Bluetooth dropping during ride, won't reconnect without quitting

Bugs and Support
221

Hi Jean-Sebastien,

I’ve been having this same problem for approximately 10 days now. The very strange thing is that before that, everything ran smoothly for more than a year…
If I remember well, it all began when I updated my iPad 6 to iOS 14.3. The latest version of ZWIFT didn’t solve anything. Updating the firmware of my H3 didn’t either. Today, I tried with my iPhone and it worked (but not yesterday) I really don’t get it!

I got in touch with Saris via Facebook and they recommended to email support@saris.com. That was 3 days ago and still no answer…

222

Well I hadn’t had any drops after the latest Apple update on my iPhone (14.4), and so I had held off emailing Saris. Though yesterday out of the blue I got a disconnect again, and this time I had to power cycle the H3 for it to come back (LED was off on it)!

And so I just sent a support request to Saris, the CEO and President. I am copy/pasting the email I sent, in case this can make it easier for others to report this issue.

To: support at sarisdot com,cfortune at sarisdot com,jfrehner at sarisdot com
Subject: Saris H3 permanently disconnects from Zwift mid session, until Zwift is restarted

"Dear Saris support:

My Saris H3 permanently disconnects from Zwift mid session, until Zwift is restarted.

I am using a Saris H3 with the following configuration:

Name: Hammer 46800
Serial #: xxx
ANT ID: xxx
BDA: xxx
Firmware version: 31.063
PnP Id: xxx
*Software version: 37.013 | 009b | 0001 (reported up to date as of 21/01/29) *
*With Zwift version: 1.0.61590 ( as of 21/01/29 ) *
Hardware platform: iPhone XR iOS 14.4 / iPhone SE - Happens on both platforms
At some point during the work out, Zwift will lose control of the Saris H3, which requires shutting down the Zwift application and restarting it. When the connection dropped during yesterday’s work out I had to power cycle the Saris H3, which is a first. Typically power cycling Zwift would be sufficient.

This issue has been reported for months on the Zwift forums, and seems to be specific to the usage of the Saris H3 with Apple products and Zwift. Please see below:

<removed link to this post since these forums don’t seem to allow links ???>

*If this is an issue with Zwift, then please Saris help us identify it. If this is an issue with the H3, then please Saris fix it. At this time I would not recommend the H3 for use with Zwift. *

Regards,
JS"

After sending this email I received within 3 minutes what appears to be an automated reply stating:

" Thank you for contacting Saris. Your inquiry (xxx) is important to us and we will connect with you as quickly as we can.

As our Saris team adapts to the changing global environment due to COVID-19, as well as increased product demand, we wanted to share what you can expect from our customer support team at this time.

Our incredible support team is still available to assist with requests remotely. Due to an unprecedented number of requests, you may experience a delay in response. Please know our team is working hard to respond to all requests as quickly as possible. To help expedite the process we’ve closed our phone line to better serve our customers. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.

We have a large library of resources available in our
For replacement parts, you can find them at Sarisdot com
Questions about bike trainer compatibility, check out Bike Trainers 101
Needing information bike rack fit, you can find our fit guide here

If you are a bicycle dealer or retail partner’s, please reach out to sales at sarisdot com
For international retailers and distributors please reach out to internationalsales at sarisdot com

If you have additional information to add to your inquiry, please reply to this email."

It is interesting that they characterize themselves as an " incredible support team", I thought this would only be an assessment that us, the users of their products and support service would be entitled to make… Regardless, hopefully I get a satisfactory response to this request in a timely manner, and in a way that can fix this issue. Only at this time will I believe that the team at Saris provides incredible support.

Regards,
JS

1 Like
223

I spoke too soon. Had a BT dropout during my second workout with 14.4. Lost all BT devices at once, including Garmin HRM.

