Zwift auto switches to ANT+ for Controllable resistance resulting in resistance not working

Bugs and Support
#1

Hi All,

I’ve been using Zwift for a while now with no problems, my laptop connects via Bluetooth to my Elite Direto II instantly, with power, cadence and controllable resistance working well.

I want to start Zwift racing and all races state you need a HR monitor, I have a Garmin HRM Run that only broadcasts via ANT+, so I got a ANT+ dongle for my PC to facilitate this. The HRM connects to zwift easily and reads data fine.

My problem comes when my trainer also wants to use the ANT+ connection despite me selecting a Bluetooth connection for this, typically the power and cadence sensors are happy to stay on Bluetooth, but the controllable resistance switches from Bluetooth to ANT+ connection after about 30 secs or so in-game. When this happens the trainer just provides a constant resistance with no changes.

I can’t find any setting in zwift or for my trainer that would indicate it’s preferred connection type. I have also tried using the companion app as a workaround but despite my phone supporting ANT+ the companion app for android does not.

Anyone know a solution or workaround for this?

Thanks,

George

#2

Not sure why it is switching from Bluetooth, but if you use the ANT+ FE-C connection for controllable trainers it should work fine.

#3

I do not know if this explains what you are seeing, but I found that my ANT+ dongle plugged into a USB extension cable has a slightly longer range than Bluetooth dongle (plugged into the same extension cable). If a BT connection gets dropped, Zwift starts searching for the sensor, I think, using both BT and ANT+ and reconnects to whichever it can find. Either ANT+ connects quicker, or it is stronger, but it tends to win. BTW, I noticed that once when I started a ride on BT, it mystically ended on ANT+, and I did see that my BT connection was lost after connecting while I was on the connection screen and ANT+ popped up as a replacement.

Unless you have a good reason to use BT, there is no downside in connecting all your sensors to ANT+. At least, it works very well for me.

My two cents…

#4

Hmm, you might be right with the ANT+ connection speed / strength, cant say I have ever noticed BT dropouts when just using my laptops inbuilt bluetooth, but maybe zwift prioritises maintaining power and cadence sensing over BT? And when controllable resistance drops out it just maintains it’s existing resistance?

I have ordered a USB extension to place the ANT+ dongle next to the turbo, will see if that works. It’s something I was somewhat avoiding as my setup needs to be packed up after each session, and is one more thing to setup when I am running late for a start time! :rofl: