the adapter deactivates itself sometimes. You could also check the Windows power plan settings and make sure that the USB selective suspend option is not enabled.
Perhaps you have a reason why you need the headphones paired to the PC but I would test with them not paired. I always pair headphones to my phone instead of the PC.
Thanks Paul for your advices. It was my thinking too, that it would not hurt to update to a Bluetooth 5.4 adapter anyway, so I will go with that one for the future (if I am able to fix the current issues).
When the internal adapter deactivated itself, the entry in the device manager stated that it did so because of an reported error. That’s why I assume, that it was not the power management. To deactivate the power saving deactivation feature for the internal adapter was the first fix I had tried with no success.
The reason to pair the headphones with the PC is simple. I love to hear music while riding but I also want to hear Zwift’s internal sounds. I can only have both combined if I connect the headphones to the PC that runs Zwift and use Spotify on the same PC.
I will run additional diagnostics and tests during the week.
I have tried everything now. I unistalled some of the latest Windows updates. I even tried to repair stuff with cryptic command line commands, not really knowing what I was doing. I switched my Wifi to other channels. No success. The only thing left now seems to reset the entire computer, but somehow I feel that this will not do the job either. So frustrating. I will not be able to lead any groups rides until this is fixed and I can be sure I will not stop midride. Argh!
you could experiment with pairing through the companion app instead?
I agree with the suggestion to try pairing via Companion app.
If you want to reset the computer I would not use the Windows reset process. Instead I would use the Windows media creation tool (or Rufus) to make new media on a USB flash drive and reinstall that way. I have no idea if that would help but it’s not a huge project, just make sure any important data is backed up first.
Isn’t it limited to two devices?
For now I connect the Kickr Bike and the Tickr Fit via ANT+ and use a wired headphone, if the wireless dies. The Click V2 are expandable, if they disconnect.
All this is insane, considering that all worked completely fine until my last ride in June.
no, you are thinking of Apple TV with limitations on bluetooth connections. Not the companion app