Frequent ANT dropouts since June

Hello,
I have a Windows desktop with a wired internet connection that runs Zwift and recently (since June 2023) I’ve been having many complete ANT dropouts (all devices disconnected simultaneously without an ability to reconnect)

  • Dropouts are just in Zwift
  • Dropouts are not every ride (every ~3rd) or the same time of day
  • Dropouts are for all devices
  • Dropouts require me to restart the game
  • ANT+ connectivity continues on Garmin
  • I use a TacX dongle sitting under my front wheel
  • my USB ports are capable of d0 (though no dongle actually pulls more than 100mA)
  • I’ve eliminated as much interference as possible including trying different wifi channels.

I’ve run zwiftalizer with an Rx fail of about ~5% (don’t seem to be allowed to post links)

Any thoughts on what else I can do/try to fix this issue?

5% Rx fail is not significant. That should not cause a problem.

Does your ANT+ device support Bluetooth? If so I would try that for comparison.

Thanks for the suggestion Paul, I’ll give that a try. Of note when my dropout occurs, ALL devices including Bluetooth are gone from Zwift until i restart the game.

Sounds similar to an issue i had many years. For me if somebody turned on a light in the garage whilst i was riding it killed my Ant+ connection.

Basically it badly affected the usb ports of my desktop.

I solved it by fitting a pci usb card into the desktop. These reacted currently to how the internals worked.

Is worth a try, they only cost a few pounds or dollars or euros etc…

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If your devices support Bluetooth and you can live without ANT+, try pairing via the Companion app. That will eliminate any issues with Bluetooth or ANT+ support (dongles, USB ports, or drivers) in the PC. The fact that you lose both Bluetooth and ANT+ at the same time makes me think it’s something about the PC hardware. What are the specs for the PC?