Bluetooth dropping during ride, won't reconnect without quitting

Using iOS 14.3
Zg most up to date
LS turned off
iPhone with Bluetooth off
Bluetooth heart rate strap used today and yesterday.

1/5 workout no drop
1/6 Dropped AGAIN!

I am experiencing a drop out on 9/10 rides.

Hubby uses same iPad with kickr no issues, never a drop out.

Hey all,

To add to the feedback;

I have now had a further 3x successful rides with no drop.

This is using iPad, LS off and no other Bluetooth device in vicinity (my setup is in garage so easy to isolate).

I have not yet introduced my HRM again or any Bluetooth headphones. Currently pumping out Spotify from the iPad speakers!

I am loathed to try another setup until I either see a Bluetooth update in iOS or ZG.

Will continue to feedback here on success (or not)

Cheers
James

I have been following this thread after a frustrating few weeks of my iPad dropping my trainer (Saris H3) mid ride, after which I would have to completely close and reopen the app for it to reconnect only to drop it again later. I would typically see 1-2 disconnections per hour of riding.

The iPad is connected to my TV via an AV adapter and HDMI cable, and I will have a podcast streaming through my iPhone to a bluetooth speaker, and my Wahoo Element Bolt computer turned on as well to read from my power pedals. I will also have a Wahoo Tickr HR monitor connected to both devices. So there is a lot going on.

I first turned off LS, but experience NO change whatsoever.

This morning however I did NOT pair the HR monitor to the iPad, and only paired it to the Element Bolt so the only thing connected to the iPad via BLE was the trainer. The results were ZERO issues throughout a 75 minute ride. This makes me think that maybe the iPad gets overwhelmed with more than one device connected at one time. Will try again tomorrow and ride a bit longer.

Best of luck,

Tyler

Could be: I noticed the same as well.

The weird thing is that I don’t have the same problem with Rouvy or RGT, so it seems that this is a problem specific to Zwift + Saris + iOS…

So, I rode for 2 hours this morning with the same setup and had 5 dropouts total.

BUT, there was an update to Zwift that I installed last night without thinking about it. Considering that this was hands down the worst ride I have ever had for dropouts, and the only variable that changed was that I updated Zwift, I am leaning towards this being a software issue (aka Zwift, Saris, iOS, etc.)

I used to use my windows laptop and never had an issue in almost a year, so the logical thing to do would be to go back to using that instead. But now that I have a TV to use I would have to buy a USB to HDMI cable, and I don’t want to. It seems ridiculous that the consumers have to spend more and more of their money just for a paid service to work properly.

After the latest zwift update, I was having a crash almost every ride, even using the CABLE ANT+ bridge I referred to earlier. I had a strong suspicion that a lot of the problem was on the Apple iOS side with changes to bluetooth introduced in 14.2. and coupled with zwift not handling the interfaces well, especially with error recovery.

So I found a way to roll back the iOS version on the apple TV (generation 4 version). I was able to downgrade to a version from mid-summer 2020. I have been stable so far and have not needed the CABLE Ant+ bridge workaround I outlined earlier as I am able to use direct bluetooth connection without errors. Nothing else changed in my configuration or environment so this strongly suggests the tvOS updates in 14.2 are an error source. I am hopeful this improves things on an ongoing basis. I am passing this along in case any other Apple TV users want to try.

I can’t post sites but if you see below you should find your way to a page with the instructions and links. (The steps are pretty simple - download the file, run itunes on Windows 10, connect the Apple TV and choose restore. NOTE the need for holding down shift when you choose the restore button option to allow you to pick the downloaded file or it will auto select the latest version without any way to back out)

Google “downgrade-tvos-beta-3678514” and you will find a link to a Macworld UK site. That page has a link to a repository of signed versions of the tvOS. I used tvOS 13.4.8 (17M61) which was from July 2020 the last version before 14 came out. It takes about 5 minutes to load the OS to the Apple TV.

Good luck because this is has all very frustrating.

Quick update, the problem is starting to look like an issue with either the Zwift app specific to iOS (iPad), and/or the iPad’s themselves.

The last 2 days I went back to using my MacBook Air (new last fall) and rode both days for 1:45. The first day it worked 100%, though right at the very end of the ride it did lose the trainer and HRM for a split second but immediately reconnected on its own and continued on without issue. Today, no issues of any sort.

The iPads and MacBooks have different operating systems, and therefore different forms of the Zwift app which is leading my to think that the problem is specific to either the iPad’s, the iOS form of Zwift, or a combination of both.

Tyler

Well after a run of 6 or so workouts, meet-ups and rides I finally got some more dropouts with the single Bluetooth connection between iPad and H3.

2 within an hour, really annoying.