224

Same … thought I was all set did a 100 mile ride this morning and about 1hour 30 min into the ride the typical Bluetooth dropout happened :joy:. I did have companion application running on my iphone so I quit out of that and continued with my ride which was 5 hours no drops after that, I originally disabled my iphone Bluetooth so wondering if companion app had something to do with the dropout? No idea :man_shrugging: at this point but was glad to get my 100 mile ride in

225

I’ve got the same issue and have ever since Oct…ish?
I have tried every configuration with Apple TV 4K or iPhone xs.
It is nearing witchcraft superstition at this point: ATV on first then iphone but no bluetooth with the other ATV in the house unplugged and no fluorescent lights in the garage after booting up ATV…
It doesn’t matter. It always fails with one exception: Iphone connected to the internet with an ethernet cord and that Belkin converter. I then use screen mirroring for the ATV…which at this point is just a big expensive HDMI cable. No WIFI.
I hope someone fixes this…whoever it is. I can’t afford a new trainer and Apple seems too consumed with their contact tracing bluetooth whatever that broke this thing.
If you can, buy the convertor, it actually works…ethernet to lightning Belkin on Amazon.

226

Hey Bill, I still get some random disconnects, anyway I have not really been that active on Zwift in the last few weeks…

227

Sounds like it’s tolerable. I moved closer to the Apple TV and it’s much better now. Thanks for your feedback, Bill

1 Like
228

I had a full BT disconnect again yesterday, 35min in a Tour de Zwift ride. So this is still a problem.
-Running the latest Zwift version (591) and iPadOS 14.4.
-Saris H3 as controllable, latest firmware.
-Stages powermeter as power and cadence source.
-Companion app not running, at least not actively. I did use it to sign up for the ride shortly before.

I had a look at the log file of the activity and here’s the part where the disconnect happened. Parts in bold look interesting to me as a software developer.

[20:36:39] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:41] NETCLIENT:[INFO] Auxiliary Controller attempting to connect to phone at: 192.168.1.101:21587
[20:36:41] NETCLIENT:[INFO] Auxiliary Controller failed to connect to socket: ‘Connection refused’ (61)
[20:36:41] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:41] FPS 29, -64344, 17885, 22611
[20:36:41] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:42] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:42] BLE : CoreBluetooth BLE hardware is powered on and ready
[20:36:42] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:43] [FTMS] SIM (1.6)
[20:36:44] Starting critical power curve search job (77279069) mTimeStamp = 2314.47754 m_lastSearchTime = 2314.47754 calculating=false
[20:36:49] FPS 27, -65464, 18011, 21513
[20:36:52] PairingScreen CTOR
[20:36:52] …PreferNativeBLE
[20:36:52] BLE : Starting Native BLE search
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice.mm: BLE is Powered on
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral “Stages 3511” with RSSI value of -71
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral attempting to AUTO connect to Stages 3511
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral “Stages 3511” with RSSI value of -74
[20:36:52] bleDevice - Stages 3511 is Connecting.
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral “Stages 38233” with RSSI value of -75
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral attempting to AUTO connect to Stages 38233
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral “Stages 38233” with RSSI value of -75
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral attempting to AUTO connect to Stages 38233
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral “Hammer 29808” with RSSI value of -60
[20:36:52] BLE : bleDevice - didDiscoverPeripheral attempting to AUTO connect to Hammer 29808

229

Exactly the same here. Never had an issue with BT ‘no signal’ before the New Year. Now it’s every other ride.

230

Second follow up -

Since I rolled back the Apple TV IOS as explained in my earlier post I have had no drop outs at all. This is now almost a month of stable runs and rides with more than 30 activities and not one dropout. I have the latest H3 firmware, and Zwift software, but with the rolled back IOS. I have no issues using bluetooth headphones, or other devices while Zwifting. It also doesn’t matter where I position the apple TV relative to the trainer - I have stable connection and will not be updating the IOS.

I am pretty sure all three products have poor communication handling, but it sure looks like the main failure point is the Apple IOS bluetooth code changes starting at version 14.2.

Good luck to all.

231

Almost 5 business days since I logged in a support request - no reply.

This is poor from Saris.

