Fusion and Bluetooth not staying connected

[Brezzin]

I have an Iphone 6 and have connected it via Bluetooth to the Fusion. Problem is that the bluetooth and fusion keep losing each other and then reconnecting every few minutes. This has been happening since I purchased the AI and I've lived with it . On fathers day, I'm on road trip with my wife when my son called to say happy fathers day during one of the "outage"
periods so I manually picked up the phone and I get pulled over. I got let off with a stern warning but no ticket do to the holiday.

Has anyone else experienced these outages? Is there possibly a fix cause I'm ready to ditch this fusion POS. ( and not just because of the bluetooth. The Navigation system is a joke too)

[GoingPhishin]

The fusion system is a total pos. I am going to ditch mine this summer.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by Brezzin

I have an Iphone 6 and have connected it via Bluetooth to the Fusion. Problem is that the bluetooth and fusion keep losing each other and then reconnecting every few minutes. This has been happening since I purchased the AI and I've lived with it . On fathers day, I'm on road trip with my wife when my son called to say happy fathers day during one of the "outage"
periods so I manually picked up the phone and I get pulled over. I got let off with a stern warning but no ticket do to the holiday.

Has anyone else experienced these outages? Is there possibly a fix cause I'm ready to ditch this fusion POS. ( and not just because of the bluetooth. The Navigation system is a joke too)

I don't have a Fusion systems, but my Kenwood is just as bad with Bluetooth connections. I don't understand why this is so hard. The Bluetooth in my 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV is nearly instantaneous every time I start the car.

[Alex AVI]

Are you sure Fusion is losing bluetoorh? Or the iPhone is losing bluetooth? Just want to make sure we are blaming the right module. When connecting bluetooth, it is always advisable to have wi-fi and hotspot off. There are situations when it could affect the comm. Yes, I realize it SHOULD work regardless, but I already know this for a fact because my Android S9 bluetooth connected to my Nexar dashcam would have connectivity issues 90% of the time if I dont turn off hotspot and/or wi-fi. And yes, it would give me that successful 1 time it will connect. Then, on cue the next 9 times I turn hotspot on while it is connected, then it breaks connection asap. FWIW, my bluetooth connection to my Fusion has not disconnected, at least not that I know of and definitely not at that (I agree) ridiculously annoying rate you experience. Else, I wouldve noticed.

In fact, if I could digress a bit - my experience with bluetooth phone connections of any kind with car head units have been the opposite. My recent experience with a new car we purchased few months ago - I hate talking on bluetooth if call is not a quickie and an important one I am waiting for. So I pull over, turn off the radio, totally off but surprisingly it kept the connection, even though I turned it off before I made (not accept) the call. It just happens to be a CHEVY, as MIKE mentioned. But my frustration was the exact opposite of yours. I wanted it to disconnect and had to do so from my phone or turn off ignition. Seems my CHEVY BT antenna & functionality remains active beyond turning off radio.

From a techie standpoint and not knowing what the current Garmin support engineers are doing with all the updates (most of the module names are cryptic save for Maps & System), then the best advice is to stay current on Garmin/Fusion updates and report bugs/problems that dont get fixed by the updates or new problems that crop up caused by updates. At least Garmin seems to be doing coming up with new updates.

[Alex AVI]

UPDATE, too late to update my previous post.

I never owned any iPhone, iPad, or iAnything. But daughters always have and continue to get the latest iPhone. But never cease to amaze me everytime we go on trips and take pictures of her son (our grandson), she always depends on my pics from my Samsung S9 (or my S7 prior to it) to post in her social media. Go figure but that's not the point of this post. I asked her if she had problems with her connection with any of her iPhones (recent or old) to our Fusion or the other cars. She said her iPhone6 had its internal logic board antenna flex cable replaced, aka F-cable. I dont know what that entails and/or how to test. But supposedly, that affected her BT, GPS, WiFi reception too. So may not apply to you. Since Wifi uses 2.4/5GHz and BT uses 2.4GHz, interference to/from one can affect the other. YMMV.

[wachuko]

I tried to hold back...promise I really did...

You still have an iPhone6!!!!

I should not make comments like that... I am still getting good service from my 7 Plus

Back to a more serious response... try updating the software on the Fusion and see if that improves the connection.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by wachuko

I tried to hold back...promise I really did...

You still have an iPhone6!!!!

.

WACHUKO - I wasn't gonna say it, but did try to allude to it as softly & gently as I could. I was surprised you dropped the hammer instead of JOHN (PAHASKA)

FYI - In few mins. am posting another update on FUSION 3.80 thread that may interest you.

[Brezzin]

Wachuko: It's not like I'm a Luddite. I've built and owned and sold software companies my whole life. The Iphone 6 is and older platform but the IO is current and it does everything I need (until now). Given the cost of newer phones and with very limited increase in functionality, it didn't justify getting a new one. (Plus it's a pain to set up a new phone).

Alex AVI: All my Fusion updates were done But you brought up a very good point which was interference from WiFi or Hotspots. I wear a Fitbit Iconic which is BT enabled. I'm going to remove the fitbit BT connection from the phone to see if that improves the Fusion connectivity. Thanks

[wachuko]

Brezzin, not meant to offend... just having some fun . Now you know why my wife hates my sense of humor. We have not upgraded from what we have for the same reason...these are working fine and the new ones do not offer any significant increase in anything that would improve what we use.

Outside of not using the USB port for anything and the power drain from the Fusion, that we solved with two switches wired to the yellow and red wires, we have not had any issues with the Fusion unit.

Keep us posted on what ends up solving the problem.

[Brezzin]

Definitely took your comment in the spirit it was meant. Not offended at all, in fact i chuckled when i read it. My son says the same things to me.

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by Brezzin

Alex AVI: All my Fusion updates were done But you brought up a very good point which was interference from WiFi or Hotspots. I wear a Fitbit Iconic which is BT enabled. I'm going to remove the fitbit BT connection from the phone to see if that improves the Fusion connectivity. Thanks

BREZZIN - after I posted that info from my daughter, even though I knew very little about iPhones , I did some extensive searches regarding iPhone6 connectivity & interference problems, limiting my search to wifi & BT only. Found enough information to say that if all else fails, that F-cable replacement maybe needed. Supposedly very cheap and easy to do. Requires disassembly but definitely a DIY project of the easy variety considering your background. Seeing them under $20.

Link to vid below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNfG...ature=youtu.be

[Lost4]

I recently had the same problem. Mine kept Turning on and off. I took it to my dealer and their was a recall fix for that problem. they had to replace the head and reinstall software.
Hope that helped

[Brezzin]

Thanks Alex. I'll definitely look into that. I did confirm that the Fitbit is not the problem.

Lost4: Thanks. But before I go down that road, I'm gonna test this out with other types of BT connections

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by GoingPhishin

The fusion system is a total pos. I am going to ditch mine this summer.

GOINGPHISHIN, BREZZIN - If either of you really ditch your Fusion, may I have 1st dibs on buying from you, hopin to get a spare unit as spare parts to cannibalize from (just in case)

[GoingPhishin]

Originally Posted by Alex AVI

GOINGPHISHIN, BREZZIN - If either of you really ditch your Fusion, may I have 1st dibs on buying from you, hopin to get a spare unit as spare parts to cannibalize from (just in case)

Ok. Let me find a replacement first and I'll get back to you on this.