bluetooth keeps dropping and reconnecting

IF you google "Bluetooth disconnecting in car" the first thing that comes up is an android forum complaining about an android phone dropping Bluetooth in a 2013 Honda CR-V. I'm not convinced this is iPhone specific! I am convinced that it's more likely to happen for every phone in a Honda. I have an iPhone 6 and a 2013 Honda CR-V. The bluetooth NEVER drops out when I'm playing music or podcasts but it usually drops out when I'm making a call. Over and over, it drops out for several seconds and reconnects Itself (thankfully the call is not disconnected). This does lend credence to the possibility of being cell tower related. This bluetooth problem didn't start for me until about 6 months ago (April 2015). I don't know what changed then. The iPhone 6 seemed to be fine with the CR-V for the first 6 months that I owned it and my iPhone 5 never had the problem. I look forward to iOS 9. Maybe that will fix it.

"I look forward to iOS 9. Maybe that will fix it."....it didn't. In fact, iOS9 has made the problem 10 times worse for me, as now my phone disconnects and reconnects about every 30 seconds. I can't complete a single phone call via Bluetooth in the car now! 😢

Adding shared experience/frustartions. 2012 CRV and iPhone 6+ = dropped bluetooth calls. I've done numerous things suggested [wipe phone, clear car bluetooth connections, reconnect, etc etc etc.]. NOTHING works. It's crazy-making. I have had horribly frustrating and embarrassing work call issues. PLUS the end result is trying to scramble to get to the phone and get on speaker, which switches back when it eventually returns, and all that is a SAFETY HAZARD. The point of bluettooth/car integration is to REDUCE RISKS not increase them. These two companies need to get their act together.

Honda Pilot 2015 same exact problem. It was intermittent with iOS 8 but with 9.1 it's constant. I can't stand it. I don't know what to do. it only happens with phone calls. Streaming music over the Bluetooth NEVER cuts out. Only phone calls. i will try turning wifi off when I'm in the car and see if that helps but Apple needs to fix this. been getting worse since iOS 8. Had no problems with iOS 7.

Brief update: I THOUGHT that turning off wifi was the ticket... HATE that i'd even need to do so let alone remember later to turn it back on.. BUT it was working and seemed to make a difference until yesterday where something caused the phone to connect/disconnect ... yet nothing was playing and I was not on a phone call but I was using Siri, which ends up going through bluetooth.

SO... i'm now skeptical but not certain that turning off wifi won't be the silver bullet. I'll continue to try and report back if it's clearly not making a difference.

Just a quick update for 'those of us feeling the pain' of this issue. I've had relatively consistent success from recurring efforts to test the "wifi on/off" scenario. And so far I've had success. I did have an instance of the phone seeming to connect/disconnect but i've since attributed that to the "Waze" app trying to send audio to bluetooth.

In any event, I wanted to post this and evangelize others trying the simple test of turning OFF wifi and seeing if that results in more success then we've had with other efforts.

I'll keep trying too.

I did more triaging and ttesting today and consistently introduced the problem by turning ON wifi. It was almost immediate. Hard to not conclude that's where the issues lie. No issues with any calls made with wifi OFF. (Royal PITA to have to do this and remember to turn it on again when exiting the car.)

I also did some experimentation today. I initiated a call with wifi off while in my driveway and didn't have a problem. I then turned wifi on and the call remained fine, though my phone would not connect to my home wifi (which it normally does in my driveway). I then on my phone switched the call to speaker phone and my phone immediately connected to my home wifi. I switched the call back to hands free and within one minute, my phone was disconnecting and reconnecting to the cars Bluetooth. I then disabled wifi and the problem ceased.

so odd!

iPhone 6s Plus

2014 Honda CRV

Also verifying that turning off Wifi seems to work, although I sometimes get a drop when I hang up a call (disconnects Bluetooth). Trying Wifi on tomorrow and turning off Wifi Assist feature.

iPhone 6s

2014 Honda CRV

I'm having the same problem with bluetooth cutting in and out in my 06 Lexus (maybe every 10th connection). I've read in some other groups that if you go to:

Settings > Accessibility > Call Audio Routing and it should be checked for "Automatic". Instead, check "Bluetooth Headset". The problem goes away.

I haven't tested it yet as I'm in my office but apparently, there's a problem with the "Automatic" setting and it won't "stick" on bluetooth headset (which is essentially how it connects to the cars Bluetooth). It doesn't affect incoming calls or anything else when not connected to your car but it forces the connection to stay stable when it's connecting to the car via bluetooth.

I'm on 9.2 but had the same problem with 9.1 (iPhone 6s).

regards,

-aki

No luck with WiFi Assist. Just turning off WiFi seems to do the trick.

I had tried that Call Audio Routing feature before, with no luck (although I did see a small improvement in terms of less frequent drops).

Does everyone else here have another Bluetooth device like a FitBit? Ever install any networking profiles?

Trying to figure out the trend here since it's not car or phone specific (my wife has the same phone and uses the same car--no problems for her).

I use a Fitbit and haven't had any problems with connectivity. I haven't tested everything but it seems isolated to just drops when connecting to my car.

Then again, it doesn't happen all the time. When it does, I turn off bluetooth on my phone, turn it on again and reselect my iPhone in my car and let it reconnect. Once I do that, it's fine again for several (maybe 10 or 12 times) before it starts acting up again. I haven't seen any improvement by unpairing and repairing the phone over just reselecting it.

Preliminary update – I tried turning off WiFi Assist and tested this morning for about 30 minutes. So far, Bluetooth on + WiFi on + WiFi Assist off has worked without issue but that's one test period. Since ryguy417 reports "no luck", I am hesitant to call it certain. I will continue to test WiFi and Bluetooth on with WiFi Assist off through the week, and will report back as to the success/fail rate.

I have had 100% success in retaining bluetooth connection/making hands free audio phone calls when I turn off WiFi completely. So i believe we are isolating a probable root cause.

Perhaps WiFi Assist, being a new IOS9 feature [as far as I understand it], is the culprit here.... It seems to be a significant variable between phones/OS's that have been reported to work or not work.

I also noticed something interesting. If I initiate or am on a call in the car through Bluetooth, with the engine off [key in accessory position], and restart the car, it would take a 2-4 seconds for the phone/bluetooth to reconnect to the car when WiFi was on. BUT with WiFi off, the re-connection when starting the car is almost immediate. May be related.

2012 Honda CRV w/HandsFreeLink & iPhone 6+ with IOS9.x

Good success today with WiFi off and WiFi Assist off as well. Best uninterrupted calls in quite a while.

Any other FitBit users?

Any other Time Warner customer? Wondering about their hotspot profile they install.

Since Apple released the 8.2 version of the Bluetooth software does not work properly with the team car, constantly it disconnects and will not let you continue the conversation.

I use this a lot for my work and upset a team of these features to malfunction.

I deleted the attached equipment and not fixed.

I'm disappointed.

IOS 9 has not been fixed.

Iphone 6 iOS 9.2