Had been holding off updating app and iPad But see no reason not to now in the vain hope that it does something.

Not sure what to do now, doesn’t appear to be a fix or acknowledgement of an issue on Zwift side? If it wasn’t for my friends on it I would bin the service and just go elsewhere as it is I feel a bit stuck. Will give it another few weeks and then maybe time to eBay the Saris and get a Wahoo? With the larger user base of Wahoo I wonder if such issues are recognised and resolved in a more timely manner?

holy MOLY i’ve had this since about October / November too. I’ve raised 2x tickets with Zwift who didnt have a clue. Apple said no idea. Sairs didnt reply.

I’m here to add a +1 to this:

SARIS H3
APPLE TV
POLAR H9 HRM

^^ all working totally fine until Oct / Nov

SYMPTOMS:

  1. screen freezes for a few frames
  2. in order
    a) message top right “remote disconnected” then immediately after “remote connected”
    b) Zwift shows power to be “–” (greyed out, nothing)
    c) Zwift shows heart rate as 0
  3. pack flies off into distance, I start swearing
  4. go to pair screen, the power & cadence figures stays STUCK on the last recieved data and then a few seconds later goes to “NO SIGNAL” but shows still connected.

REMEDY?
10% of time I can fix it and not have to quit. but generally 90% of the time my whole ride / effort / race / workout / meetup has to be abandoned

ZWIFT MY CLUB ARE CALLING ME DROPOUT BRAD, PLEASE TAKE NOTICE AND HELP US. IT SUCKS WE CANT SEE LOG FILES ON APPLE TV :frowning:

Thanks everyone, I too have had many problems the last month.
My rider just slows and stops, sometimes I can hop off the trainer disconnect and reconnect the power and it starts working again without losing too much time but for a race I am toast.
I use a Saris H3, 1 year old IPAD, and new iphone xs on bike for zwift companion.
I thought maybe it was the blue tooth wireless ear phones but everything worked all year until about a month ago. I plan to not use those and try the old plug in to phone style with cable for music next ride to see if it helps the drop outs.
I have the latest trainer firmware upgraded last week and the latest ZWIFT and companion versions.
I will continue to check this thread, Thanks.
This reply is in 2 different threads so I can keep checking for a solution or upgrade by Apple or Zwift or Saris.

Hi guys, thank you for being so active on this topic.

I purchased a Saris H3 in late November, and in no time, I started having BT issues.

My setup is:

  • Saris H3
  • Ipad 14.2 now 14.3 with ZG, and BT connection to Polar H9
  • iPhone with 14.2 now 14.3 with ZC and BT to speakers
  • Garmin 530 connected to Polar H9 via Ant+ and Garmin Vector pedals

As most of you know by now, the above was a recipe for disaster, so after reading all your comments and closely following all of Scott’s recommendations, I have successfully ridden twice with no issues what so ever. What have I done:

  1. Disconnect the location on the Ipad
  2. Disconnect the BT on my phone

As a result, I have to listen to podcast music on my phone, but that can be solved with a Sonos speaker (I have a couple I can use). All in all, I think that pt. 2 is the key here, not so much the location, but I will collect more data in the coming days.

Again, thank you all for your guidance and support. These threads reinforce my view that there is more on the internet than trolls and hate.

Best,
Guillermo

I’m a newbie. I have a Saris M2. I have an iPad and an iPhone using iOS 14.3 and a Polar heart monitor with BT. In the middle of a ride, my avatar stops and pulls over to the side of the road. The time stops and my speed, cadence, watts, and pulse go to zero. I don’t think I died. If I can get there, the app indicates I have connections to the sensors but no signal. Twice, I’ve been able to get them restarted (don’t ask me how) but I usually have to end the ride and start another. I contacted support and was told I had too many devices connected. My latest attempt to ride, I didn’t use the heart rate monitor and left my iPhone in airplane mode with BT turned off and still got dropped. My next attempt will be to try to turn off the keyboard to the iPad with BT connection.

Quick update. Since rolling back the apple TV version (see earlier post), I have now completed 7 activities of between 1 and 2 hours and not a single drop out. This includes group rides without any issues.

I have recently been having the same troubles. My specs:

  • Apple TV
  • Tacx Flux 2 (me)
  • Tacx Flux S (wife)
  • Galaxy S8 for Companion App

My setup has been working great for the past 8 months since I got onto Zwift. Now, all of a sudden, and seemingly too close to be considered coincidence, I have experienced bluetooth connection loss on regular rides, training plans, and TDZ rides ever since TDZ came out.

On my rides and training plans I am usually able to go into the pair menu, remove the trainer, re-add, and in 15 seconds I am pedaling again. However, TDZ Stage 3 today, La Reigne, 1.5 hours - 20km - 900m in, and my trainer drops, as it has been doing at least once every ride for the past week or so. I go into pair and no matter what I do I get No Signal. Absolutely nothing in my setup has changed.

  • I try to hop on my wife’s Tacx Flux S just to pound out the last 300m climb. As soon as I select her trainer, No Signal as well.
  • I unplug both our trainers and plug mine back in. It sees my trainer again. I select it. No Signal. My HRM is fine though.
  • I load up my Tacx Utility App - it immediately sees my trainer is on and active. I connect and give the pedal a small spin and it detects speed and cadence. I close the app and force shut it down as I always do to ensure it is not running in the background creating cross-connectivity issues.
  • I do an internet speed test. 100+Mbps d/l ; 11+Mbps u/l - all good.

So, internet - check, trainers showing up and connecting to other apps (Tacx Utility) - check, both trainers showing as No Signal as I attempt to repair during this ride. I can only determine that the point of fault is the Apple TV as it is highly unlikely both trainers would coincidentally have the same problem.

I reluctantly end my ride, unable to complete La Reigne for the badge and also unable to complete TDZ Stage 3. Needless to say I was fuming. I close out the program, reopen, and all of a sudden my trainer connects just fine and ready to ride.

Afterwards I go to the App store on my Apple TV just to have a look at the Zwift App and I see there is an update available. I found that odd as I find it always updates on its own. I do the update and have not ridden since.

So…

  • Anyone have similar issues as of late (i.e. around when TDZ started)?
  • Anyone know if this random update you have to install yourself fixes the problem?
  • Anyone know where I can go to look at these updates and see the dev logs for what they are actually updating?

Thanks for any help. My last week of riding has been extremely frustrating with at least one drop per ride. All I get from Zwift so far is the generic “maybe you have too many BLE devices in the area” response. I wrote them an email with this same info and am hoping to hear back soon…

Cheers,

Joe

Hi, new here. I have been having these issues also.
Saris H3, iPad Air2 or iPad Mini4 (whichever is free at the time), bluetooth HR strap, iPhone SE for ZC and chatting on Discord to club mates with Bluetooth earphones.
I am the laughing stock of my club for all the times I drop out of rides due to this Bluetooth issue. It’s really not funny anymore.
I bought my Saris H3 just before the iOS update that seemed to be the trigger for this problem. Because I’d only had the trainer a short while I didn’t associate this fact until reading this thread.
First off I thought it could be that my WiFi wasn’t great down in the garage, only getting about 20mbps, so I tried various different ways to improve it. It didn’t help. Even though I knew it was Bluetooth dropping out I persevered with getting a better WiFi connection, until I’m now getting 50mbps, and no Bluetooth dropouts - for a week until last night😡.
So, since November I’ve been using the exact same set up with either iPad, with ZC on, sometimes off, chatting on Discord, sometimes not on Discord, sometimes accidentally leaving my Fitbit on (Bluetooth to phone), sometimes with a fan on, sometimes with it off. I can be riding with just the trainer on, or riding with all of the above on and I can get this issue, or not get it. The dropouts are completely and utterly random and have no pattern whatsoever.
My question is, how do we resolve this? No one has had a decent reply back from Zwift, so how do we move forward?

Utterly frustrated,
Steve

So far, it seems that who solved it, did it by removing one of the variables out of the equation.

People replaced iOS devices with PCs with ANT+ and were successful in getting a more reliable Zwift experience.

Others replaced Zwift, as other apps don’t suffer the same Bluetooth instability with a Saris H3 trainer.

Others are patiently awaiting, crossing fingers at any iOS or Zwift or H3 firmware update (I am among those, while using other apps for races etc).

I’ve just started having these issues today. After nearly a year of flawless connectivity my SARIS H3 and ipad pro + iphone 6 (companion) I got two compete bluetooth disconnects (inc TickR HRM and 4iii crank PM I use for cadence). No Signal message for all of it. Couldn’t reconnect until I force quit zwift and restarted.

I’ve posted in this thread before. I decided to “roll back” the apple TV system to the one mentioned above in the thread. done 4hr riding with no issues now. I have turned off Apple TV auto updates to ensure it stays on this version

In order to get Zwift attention on this issue, how about synchronizing everybody that has been experiencing this issue (I have) and open support tickets with the same title and error report?

One would think that an unusual large number of support tickets linked to the same issue and opened simultaneously or within a short period of time would give a hint to Zwift that there’s a widespread problem.

I’m happy to raise a ticket, it’s getting incredibly frustrating now.

Where do we go to raise support tickets? I have had a quick browse around and there is nothing obvious on the website?