Always used BTE connection to my pc/laptop/ipad. I purchased a new laptop with the latest edition of windows 11. After the most recent updates the Wahoo Kickr will still connect to my laptop via BTE however it will not actually function. It instantly drops the signal and refuses to work correctly. I troubleshot all BTE interference and shutoff all other devices capabilities with no fix. Nothing prevented this issue from occurring. I even updated all of my device drivers and software. Processor i9-11900H
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 16GB GDDR6. Made sure the laptop setting were not in some weird power saving mode etc. My only work around was connect my devices effortlessly to my iphone and pair via companion.
Sorry to hear about the pairing issues, and I get how that can be a source of frustration.
To my knowledge, if the BLE pairing problems in Zwift occur specifically on Windows 11, then it’s a long standing issue for the last few months. As I understand, it’s something Zwift’s developers are aware of and working to fix, but the current workaround is as you say, use the ZC app (e.g. on your phone) as a BLE bridge to pair or use ANT+ to pair.