Which ant+ dongle to use for IOS

Equipment
,
1

Hey guys :slight_smile:

I have just started in a gym that have the Life Fitness IC7 and they support Ant+ for power and cadence data. Since I am not officially allowed (by contract - not wife) to have my bike in the apartment I have opted to do my trainerroad workouts on these bikes.

Has anyone experience with which dongle to use for iPad/iPhone in the lightning adapter?
I know the official recommendation is the Wahoo dongle in an adapter, but I wonder if I could pick any Ant+ adapter and use?

Awersome forum this one - my first signin :slight_smile:

2

you may want to check out this ant+/BLE bridge, I think it is called CABLE. Essentially it picks up the ANT+ signals and rebroadcasts them in bluetooth that your phone can pick up.

1 Like
3

" * TrainerRoad will only allow for one sensor to connect through CABLE." – Was checking CABLE myself and saw this

1 Like
4

Sorry for the double post. You have to check if the IC7 supports resistance control via FEC.

1 Like
5

The CABLE does work with TrainerRoad currently, however, it is not a fully-supported device. This means that if you do have a CABLE, you may want to be cautious when updating the firmware since an update could bring parts of the functionality out of compatibility with TrainerRoad.

1 Like
6

Sadly, the Wahoo ANT+ dongle is the only ANT+ key that will work with TrainerRoad. All other options are not open-source, meaning they can only be used with a specific application.

For example, Garmin has an ANT+ key, but it only works with the Garmin app.

Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions!

1 Like
7

Another option I can think of would be to use an Apple Camera Adapter together with an ANT+ USB stick.

I haven’t tried that solution, so curious if anyone else has used that set up.

8

Thanks Bryce, I will look into the wahoo dongle or consider other options for doing my workout.
I could bring my laptop, or simply record it with my wahoo bolt and then get the actual ride in tr using that.
I have seen other ant+ bridges like from elite but I’m not sure if they are application specific

9

@SomeCallMeTim sadly that won’t work - that adapter is for camera stuff only - tried in another setup for an I was working on.

10

The Wahoo dongle didn’t work for me in my iPad / iPhone. Somewhere via google I found that’s the case for all newish iPads. I am now using a Tacx dongle with my MacbookPro, which is currently working fine. :crossed_fingers:t2:

11

@KatherineT I saw that somewhere people had issues getting it to work on iOS 11.2. Have you tried again with the later iOS versions? Same result?

12

No, not tried since I switched to laptop

13

Could I ask you to give it a quick shot, if you still have the dongle and TR on your iPad :slight_smile:

14

Might have binned the single but I’ll have a look tonight.

15

Thanks, appreciate it :heart:

16

I’ve been using a lightning adapter (to 30-pin) with a Wahoo key essentially since the iOS TrainerRoad app was first in beta. I can’t recall all of the iOS versions I used it on and it has generally worked well without issues. Occasionally I saw the “ANT+” indicator in the app not show as active, but messing with plugging it in and out or killing and launching the app again seemed to fix it.

I was on an iPhone for about 3 years until switching to an Xr in the last few weeks. The key worked on the 6s and now on the Xr as expected. My wife also picked up TR again in the last few weeks and uses the same Key when she rides with her Xr. We’re both on iOS 12.1 right now.

1 Like
17

Hi! I also have an iphone 7 and i am having trouble finding a lightning to 30pin adapter as they were discontinued by apple. Without that I can’t use the wahoo ant+ key.

Is there any alternative?

18

Wahoo has a new bluetooth smart/ant sensor for cell phones. I am not sure if iPhone 7 has bluetooth smart. If it does it should work for you.