232

Update to my comment 22 Jan:- ‘I’ve had the Saris 3 now for two weeks and experienced these drop outs in Zwift using iThings on the latest iOS. Switched to Android on Huawei P30 Pro and happy days again. No drop outs using iThings on BKool nor did I have with my old trainer, Elite Muin.’

I have now parked the Saris and reverted back to the Elite Muin for now as this exact same issue also happens on BKool as well using either iPad, iPhone or Android mobile phone. Also get erratic cadence read out and increasing resistance on descent of 7 - 9% in the BKool app! Also note the 3+ second reaction to changes in assent/descent. Poor. Have noted the occasional cadence issue with Zwith. No other BTooth devices connected or in my outside gym. IMHO the issue is with the Saris. Will try it out on Rouvy and post results.

233

Has anybody tried calling them? I’m in Canada and I am not sure their number would apply charges on my cell phone. I spent 10min on hold and gave up.

Would anybody local or in the US be able to call them ?

234

Jean-Sebastien:

Wouldn’t waste time calling Saris. Their customer service is the pits, which is being recognized on various forums including the cycling blogs and the US Better Business Bureau (google that). Candidly, it’s not 100% their fault (Apple and Zwift started the dominoes falling), but to ghost thousands of customers who paid a fair bit of coin for Saris trainers is reprehensible. It takes a lifetime to build brand equity, but only a few minutes to destroy it.

The only reply will be the robo-response that you have already received citing Covid issues. Convenient excuse, but deal with it. I shared Saris’ pathetic response with the employees of two of our companies, who have been instrumental to the record fast development of Covid vaccines and tests, and have been working 24/7 since Jan-2020 with no whining. Also shared the Saris response with my Trauma surgeon daughter, who has been infected twice with the virus in the last year. And yet she and her colleagues find a way to show up and patch up patients without interruption.

You can imagine their reactions. Doubt any of them will be Saris customers.

I fault Zwift as well. They know that Apple’s changes to BLE beginning with iOS14.2 are causing connection stability problems, but they have made no code improvements to solve the problem in over 3 months.

FWIW, my son recently bought a Wahoo KickR Core, and has experienced similar BLE problems while using the Wahoo app. Apple made a BLE mess, but the cycling trainer industry has been uniformly inadequate in its response.

235

I understand you are angry, but why do you think the cycling trainer industry should respond the mess made by Apple? If it is an Apple issue only Apple has to solve it.

236

The issue is only showing up on the Saris H3 though, seemingly. My guess (which of course could be way off) is that the H3 is doing slightly something outside of the BT spec which it got away with in the past, but when Apple tightened up their BT implementation it meant the Saris connection became unstable.

1 Like
237

Hi all, haven’t had the chance to read this whole thread (yet) BUT… I’m now getting dropouts on my iPad yet again (running iOS 14.4) with my Tacx Neo 2T after the previous iOS Zwift fix worked for all of a week. Oddly though, I can run my set up fine with my iPhone 11 Pro Max also running iOS 14.4. Really disappointing to begin this situation again! Realise that many of the posts I’ve read relate to the H3 but certainly other hardware is also affected.

238

Went two days without dropping and decided to stick with using the Apple TV for today’s Dadurday Chase race. Buried myself to keep with the pack and the dreaded dropout happened halfway in. Good thing my kids were still sleeping or they would have been scarred forever watching me lose my sh**.
I have had it. F*#* you Apple/Saris. back to using my iPhone and having an overpriced screen projector with the Apple TV.
Every device/app was updated.

1 Like
239

Saris seems to be active on their Youtube channel on the H3 quickstart video, they’ve been consistently replying to comments. They did reply to my comment when I wrote that I wouldn’t recommend the H3 for use with Zwift.
I hate to say this, though since they haven’t been replying through their support one has to find a better way to get their attention on the issue: at this time, you are better off commenting on their H3 Quickstart video on YouTube. They seem to see incoming messages, and they seem to at least provide answers that are not an automatic reply like the one you get through their support email.

I’d encourage you to post on their YouTube channel if you’d want to bring more awareness to the issue.

2 Likes
240

Thanks I’ll do that now! Wish I had known about this before!!! :grimacing: