Bluetooth module crashes when connecting hardware in Zwift (Windows 11 25H2)

Bugs and Support
1

For the past two to three weeks I’ve intermittently run into an issue where my Bluetooth module crashes when Zwift tries to connect to my paired devices. The only fix is a full power cycle of the PC (shutdown, unplug, wait, then restart) — a normal restart alone doesn’t bring Bluetooth back.

System:

  • Windows 11, version 25H2
  • Zwift: always kept on the latest version
  • Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 Gaming X AX DDR4 (onboard Realtek RTL8852AE combo module — Wi-Fi over PCIe, Bluetooth over an internal USB connection)

Devices:

  • Trainer: connected via Wi-Fi
  • Zwift Click v2: Bluetooth
  • HRM: Wahoo (older model), Bluetooth

Details:

  • I can’t say for certain whether this started after a specific Zwift update or a Windows update — I have no reliable way to check that on my end.
  • I’m not able to reproduce it 100% reliably, but as far as I can tell, it tends to happen on the second launch of Zwift if there hasn’t been a full PC restart in between. I’m not fully certain about this pattern though.
  • This has so far only happened in connection with Zwift. I can connect/disconnect other Bluetooth peripherals (mouse, headphones) repeatedly without any issue, and MyWhoosh runs without any Bluetooth problems at all.

Has anyone else seen something similar, ideally with the same Realtek RTL8852AE chipset or a similarly combined Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module? Happy to provide log files or more details if that helps track this down.

2

I have not heard of any other reports like this. Personally I would be checking the Windows patch level and experiment with alternate Bluetooth drivers. I would also pick up a USB Bluetooth dongle like the TP-Link UB500 (known to be good, also uses a RealTek chipset of some kind). I have also heard several reports that the newer UB600 works well, though I have not tested it and I don’t think any of your devices can use Bluetooth 6.x protocol. Having the dongle should give you a reliable way to ride (or if you get a crash when using the dongle, that would help rule out a problem with your current adapter).

I also note that Microsoft made major changes to Bluetooth support in the last major patch release, but that was only released this week so it probably doesn’t match your timeline.