Poor ANT Connectivity

Hi There, I am also struggling to connect my F5 to my stages PM. Worked fine on the F3 before it and still works fine on my edge 1000, damn it even works on my Suunto (surely at this point I can give the stages the all clear people seem to be quick to blame the stages). Sometimes it won't calibrate but it seems the closer I hold it to the crank the more reliably it picks it up but having said that it drops in and out constantly I did one test where I turned off all other devices prior to riding and I mounted the F5 on the top tube, I got what looks like a good reading but was only around a ten minute ride so not conclusive.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated. Thanks, Vince.

Hi Vince,

Unfortunately, the Stages doesn't get an 'all-clear' out of this as it's looking very much like the problem is down to a combination of two different things. Firstly, the transmission power of the Stages PM is very, very weak compared to other ANT/BT sensors. Most of the time this isn't a problem if you're using it with a device that has a good antenna, such as an Edge or fenix 3 or Suunto for example. But if you do a quick Google you'll see that connection problems with the Stages PM due to its weak signal are nothing new. If I try to pair it with the Stages app on my iPhone to calibrate it, even held about 10cm away from it I still only get 1 or 2 bars of signal strength showing on the app.

So, the Stages signal is poor. But then you get the second issue - the seemingly poor antenna on the f5, and you've got a problem. The f5 seems to manage OK with sensors that transmit a strong signal up-close, but as soon as you get a weak signal (e.g. Stages) or the device is a bit further away (e.g. Garmin speed sensor mounted on rear hub, Garmin Varia rear radar light), then it struggles or just simply fails to get a signal.

Stages users have been reporting problems since the very beginning, and Stages don't seem to have done anything to improve matters so quite frankly I don't see them as likely to do anything to fix this. As for Garmin, I'm hoping that they can adjust the gain on the f5's antenna via software which will hopefully address the embarrassing situation they're currently in where even some of their own sensors can't maintain a solid connection. However, I think the Stages is so, so much worse that I'm not convinced any amount of firmware tweaking by Garmin is going to see the Stages PM and f5 working together - that's just my opinion though, let's hope I'm proved wrong.

Neil

Every time a new watch comes out that can connect to a PM then you hear about Stages drop outs but not really so much with other PMs and even similar ones like the 4iiii. It really has put me of getting a Stages even if it would be a "convenient" and relatively cheap solution to get a PM.

When talked to Garmin about it with the Stages they say the reception might be improved wearing your watch on your right wrist and then even with the watch face on the inside of your wrist not the top as most would wear one including me. This is best "line of sight".

This isn't an area DC Rainmaker seems to have covered to any great extent (but would be good if could) but, having run with him one time, he should have "no problem" replicating the issue as is fairly tall and has a tri bike with aero bars where, out on those, you might be lucky to get any reception. The "bigger" Edge devices on your handlebars do seem to work OK but then are "better placed".

I did a test today with the F5 and my Stages. I delete the Stages from the paired sensors in my F5 and repaired again as a Bluetooth sensor. Looks like a little bit improvement since I get data during bigger time period. Anyway the drops still happening. My next test will be move the F5's placement on the handlebars from right to left. I tried with Ant+ connection in the left place with not success the day before.

Stages F5 issue

Hi Vince,

Unfortunately, the Stages doesn't get an 'all-clear' out of this as it's looking very much like the problem is down to a combination of two different things. Firstly, the transmission power of the Stages PM is very, very weak compared to other ANT/BT sensors. Most of the time this isn't a problem if you're using it with a device that has a good antenna, such as an Edge or fenix 3 or Suunto for example. But if you do a quick Google you'll see that connection problems with the Stages PM due to its weak signal are nothing new. If I try to pair it with the Stages app on my iPhone to calibrate it, even held about 10cm away from it I still only get 1 or 2 bars of signal strength showing on the app.

So, the Stages signal is poor. But then you get the second issue - the seemingly poor antenna on the f5, and you've got a problem. The f5 seems to manage OK with sensors that transmit a strong signal up-close, but as soon as you get a weak signal (e.g. Stages) or the device is a bit further away (e.g. Garmin speed sensor mounted on rear hub, Garmin Varia rear radar light), then it struggles or just simply fails to get a signal.

Stages users have been reporting problems since the very beginning, and Stages don't seem to have done anything to improve matters so quite frankly I don't see them as likely to do anything to fix this. As for Garmin, I'm hoping that they can adjust the gain on the f5's antenna via software which will hopefully address the embarrassing situation they're currently in where even some of their own sensors can't maintain a solid connection. However, I think the Stages is so, so much worse that I'm not convinced any amount of firmware tweaking by Garmin is going to see the Stages PM and f5 working together - that's just my opinion though, let's hope I'm proved wrong.

Neil

Neil thank you for that in fact it's the perfect response as I can now assess my options as opposed to living in hope. I have a an old Garmin vector do you happen to know if this works ok with the F5. I'm a little reluctant to use it as I had a raft of other issues with it but I guess I'll have a benchmark reading if I keep stages paired to Edge. Thanks for a definitive answer.

As for Garmin, I'm hoping that they can adjust the gain on the f5's antenna via software which will hopefully address the embarrassing situation they're currently in where even some of their own sensors can't maintain a solid connection.

I personally can't confirm any problems with Garmin's own sensors. My F5 happily connects with with two Tempe sensors, Speed and Cadence sensors on two different bikes, footpod and an HRM-Run without any issue. I haven't seen any sensor drop-outs at all so far. All rock solid.

I am like 4-5 feet away from my bike and I notice it miss some of my chest HRM graph. It has to be this close?

Maybe thats why the watch battery life is so long?

I thought Ant+ is up to 33 ft or is that BT?

I think I am having the same problem as people in this thread.

I was wearing an older garmin ant+ HRM. It kept dropping out/losing connection during Body Combat class. It seemed to correlate when I stretched my arm farther from my body. Strange since arm length doesn't seem like it should be a problem distance.

I wonder if I'll see improvement with a new HRM-Tri?

So Garmin reply: "talk with Stages service" :mad:

Fenix 3, FR920XT and Edge 520 worked well with that powermeter. The hell the F5 can't? Disgusting

So Garmin reply: "talk with Stages service" :mad:

Fenix 3, FR920XT and Edge 520 worked well with that powermeter. The hell the F5 can't? Disgusting

That's a disappointing response, though I could kind of understand it if it was only the Stages PM that the f5 had issues with, as the Stages is known to suffer poor connectivity. However, the point is that although the Stages may be the worst offender, there are other sensors (including those made by Garmin) that the f5 struggles to get a solid connection with.

Now my original report has been passed on to Garmin's engineers I don't know if I can expect any response back from them or not.