R50 + GSPro -> Frequent Disconnects

(I'm starting a new thread for this issue. There's some discussion of it in a putting thread but it deserves it's own thread.)

A number of us are having issues while using the connector for the R50 and GSPro. We'll start a round and it will drop the connection after a variable number of shots. It can be reconnected by restarting the GSPro connection on the R50 but this takes a while and it may just drop the connection again.

I've played many rounds like this and invariably the R50 drops the connection at least a couple of times during the round.

Nobody has diagnosed what could be causing the issue. 

It would be great if we could hard-wire the R50 to the computer for the GSPro connection.

Hopefully Garmin will be able to fix this in a future update. Right now, this seriously hampers the playing experience.

  • I am disconnecting/re-connecting wifi before going into GSPRO to play and I have not had any disconnect issues the last few days.  I will try this with Awesome Golf next to see if it resolves the disconnect issues I have been having in there.  Thanks again for the tip.  Its unfortunate we have to do that to get 3rd party apps to work but I can deal with it 

  • Hello,

    I recently got my R50 setup and was wondering if anyone was still having issues? I’ve only played one round without any disconnects within the last week. I’ve read everything on the forums but still seem to have issues almost everyday. 

  • When you start the R50 disconnect from wifi then reconnect.

    on your home computer make sure it is only connected to R50 hot spot and not home wifi plus R50 hot spot or make sure your home computer is not set to connect automatically.

    Also check the strength of R50 wifi.

  • My R50 is completely unusable as a sim LM beyond a couple shots to start a round. Disconnects during ball placement and I've tried everything listed here. What is the GD solution? I am beyond frustrated.

  • My R50 is essentially unusable as a sim LM. Just built a $12k sim in my home and using GSPro, it constantly disconnects and I cannot recover the connection. I have tried connecting the PC to the R50 and dropping the home wifi, I've tried connecting to home wifi and using R50 that route, same issue. I am beyond frustrated and on the verge of requesting a return/refund.

  • GSPro seems to be connecting to the R50, but the red light on the R50 that indicates it's looking for a ball never turns on. I can see the data fields populate on the R50 screen, but it will not detect a ball. I need someone from Garmin to contact me ASAP.

  • You must leave a certain window open on your PC for GS Pro to allow the shot ready indicator to work and be ready for shots to be captured. 

    The PC must be connected to the R50 and the R50 must be hot spotting a stable wireless connection to the home network. 

    If you need support please contact Garmin Support to speak to a golf specialist to help determine what else may be causing your concern. 

    Please note you have three products working together and not just the R50 holding everything together...the network must be stable and signal strong where your setup is located...the PC connection and program requirements must be loaded per GSPro recommendations, and the GSPro connector will show ready with both windows for the GSPro PC program for the software and the device connection window. 

  • Doesn’t sound like it is dropping wifi or else the R50 would show that it’s disconnected. To me the two are not shaking hands. Could be that GSPro might not be updated which will cause the R50 to think GSPro is not ready for a shot. R50 knows it’s connected but isn’t sure what to do.

    not 100% sure but I went through this same thing at first. I contacted GSPro and mine wasn’t updating. GSPro wouldn’t say ready and I would just get the red light. Then it was intermittent at times until the update. If your PC doesn’t meet the GSPro requirements it also causes some type of lag which might confuse the R50.

  • Cody, I appreciate the reply. I'm aware that the connector window needs to remain open. The issue is that after a couple of shots while either playing a course or hitting the range, the R50 will freeze during ball detection and the red light will turn off. The R50 will stop trying to detect a ball and the R50 screen is typically frozen with the hitting zone grid overlay. There is seemingly no way to get it back. At that point, I've tried ending the session on the GSPro connector app, which sends the endSession message to the R50, and the R50 will acknowledge that message and end the session. So this tells me the two devices are still communicating with each other. It's the keepAlive message that seems to fail.

    I've also tried both connection methods, one being the recommended way with connecting the PC to the R50 hotspot and using the home network via the R50. The other being connecting both the R50 and PC to the home network and having them communicate that way. Interestingly, I found that the latter method was more stable despite GSPro's guidance.

    Since I originally posted my comment, I see that GSPro released a new version and the release notes indicate that numerous Garmin bugs were fixed. I updated when prompted.

    I also factory reset the R50. I will update this thread once I've had an opportunity to test the new updates and configuration. I also plan to install a wifi extender for the space just to rule that element out. Physically, the R50 and the home router are less than 20ft apart, but there's some metal cabinetry and concrete between them that might be causing some interference. As someone very comfortable with tech and smart devices in the home, I don't think these should be an issue given the proximity of the devices, but I think Garmin and the forum should be aware of my configuration in the event they're having similar issues.

    Lastly for this comment, I see very little reason why Garmin wouldn't explore supporting a direct cable connection between the R50 and the PC. The USB 2.0 ports that most computers are featuring these days can transfer around 450-500 Mbps and USB-C to USB 2.0 is a common cable. This would eliminate a lot of question marks.

  • Thanks for the input, my friend.

    As I mentioned above, the R50 and PC are definitely connected. When I try and end the session via GSPro connector app (in an attempt to restore the connection via the auto-reconnect feature), the endSession message is received by the R50 and the session ended dialogue pops up.

    I think the issue is related to the keepAlive shake. I don't know exactly how that shake works, but everytime the R50 freezes and stops detecting a ball, that's the last command sent by GSPro connector app. I've factory reset the R50 so let's see how that works.

    GSPro is also updated, BUT I noticed that there was a June release that I didn't install until AFTER I had posted my original comment. I'm hoping that the GSPro update (which noted numerous Garmind bugs) coupled with the R50 factory reset does the trick.

    The PC is definitely powerful enough. RTX 4070 and 32GB of RAM in an Acer Predator Orion 5000 build.