Solving ongoing connectivity issues?

Hello all, my Fenix 5x regularly fails to reconnect with my Android phone after disconnecting due to distance.

So if I am close to my phone the connection is good and is never dropped.
If I however go for a walk and leave my phone home : the app does not reconnect when I am home again unless I restart my phone

I did not have this issue with an older version of the Garmin connect app...

Is there a solution (other than using the older version)?

Thank you for your reply
  • Same same with my iPhone. I get quite a good range on it but if I go out have to mess with the connection again.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    I'm wondering if this could have something to do with the fact auto-upload is just not working while the sync through controls menu just never fails. Like...connection going idle?
    Does this also happen to you?
  • What is auto upload? The app works perfectly - until I go out of range... The part that is sad is that an older version worked 100%

    I prefer to use auto updates for (all of) my android apps and so the old version of the Garmin app got updated to a newer non functional one... I wonder if there is a way to block one app from auto update - so I could just download and use the old version again...
  • Update - I found how to stop the Garmin app from auto update. So I removed the latest version and downloaded 3.2 as that was rock solid. Does not look as good as the current release but I do not have to restart my phone all the time any more...
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    Auto Update is when the watch gets and installs the patch on its own accord, automatically. Auto-upload is when the watch is set to deliver the unprocessed logs to the DB through GCM or through a configured wi-fi network. With my first F5X everything was perfect. With this brand new one, I think the problem may be in GCM and not in the F5X, however, unless I synch manually (shortcut in the Controls Menu) the log stays there.

    In regards with the connectivity, I've noticed sometimes the BLE is lost but this doesn't seem to depend on the distance between watch and phone and it's yet again an indication the connectivity problems may be related to GCM and not to the F5X.

    Currently mounting .78b, I've read here and on the FB group that many are experiencing the same I am. Unfortunately, since this is a brand new watch... need to find out asap so it can be returned back (sigh). I agree restarting the phone is a possible solution (spotted with wzp not delivering notifications and then after phone was restarted, everything went alright).

    As I was writing this, I restarted the phone... took a 50" log on the watch and as soon as the phone restarted the log was auto-uploaded.

    GCM is V 4.0.7 (so yes, I was right the beta actually was released because this is an official version) and phone is a Samsung S3 Neo.

    It has to be GCM. What 3.2 are you talking about? stock F5? (My new one came with 4.0) why don't you try instead to clear the cache, clear data, uninstall, clear registry, reboot and reinstall GCM? I am fairly sure that's where the problem lies for both of us (admittedly, GCM sometimes is down but we get no notifications about it. Might be a corrupt install, you never know so it's worth trying because F5 3.2 FW is rather old and bugged compared to 6.0... if it is the 3.2 FW you're talking about, which is why I am asking to clarify).
  • Thank you Z-74. 3.2 is an older version of Garmin Connect (used with my 5x). I used that for 2 days - but it did not solve my issue. Maybe it was another 3.xx version that worked?

    So here it is step by step:

    1. I had this connectivity issue several times. The watch is 100% solid as long as the phone is in (bluetooth) range. The first time it drops the connection, it does not reconnect. I have to restart the phone and it works again
    2. When reading various posts (weeks ago) someone here suggested to use an older (3.xx) version of Garmin Connect. I used that - and the connections suddenly worked well. Never had to restart - went out of range and came back: the app always 100% reconnected
    3. Recently I upgraded to Garmin Connect 4.xx - and the connection issues came back
    4. I tried now to revert to 3.2 but no luck. I will try now 3.1 or some other old versions to see if this help

    However, in general I like the looks of 4.xx - so it would be really nice to have that fixed by Garmin...
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    Since BLE issues are also between 5X and third party accessories (i.e. Polar HR chest straps) I'd like to say that the problem is more on the 5X than on the Garmin Connect app.

  • But then why would an older version of the Garmin Connect app work with 100% reliability when it comes to reconnecting? While the current app regularly fails to reconnect? As far as I can see my specific issue is 100% app related - since there was a (previous) app version that worked well,
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    My problem is with WIFI synchronization, shortly after upgrading my 5x to firmware 6.0, wifi sync stopped working, I did everything, I reinstalled the wifi networks on both the 5x and the smartphone, I reinstalled the GCM app on the smartphone and nothing solves, does anyone have a suggestion? Thank you.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    I have also run into the bluetooth problem where the only solution is to reboot the phone. This is an iPhoneX running 11.1.1