Bluetooth disconnecting after 30 seconds

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I have a pair of Anker Soundcore Bluetooth headphones I use while working at my desktop PC, an IBUYPOWER running an Intel Core i7 with 16 GB of RAM. The headphones worked fine until I installed the Windows Update to Windows 11 Home Version 24H2. On powering up, the headphones would stay connected for 30 seconds, then disconnect. I deleted them from the Bluetooth device listing and then re-paired the headphones, with the same result. When the headphones disconnect, they disappear from the list of available Bluetooth devices.

I then used Norton Driver Updater to load and install six outdated (according to Norton) drivers, including two Bluetooth drivers. I rebooted the computer and got the same result as before.

I looked for a solution online, and several forums advised to find the headphones in Device Manager, open their Properties, go to Power Management, and uncheck the box that allows Windows to control the power to the headphones. On my Device Manager, there is no option for Power Management (see attachment).

One more curious development: each time I try some fix, a new icon appears in my taskbar. If I float my cursor over it, I get a stack of identical links or bars that go the full height of the display, all reading “Pick an app.” Clicking on any one of them reveals a pop-up window that reads “Get an app to open this ‘About’ Link.” Clicking that is a dead link to the Microsoft Store.

I’m out of ideas. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get my headphones working again?

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Attaching screenshot that didn’t make it through the first time.

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WScopwriter wrote:

I looked for a solution online, and several forums advised to find the headphones in Device Manager, open their Properties, go to Power Management, and uncheck the box that allows Windows to control the power to the headphones. On my Device Manager, there is no option for Power Management (see attachment).

There is no Power Management for a Bluetooth device connection; however, there is a USB connection to base/charger for a Bluetooth device such as your headphones. Check the USB connection for this headphone’s base/charger in Device manager and that will have the Power Management tab in Properties of the USB device for the headphones.

Not sure at making sure Windows doesn’t turn that USB connection off by changing the setting is going to help unless the Bluetooth connection is thru the USB base/charger.

HTH, Dana:))

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The headphones are wireless (I probably should have mentioned that earlier). I did try switching off power management for the unlabeled USB hubs showing in Device Manager (there are 12), but had the same result–the headphones  disconnected in 30 seconds. The other USB devices listed in Device Manager have specific functions, e.g. Brother printer, Dymo Labelwriter. etc.

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Can you revert to 23H2?

cheers, Paul

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I have no idea how to do that.

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Normally we would suggest restoring an image backup, but you may not have a image…

This EaseUs site should help.

cheers, Paul

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WScopwriter wrote:

Anker Soundcore Bluetooth headphones

Have you tried to check for firmware update ?

Which model are the headphones ?

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They’re Anker Soundcore Model A3025C. I’ve had them for only two months.

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Alex5723

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Have you tried Bluetooth troubleshooter ?

What version of BT does your PC support vs your Q20 BT version ?

How to check Bluetooth version on Windows 11, 10

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ps have you tried replacing Q20 BT driver with ‘Generic Bluetooth Adapter’ driver ?

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I downloaded and installed Anker’s firmware update, but there doesn’t seem to be any change in behavior. One thing I noticed is that the headphones go into Bluetooth Pairing mode as soon as the connection drops.

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Alex5723

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There is a work around that other users with Bluetooth turning itself off use and say works, but it is a work around and not a solution.
Basically you create a .bat file that has the commands that turns Bluetooth services on. You use Task Scheduler to run this .bat file every 5 minutes which will keep Bluetooth from turning off.
To get you started I created the .bat with the commands which you can download below. BTW: running the .bat while Bluetooth is already on does not affect your current Bluetooth connection.
Let me know if you need help setting up Task Scheduler to run the .bat and repeat every 5 minutes.

This might help if the headphones lose connection because the Bluetooth services stopped and not just the headphones; however, if the Bluetooth services stay on when the headphones lose Bluetooth connection, then this most likely will not help.  You can test by running the .bat file manually every 5 – 10 minutes after you start up and see if that extends the 30 minutes up time.  Also, run the .bat file as Run an administrator option.

 

BluetoothON

HTH, Dana:))

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PL1

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While I appreciate you creating the *.bat file for me, I don’t think that is the problem. The connection to the headphones will run for exactly 30 seconds before it drops. If I monitor the Settings screen when this happens, I see the headphones change from “connected” to “not connected.”

Reverting to the previous version of Windows seems drastic. I’m fearful I might disable the computer with a corrupted OS. I am only moderately technical, and if I prang the OS, it’s off to the computer repair shop for me.

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@WScopwriter –

Perhaps you’ve uncovered an undocumented/unknown BUG in Windows 11 24H2! If you’d like, you can report it to MS via the Feedback feature within Windows.

 

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WScopwriter wrote:

The connection to the headphones will run for exactly 30 seconds before it drops. If I monitor the Settings screen when this happens, I see the headphones change from “connected” to “not connected.”

It appears that your different Bluetooth devices are not having a problem and it is only the Bluetooth headphones that is having a problem. This means that the problem is with the Bluetooth settings just for this device. One big convenience/problem with a Windows Bluetooth connection is that once it is set up it will remember those connection settings and use those settings to connect each time. Problem happens when that setting becomes corrupt, Windows will connect using those corrupt settings until you delete those settings.
The solution is to remove the device from Windows Bluetooth settings which will delete the corrupt setting. Reboot once with the device not connected to your PC. Connect the device as a new device like the first time you connected the headphones. This will create new settings for the device and should connect correctly.
I have a hearing aid that connects thru Bluetooth which Windows considers a headphone. Sometimes that Bluetooth connection gets so corrupt that Windows will say the device is connect when it’s not and will not work. I follow the above and delete the device from Windows Bluetooth and then add as a new device which works.

There are 3 ways to delete a Bluetooth connection and which one you use depends upon how corrupt the settings are and which way works.
1) Use The Remove device option for the device listed in the Bluetooth & Devices > Devices setting in Windows settings. Sometimes the settings are so corrupt that Windows responds with a statement that it can not remove the device. Proceed to the next way to delete the settings.
2) Open Device Manager and Uninstall the device and confirm the uninstall. Disconnect the device (turn off and unplug from USB connection). Reboot the PC and confirm that the device is not listed in the Device Manager. Now check the Bluetooth devices and confirm the device is not listed. If the device is still listed, then the next way is thru a command from an Administrator Command console.
Try the two methods above which usually work in most cases, but if they don’t remove the device then post back I’ll post the command line process.

The above works form me and my Bluetooth “headphones” and I always need to use the Uninstall from Device Manager method, which always works.

HTH, Dana:))

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Hey I have the exact same issue with my wireless headphone. It will work just fine with my phone and my other laptop, but when I try to connect it with this one laptop I’m currently using, the headphone would ALWAYS disconnect after 30 seconds. Have you found a solution for this? I’d appreciate it if you’d respond to this message 🙁

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Are the laptops the same version of Windows?
Same manufacturer?
Same BT chip?

cheers, Paul

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It’s my iBuyPower desktop machine that won’t sustain the BT connection. My much newer Lenovo laptop works fine.

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Buy a replacement BT adapter?

cheers, Paul

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I’m already working with an external BT adapter, having disabled the internal one when it didn’t work.

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Make an image backup.
Reinstall from scratch.
Test.
If that fixes the problem, reinstall all your stuff.
If it doesn’t fix the problem, restore the image backup.

cheers, Paul

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Sounds to me like your problem is Windows Power Saving Mode is active somewhere in the path your Bluetooth headset is using and, while the Soundcore headphone has no power management, the Bluetooth device it’s communicating with (internal/external) probably does.

Suggest you use Device Manager to disable power saving for ALL the Bluetooth devices it lists.

Note: they’ll be listed under Bluetooth:

And Human Interface Devices:

Not USB.

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For those Bluetooth devices, the closest setting I can find is “Power data.” I don’t see any setting or switch for “Power management.”

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Press Win.
Type: device
Select Device Manager.
Right click on the device.
Select Properties, Power Management tab.

cheers, Paul

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Where would the Power Management tab be? (see attached screenshot)

 

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On the “Details” tab, “Properties” pulldown (there’s lots of details, may be power, may be “allow to sleep,” etc)

 

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WScopwriter wrote:

Where would the Power Management tab be?

It “should” be to the right of the Events tab like this.

If it’s not being displayed, see my post #2585571 for details on how to enable it.

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No joy. I tried your registry edit and rebooted, and there is still no power management tab.

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Have you checked Power Management in other devices ?

Try Checking BIOS settings: Enable legacy power management or disable “Modern Standby” (Connected Standby) if available, as systems with Modern Standby often lack the Power Management tab

Why is the power management tab missing?

Newer computers support modern standby and the OS (Windows 10, 11, etc.) will enable it when present and supported in computer firmware. The Power management under network adapters is no longer present when your computer is running in modern standby mode (S0 sleep mode) because it no longer applies in that mode for those particular devices. You would have to force your OS to run in legacy standby (S3 sleep mode) for the option to reappear for network adapters. Your current network adapter and its drivers and/or firmware may simply have issues with modern standby or it may even be defective. This leaves two solutions. Either obtain a replacement adapter/driver that functions properly in modern standby or force your computer to function in legacy standby mode. Upon restart the power management tab for network devices will reappear.

Execute the following reg commands from an elevated command prompt to modify OS behavior:

Disable Modern Standby (Forcing legacy standby S3)

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power /v PlatformAoAcOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 0..

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Hey , I had a similar issue ( soundcore q30 disconnecting after 30 seconds) , tried a BUNCH of things : disconnecting , turning BT on and off , restarting my computer , uninstalling drivers and reinstalling them, messing with the power management settings for my BT adapter. What fixed the issue for me was to simply roll back the driver update for my bluetooth adapter. Hope that helps !

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