Fenix 5 Plus Series - 10.72 Public Beta

Dear Smart  People Around,

I have seen that several beta and public versions of software update deal with WIFI connection. Ad regards 10.72 it is said that “Made several WiFi related improvements”.

To be honest  in the 3 months I was having F5+ it happened to me only once that I had any WIFI related error message when I wanted to manually upload activities and/or just wished to sync my activity tracking data with my GC account.

On the other hand Auto Upload never worked as regards simple syncing. I mean when there was no new and saved “app related” activity. Never. And as I remember it never worked with myF3HR either.

It did not work independently from the state of bluetooth connection or any settings. Independently whether GC IQ mobile app was running or not. Just the auto sync worked via GC mobile app, so via bluetooth, and not via wifi.

1.  Is it how it has been designed? If no new activity is saved with the watch, no wifi sync has to happen even if auto upload is enabled? The new activity is the trigger of auto upload? Normal activity tracking, increasing number of steps, floors, and new sleep data should not trigger wifi auto upload?

If I save an activity at a physical point in the street where my watch does not see our wifi networks, auto upload never works. NB: And as I remember it did  work with my F3HR.

 If I delay the saving and save it within our house, sometimes auto upload of new activities and all the other new data of the watch are synced. So simply said it works.

2. Is it how it has been designed? No attempt to auto upload, just at the very moment of the activity saving ?

Finally a confirmation again: manual upload/sync via wifi works flaw-less-ly!!! At least for me.

Thanks.

Thanks, I read those advices several times before, but in my experience they don't make a difference. I use the same password ( of course with special characters) for my old router (which works) and for my new one (which doesn't work) and in the past I tried even without a password - without success.

The issue with my old router was only solved stepwise by watch updates, so I hope that this will happen with my new router as well.

My understanding is that if you have a common SSID between 2.4 and 5.0 networks it is the router that decides which network it (tries to) connect each device to. I think it is possible that the router attempts to associate to 5.0, sometimes at least, even when it is impossible for the device to use that frequency. Maybe some routers have better intelligence with this or better luck. I don't know whether the devices themselves have any part to play in the choice made. If they don't then I don't see how Garmin can remedy a problem with a rogue router - if that is even the problem.

The easy solution, if it is the problem, is to separate the SSIDs.

Another possibility I've read of is that some routers present a landing page with sign in fields to be completed for access. The watch doesn't have an interface to handle such pages. I think there should/could be an option to disable such pages. No idea if it's true, just another point to investigate.

One more idea on the 2.4 vs 5.0 conundrum, if you can't or won't split the SSID - maybe go to a place where the 5.0 signal is too weak to function and only the 2.4 signal has sufficient strength. It may not be convenient on a regular basis, but as a troubleshooting step it might shed some light.

Final thought - I have never had Wi-Fi connection problems between three Fenix watches and routers from Sky and Asus, except once, and that was my error. When configuring the Wi-Fi via a PC I don't think there is any warning to use only 2.4Ghz. I configured for a 5Ghz network, which was allowed in Garmin Express, but the watch should not connect. Once I realised my mistake it was a simple fix. Maybe, just maybe, if you configure the connection from the watch it will be better able to ensure that all the ducks are lined up in the same row. Just speculating here, no idea if it would help at all.

RunR said:

of course with special characters

There is no "of course" here.

Unless you are limited by the number of characters, you can always create a password without special characters, which is stronger than your old password with special characters, just by adding a few (surprisingly few, actually) additional characters.

To quote XKCD:
"Through 20 years of effort, we have successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember, but easy for computers to guess."

https://xkcd.com/936/

(I really don't like his example of a stronger password, because it is somewhat vulnerable to a dictionary attack. But the principle of "more characters is better than complicated characters" still holds.)

On the subject of "can special characters create password problems":

In my experience, national characters are often a greater issue than special characters. I have plenty of examples of stuff going wrong when people have used the Danish æøå in passwords. These errors can often be frustrating, because stuff works on one device or in one system, but not on another device or in another system.

If you stick to international special characters - the ones which are available on any keyboard in any country, such as s#%&?, etc. - you may fare better. You may still run into problems, but usually those problems are consistent across devices and systems, so you have a clear indication that something is wrong.

You can be lucky if you never had Wifi connection problems. Your "Final thought" implicates that you think that all those people who posted numerous threads about this topic in this forum and also the Garmin guys releasing numerous updates which deal with this topic, were not able to properly configure their routers. 
There were severe issues with the Wifi connection in the beginning and most of them are currently solved by Garmin - but obviously not yet everything.

Sorry for repeating my inquiries, but none of you know when and how exactly wifi auto sync should work?

No need t oread my whole post, just please consider the bold parts.

Tisztul_A_Visztula said:

Sorry for repeating my inquiries, but none of you know when and how exactly wifi auto sync should work?

What is your general experience on Garmin's willingness to describe the intended behaviour of their watches?

Yes, that was a rhetorical question. We have had countless threads on how stuff is supposed to work, and usually there is not much help to get from Garmin manuals as soon as the questions get just slightly complicated.

I know, I know.

I just wished to rely on the personal experience of y’all. That’s it.