Effort on downhills Saris H3

That is correct if any other app is still paired to the trainer then the trainer won’t be able to be controlled by Zwift.

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I have never had my Saris app open, so my problem seems to be with Saris and Zwift not working well together. I really wish I had known all this before buying Saris, or joining Zwift instead of something else. It doesn’t seem to help that there isn’t a fix to this problem on Zwifts end.

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I have over 600 hours this year on Zwift using a Saris H3 with 0 (Zero) dropouts or issues. I use ANT+ Fe-c on Windows 10.

this sucks, doesn’t it!? I get the same experience.

It seems like every time Zwift updates this is happening to me. Today (December 11th) is yet another one, and I don’t think Zwift even updated.

I have just come to assume I need to re-install Zwift before every race now, otherwise the problem happens.

Any improvement lately? (not for me)

I’ve had my Hammer for close to 3 years now and never had a problem that I couldn’t work out. I also use ANT+Fe-c. I’m guessing it’s just a pairing error. I read about issues with Apple tv and connection issues. I really don’t think it’s the trainer. Don’t quit on it.

Ok, so I tried the suggestion in the other thread (move the ATV closer to the H3) and after two rides of an hour+, no issues. Can’t say that fixed it yet but at least I got two good rides in.

Well, yesterday and today were normal again on the H3 after the one instance on Thursday. Ultimately just re-paired everything and re-calibrated in the Saris app and in Zwift. My Apple TV is relatively close to the H3 too, maybe 6 feet or so?

This is a sample of two so take it for what it’s worth. My setup is Saris H3 that I’ve owned for 21 hr., bluetooth to Apple TV, Garmin 1030 head unit, Companion app on iPhone 11. Everything in all components is the latest version. I set up my H3 last night, updated firmware to latest, full 10 min. warmup, and calibrated with the Saris app (no issues). I connected my 1030 by bluetooth to the H3 and calibrated. Again no problem. I then connected to Apple TV and Zwift to do a test ride. The route was Sand and Sequoias so I could get a good test on flat and hilly terrain. Garmin was operating simultaneously using its Indoor Trainer settings. Resistance was all over the place. The one thing that was consistent was healthy resistance downhill and no resistance uphill. Trainer difficulty setting is max. I read this entire thread and decided to try again this morning and leave the Garmin off so that the only bluetooth connections were trainer to ATV and to Companion on my phone. Trainer performed perfectly. Response to terrain changes was immediate and the amount of resistance I would expect for varying hill slopes. Based on my two rides, I conclude that there is some conflict when two devices (ATV and Garmin 1030) collect the same feed from the H3. I’ll see tomorrow if the same thing happens. Then I’ll see about adding the Garmin back into the system.

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Thanks Gary. Keep us posted.
Just had the issue again today. even noticed it when the terrain changed to cobble section on Innsbruck. I turned off my iPhone and Sonos player taking your suggestion about possible interference. Didn’t seem to fix.

However, I see there was an update, so will reinstall and recalibrate (AGAIN!!) later.

michael

I can confirm the same happens to me: if I connect to the Hammer both Zwift and my Fenix 6x, resistance goes banana.

It doesn’t happen on RGT nor in Rouvy, so I assume it is Zwift causing the issue.

I just found this thread so I will throw my two bits in. I could write a book on what I have gone through this winter trying to get consistent resistance performance. I will save a long narrative on all that and bring it to the bottom line. If you have a dual band (2.4 & 5 Ghz) WIFI router and your pain cave is within 20 FT or so from it this may be the answer to your woes. Through some drill down research it is my understanding that BT and BLE both operate in the 2.4 Ghz frequency band. (Along with a lot of other devices) An article suggested that if you are are having BT/BLE connection and data issues to try turning the 2.4 Ghz radio section of the router off to test if your problem resolves. I did so and BOOM, perfect game and resistance syncing. Several SIM rides over several days confirmed the results. As it turns out I have two devices in our home that have to connect via 2.4 Ghz. So back in the router setup and turned the 2.4 Ghz section back on and changed the channel selection from “Auto” to select channel. I have a TP-Link router and there were 11 channels to choose from. I first tried channel 1 and did a test ride. Within two minutes I had a complete BT dropout, to include HRM. So back into the router setup and changed the channel to 11. Did another test ride, no issues. I have been riding for three weeks now with this setup and have had no issues. All I can say if you are having troubles this is a quick one to try and see if it helps you.
As of this writing this has been tested with both Apple TV and PC running Zwift and A Saris H3 trainer. All current game, OS updates in have been done. On the trainer I have stayed with the .062 firmware.

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I will try it, anyway what I don’t understand is why this happens just with Zwift.

If it is interference, it should happen also with Rouvy or RGT, but the weird thing is that it doesn’t happen with anything else than Zwift.

Maybe Zwift does something totally different and peculiar about how it manages Bluetooth connections ?

Meanwhile I tried also the suggestion provided here:

Did a quick ride with Location Services switched off on my Apple TV and had no BLE nor weird resistances… Will test more extensively tonight, anyway worth a try.

Of course it was an user suggested approach and not something coming from Zwift Support

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Marco: Looking forward to seeing your posts regarding additional ride reports with the iOS Location Services switched OFF.

Marco and Scott,
Here’s an update from me on this situation:
Marco, I checked my Apple TV settings and my location services were off. I don’t recall ever changing this setting so I guess I will assume that it was set as default when I set my system up.
I did a ride yesterday and had some minor issues with resistance latency that I had not seen in last couple weeks since I made the router frequency changes discussed in my original post. After completing the ride I checked and noted Zwift had pushed out a game update since my previous ride. I installed the update and did another test ride. Everything was back to good, no latency or quirky behavior noted.
I swear you guys this like chasing a ghost around!

Apple TV is now version: * Apple TV v 1.0.60474 (December 28, 2020)

Did a race and then some cool down.

Resistance issues disappeared: now if I am climbing, resistance increases and if I am going downhill it decreases.

After about 1 hour I had a BLE drop. Weird thing this time is that also the Apple TV remote disconnected, so I assume it was an Apple TV issue not specific to the H3… If I remember correctly all the other times I got disconnected, it was just the Saris H3 but the remote was still connected…

Will keep testing (and thanks again Zwift support for your extensive support as well).

Marco, have you done the game update yet? I find it interesting that it was pushed out (12/28) for all operating systems and so far there has been no comment from the Zwift team so far on what change/changes it includes…

Zwift staff edited the earlier December update post to add a note about what was in the 28 Dec patch. The answer is - very little.

Update Dec 28th
We’ve just released a small patch for this release to address a few bugs with assets for upcoming events.

Didn’t updated, anyway I assume that if the app was not up to date I wouldn’t be able to join… Am I right ?

Anyway I also changed the access point wi fi channel to 11 after today session tough, so any further test will have also this change impacting.

Not sure tomorrow I will be able to ride, anyway I am combining all the crowdsourced suggestions (Wi-Fi channel to 11, Location Services off and ATV as near as possible to Saris H3) hoping to finally go back to smooth riding, no BLE drops and correct resistances…

By the way as always thanks to Zwift support for the relentless dedication to provide some additional guidance on top of what this outstanding community is trying to do by itself.

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