My Garmin HR monitor will connect via the app on my android phone (which I then chromecast to my TV) but it then reads as having ‘no signal’ and doesn’t record my data. Any ideas what the issue may be?!
Obvious, but…
Have you moistened the measuring pads on the HR strap?
Is there another App you can try to see if HR is being sent to it?
Hi Colin. Ya. I actually have a special medical electrode gel that I use whenever I put on my HR monitor. It also connects no issue to my Garmin watch and my Garmin Edge bike computer. There’s no issue in the connection. It finds the HR device immediately but then dosent send a signal afterwards. Funny one!
I don’t have a solution to offer, but I sometimes have (used to have) exactly the same experience with my Garmin HRM-Pro and Zwift on my Samsung Android tablet.
I do not get the problem with the same chest strap when used with ANT+ and my PC or laptop.
I guess there is something fishy in the Bluetooth domain, but who to blame - Garmin, Zwift, Android or (in my case) Samsung?
Simple solution for me is not to use Android for Zwift. Zwift on Windows has a few other advantages too.
Coincidentally, today, I wanted to use my Polar HRM connected to an Android phone.
Normally, I had to do this through the app but it wouldn’t work. Went into the device Bluetooth settings screen, paired through that, allowed it full permissions. After that it worked.
This seemed unusual to me as other devices and ecosystems seemed to prefer BLE devices not being paired at the “system” level, but instead directly with the app. Go figure.
TL;DR: try system level pairing on Android, despite the fact this shouldn’t be needed or even work.
Thanks Tim. Yes, I’ll probably have to use Windows on my laptop I guess
Thanks CJ. Good advice also. I’ll try that later
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Welcome to the Zwift Community Forums!
Just a thought, but does the issue still occur if you don’t cast to your TV?
I’ve seen this a few times where the HRM or other devices drop connection when casting, simply because the Phone doesn’t have enough processing power to both run Zwift and cast to a TV if the scale ratio is high enough.
Effectively, your phone is running the display twice, at different resolution scales. If your phone processor isn’t able to keep up, something’s got to give, and a lot of times that ends up being signal strength.
I’m curious to know if this is the case here, if it is, there are a few alternative options.
Strange as it may seem, you may have better luck with a USB to HDMI cable, yes you are still processing both screens, but you aren’t transmitting that data over Wi-Fi which means your phone is consuming less power, and can dedicate that to the processor.
You may also try changing the aspect ratio on your TV to be something a little closer to your phone’s display so your phone isn’t working as hard.
There is, of course, always the option of just using the phone though it isn’t ideal, or using a different device to Zwift on such as a tablet or computer, while using your phone as the companion app for in-game control.
Please keep us informed and let us know how it goes.
Hi Terry,
Thanks for that. All that makes sense. I haven’t had the opportunity yet to try any of them but I will and will let you know how it goes.
Kind Regards,
Bryan