WiFi interference - help!

redvision

My coach has me doing a very specific training block which still has a couple of weeks to go, and has involved a fair bit of indoor workouts.

My direto had performed admirably until the last couple of sessions when the signal started to drop and drove me absolutely nuts.

Finally this morning I took it away from the house and set up in a mates garage and experienced no such issues. Set it up again when i got home and immediately signal drops. Tried it in several rooms but same issue in all. So it has to be interference with the signal in the house.

Any tips on how to solve this?

I have the ant+ extension cable which is set up right by the trainer. When set up i make sure there is no other wireless device in the room apart from my tablet/laptop. Have also tried changing the router channels (this is in the living room) and tried the Shane Miller tips but nothing seems to work.

Should also mention this has literally only started from mid week, before that it was problem free.

Would appreciate any help and suggestions.

Thanks

jgsi

Just to clarify, the Diretto has wifi?
Or is the problem the ANT+ signal?

whyamihere

If it's only just started happening, then something has changed, and it may not be in your control. Maybe the neighbours have got a new router, or changed its position (this obviously assumes that you have close neighbours). You can get WiFi analysis apps for your phone. Get one of those, and work out how the signal strength is changing - If it gets stronger moving away from your router, then it's external. Either way, it will allow you to work out where the interference is coming from, assuming it is WiFi.

If it is this, then you could consider building a Faraday cage type device around the trainer and ANT+ stick, or find the source and ask nicely if it can be changed.

redvision

Thanks for the replies.

JGSI wrote:

Just to clarify, the Diretto has wifi?
Or is the problem the ANT+ signal?

No, I'm using ant+ but I think the signal is dropping due to WiFi interference (apparently this is the most common cause of signal drops on smart trainers).

whyamihere wrote:

If it's only just started happening, then something has changed, and it may not be in your control. Maybe the neighbours have got a new router

I did think about this and it may be contributing. However, the neighbours were actually away when this issue started, so that's why I'm thinking it has to be something in the house. Just cannot figure out what :evil:

jgsi

Ok, ANT+ usually is pretty bombproof. So, this is one reason to setup a freebie Zwift account for diagnostics.

The Zwift log analyzer is a super tool for finding what nasty piece of equipment is letting you down.

Get a 7 day freepass and ride for 30 minutes on Zwift
https://zwiftalizer.com/

Whenever I used a Stages pm to my laptop with ant+ dongle it dropped signals like a sparrow on figs.
No other PM or device caused as much hassle.

sungod

could be a leaky microwave oven, other rf noise source, too many nearby wireless devices on the same channel, your wireless router developed a fault etc.

download a wifi scanner app to smartphone, check which channels are the quietest, set the wireless router to the centre channel in the quietest range - for 2.4 gig wifi this usually means choosing channel 1, 6, or 11, as there's a lot of overlap between adjacent channels, if the thing supports 5gig use that instead as that band is generally quiter

worst case, fit an extra access point or use a wifi range extender

StillGoing

I'm with BT who have notoriously bad WiFi. After numerous fob offs by them, I ended up hard wiring the house and garage with ethernet cabling plugged directly into the router. No problems now.

redvision

Thanks for all the replies.

philthy3 wrote:

I'm with BT who have notoriously bad WiFi. After numerous fob offs by them, I ended up hard wiring the house and garage with ethernet cabling plugged directly into the router. No problems now.

I'm also with bt so I wonder if the router is part of the cause.

Ethernet cabling the place might be worth a shot, although I read this morning on a zwift forum that the BT router is notorious for causing wireless interference with other devices (smart trainers).
So do you think replacing the router for a better one (non BT) would make a difference?

Thanks again for all the responses.

redvision

Quick update.
Played about with the devices in the house yesterday evening, turning each one off and on, and i think i have found the culprit. It was the sky box! Nothing else was making a difference but when I unplugged the sky box there were no signal drops at all.

As far as I can see there were no updates to the digibox last week, and it's connected by ethernet not WiFi, so I'm stumped why it would start causing interference suddenly. But I'm fairly certain it is.

Anyway, hopefully this has finally solved it.

Thanks for all the help.

StillGoing

redvision wrote:

Quick update.
Played about with the devices in the house yesterday evening, turning each one off and on, and i think i have found the culprit. It was the sky box! Nothing else was making a difference but when I unplugged the sky box there were no signal drops at all.

As far as I can see there were no updates to the digibox last week, and it's connected by ethernet not WiFi, so I'm stumped why it would start causing interference suddenly. But I'm fairly certain it is.

Anyway, hopefully this has finally solved it.

Thanks for all the help.

I've got the BT Infinity router with fibre optics. I've run one line to an 8 port ethernet switch in the garage. On the router itself, I've the Sky Q mini box, a Hive heater control, DVD and the ethernet switch.

From the ethernet switch, I've one line going to a Netgear router in the garage that the PC used for the tubro, Apple TV and iPad (if used) are plugged into. The Netgear router also boosts the WiFi signal in the garage. Other lines go up to the study connected to an iMac, Apple airport extreme, printer and the Sky Q main box. The Apple airport gives the option to connect more devices if needed and also boosts the Wifi signal upstairs in the house.

Fair to say, I don't suffer with signal dropouts anymore and internet checks are always returning around 72mbps.