Wireless Dualsense on PC: Bluetooth Randomly Disconnects

[SOLDIER]

I love using the Dualsense as my main PC controller, but I hate how many hoops and issues I have to go through. Fortunately I'm only experiencing one current issue, so if I can figure this out I should be golden.

Randomly, my controller will all of a sudden stop working. I don't get a "disconnected" message on my PC but the controller's lights will go out and be entirely unresponsive.

What I usually have to do hold down the PS button for 5-10 seconds until it actually does disconnect, but usually I can't just reconnect by hitting the button again. If that fails, I have to turn off the Bluetooth on my PC, turn it back on and then turn the controller on.

It's really annoying when this happens, especially if I'm in the middle of a game situation where I need to not suddenly stand still. If anyone has any ideas how to fix this, please share them with me.

 

[Sabretooth]

How are you connecting the bluetooth? Do you have a dongle, or is it an in-built thing? Would also help to know what software you're using for DualSense if any, like DSX or DS4Windows.

 

[RivalGT]

This has happened to me when using a USB BT dongle with both DS4 and DS, it would randomly disconnect. No clue if it happens if BT is built in to the motherboard, I've since moved to using a USB c cable 100% of the time.

 

[Kromeo]

One issue I used to have was the BT signal was really weak and easily interrupted, I have a USB extension cable bringing the dongle closer to the sofa now and it never disconnects

 

[Shift Breaker]

Can't say how to fix it, but I can at least confirm that you're not the only one with this issue. Hooking up via Bluetooth to play on my laptop, which is on the table pretty much right there to play, still has regular disconnects. I don't have this issue with every other bluetooth controller or adapter, so it's gotta be a DS issue.

My solution was, unfortunately, just to go wired. I'm right next to my laptop, so I don't find it an issue (it's also necessary for remote play and DS games for most games that support it on Steam) but if you're not then hopefully you can find a solution.

 

[Spacejaws]

I use Dualsense with bluetooth on Windows and Steam Deck and I don't seem to have any issues. It just connects and is recognized.

Have you tried removing the blutooth device in windows and re-pairing the controller (hold down ps logo and share when turning on)? Maybe connecting it fresh will make it behave.

Additionally maybe check device mananger for your bluetooth adapter and make sure it doesn't have "allow this computer to turn off this device to save power" in it's properties. Maybe Windows thinks the bluetooth adapter is going idle and dropping it.

A Bluetooth mouse or keyboard fails to reconnect after being left idle - Microsoft Support

A Bluetooth mouse or keyboard fails to reconnect after being left idle for some time.

support.microsoft.com

If it's a USB Bluetooth adapter make sure the same is applied to the USB ports in power options.

 

[SOLDIER]

How are you connecting the bluetooth? Do you have a dongle, or is it an in-built thing? Would also help to know what software you're using for DualSense if any, like DSX or DS4Windows.

Click to shrink...

Built-in. The Dualsense doesn't have a dongle, and I'm not aware of any dongle that supports it.

The only software I use is reWASD, along with Steam Big Picture Mode.

 

[ThatNerdGUI]

Sony needs to release a dongle that supports the DualSense features over wireless

 

[SOLDIER]

So is there like a Bluetooth booster or some sort of thing I could try?

 

[Cabal]

This isn't just a Dualsense thing I used an Xbox Series controller on my laptop and would have this same issue. I bought a new laptop and no longer have the issue at all. In short, look at Bluetooth drivers maybe but it's probably not the controller. Sorry, I wish I knew how to fix it.

 

[Spacejaws]

So is there like a Bluetooth booster or some sort of thing I could try?

Click to shrink...

If you want to rule out your internal bluetooth adapter then you could grab a USB bluetooth adapter and give that a try. Lots of them available and fairly cheap. Kinda hard to tell if they will be compatible for Dualsense but this one has a few reviews mentioning Xbox and PS4 controllers working.

Avantree DG45 USB Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter for PC, Bluetooth Dongle for PC Computer Desktop Laptop, Wireless Transfer for Bluetooth Headphones Speakers Keyboard Mouse Printers for Windows 11/10/8.1/8 https://amzn.eu/d/227zyEG

 

[SOLDIER]

If you want to rule out your internal bluetooth adapter then you could grab a USB bluetooth adapter and give that a try. Lots of them available and fairly cheap. Kinda hard to tell if they will be compatible for Dualsense but this one has a few reviews mentioning Xbox and PS4 controllers working.

Avantree DG45 USB Bluetooth 5.0 Adapter for PC, Bluetooth Dongle for PC Computer Desktop Laptop, Wireless Transfer for Bluetooth Headphones Speakers Keyboard Mouse Printers for Windows 11/10/8.1/8 https://amzn.eu/d/227zyEG

Click to shrink...

So is the idea that I'm pairing the controller through this adapter, rather than the internal Bluetooth my PC has?

How would I do that, exactly?

 

[Spacejaws]

So is the idea that I'm pairing the controller through this adapter, rather than the internal Bluetooth my PC has?

How would I do that, exactly?

Click to shrink...

Disable your built in bluetooth adapter, plug this guy in and it should show in your windows bluetooth settings as a bluetooth device and let you pair exactly the same way as your internal adapter, assuming you were doing it through the Windows bluetooth settings. If it doesn't work return it (would keep the box and all that in good nick).

Theres a reply in this article that gives an idea the best way to disable your internal bluetooth. In to device manager and disable it before you plug in the dongle.

How to turn off internal Bluetooth and use a USB Bluetooth Dongle | DELL Technologies

I wish to disable the internal bluetooth radio in my Dell XPS 15 9500 using Windows 11. Instead I will be using it with a TP-Link USB500 USB Bluetooth Adapter. How do I go about disabling th...

www.dell.com

At least it's cheap enough to test for a few days, see if you have the issues. If you do return it. If you don't then you know its an issue with your internal Bluetooth, maybe driver reinstalls and such would help.

 

[SOLDIER]

Disable your built in bluetooth adapter, plug this guy in and it should show in your windows bluetooth settings as a bluetooth device and let you pair exactly the same way as your internal adapter, assuming you were doing it through the Windows bluetooth settings. If it doesn't work return it (would keep the box and all that in good nick).

Theres a reply in this article that gives an idea the best way to disable your internal bluetooth. In to device manager and disable it before you plug in the dongle.

How to turn off internal Bluetooth and use a USB Bluetooth Dongle | DELL Technologies

I wish to disable the internal bluetooth radio in my Dell XPS 15 9500 using Windows 11. Instead I will be using it with a TP-Link USB500 USB Bluetooth Adapter. How do I go about disabling th...

www.dell.com

Click to shrink...

Thank you. I ordered the adapter you listed, will be here Friday so I'll give that a shot.

I also wonder if perhaps my PC's internal bluetooth is also the reason why my Airpods (which I mainly use on my Apple TV) also will randomly disconnect at times. Would be nice if it turned out this was the culprit and disabling it will fix both issues.

 

[mogster7777]

I had to get the latest version of Bluetooth dongles, an extension cable too and now no disconnects

 

[Spacejaws]

Thank you. I ordered the adapter you listed, will be here Friday so I'll give that a shot.

I also wonder if perhaps my PC's internal bluetooth is also the reason why my Airpods (which I mainly use on my Apple TV) also will randomly disconnect at times. Would be nice if it turned out this was the culprit and disabling it will fix both issues.

Click to shrink...

No worries. That was just a cheap one I saw with lots of good reviews so hopefully it works!

If you haven't already and really want to use the internal bluetooth I'd take a look at those power settings too, if it has that setting to let the machine turn it off. I work with people using vpn's a lot and that setting causes havoc all the time.

 

[OmahaGTP]

Built-in. The Dualsense doesn't have a dongle, and I'm not aware of any dongle that supports it.

The only software I use is reWASD, along with Steam Big Picture Mode.

Click to shrink...

Probably not your problem, but if you're using your motherboard's built in BT, and the motherboard has built in network wireless that you're not using, try attaching the antennas anyway. My mobo's antenna seems to be dual purpose for both bluetooth and network wireless and without it attached the bluetooth connection is atrocious and basically unusable.

 

[Akauser]

Had. Lot of issues on my laptop with this. Ordered a fairly cheap dongle and connected to that and have 0 issues now. Also use DS4 Windows and it works really well best thing about the dongle is the number of controllers it can handle have had up to 4 DS4's connected with 0 issue. L

 

[Aesop]

I also had massive problems with my Dualsense and Bluetooth on PC until I plugged in the optional WiFi Antenna and realized it also extends the Bluetooth range.. Why the fk is it called WiFi antenna .. or maybe I'm just stupid. Works flawless now

 

[SOLDIER]

Disable your built in bluetooth adapter, plug this guy in and it should show in your windows bluetooth settings as a bluetooth device and let you pair exactly the same way as your internal adapter, assuming you were doing it through the Windows bluetooth settings. If it doesn't work return it (would keep the box and all that in good nick).

Theres a reply in this article that gives an idea the best way to disable your internal bluetooth. In to device manager and disable it before you plug in the dongle.

How to turn off internal Bluetooth and use a USB Bluetooth Dongle | DELL Technologies

I wish to disable the internal bluetooth radio in my Dell XPS 15 9500 using Windows 11. Instead I will be using it with a TP-Link USB500 USB Bluetooth Adapter. How do I go about disabling th...

www.dell.com

At least it's cheap enough to test for a few days, see if you have the issues. If you do return it. If you don't then you know its an issue with your internal Bluetooth, maybe driver reinstalls and such would help.

Click to shrink...

Can't quite figure out which one of these would be my internal blueooth:

Besides the adapter and controller.

 

[Spacejaws]

Can't quite figure out which one of these would be my internal blueooth:

Besides the adapter and controller.

Click to shrink...

Would have thought just the two Bluetooth adapters being disabled would be enough. Strange you have two! And the little warning canary at Bluetooth 5 is a no good as well unless one of those is the USB Bluetooth.

Try disabling just the controllers first, plug in your bluetooth usb and pair your controller. Once its paired, unplug your usb bluetooth, if the controllers connected to it it'll drop. If it's connected internally it wont.

If it doesn't drop start disabling the others. The only one thats odd for me is the Dualsense bluetooth controller as I dont remember seeing that and not sure if its a good idea to disable or even remove it and add the controller fresh.

 

[Flappy Pannus]

It's usually USB interference. USB, especially USB3, are terrible for interfering with wifi/bluetooth.

Get a small USB extension cable, plug the adapter into the end of that, and any $8 bluetooth dongle should be far more solid.

 

[SOLDIER]

Would have thought just the two Bluetooth adapters being disabled would be enough. Strange you have two! And the little warning canary at Bluetooth 5 is a no good as well unless one of those is the USB Bluetooth.

Try disabling just the controllers first, plug in your bluetooth usb and pair your controller. Once its paired, unplug your usb bluetooth, if the controllers connected to it it'll drop. If it's connected internally it wont.

If it doesn't drop start disabling the others. The only one thats odd for me is the Dualsense bluetooth controller as I dont remember seeing that and not sure if its a good idea to disable or even remove it and add the controller fresh.

Click to shrink...

This is with the USB adapter plugged in, btw. I don't know why 5.0 and 5 are listed at the same time, and disabling/uninstalling the 5 with the warning canary won't get rid of it.

The bluetooth seems to be turned off internally on my PC now, as unplugging the adapter makes all these devices disappear.

Here's the thing though: while I can't confirm yet if this adapter is fixing my disconnecting controller issues, it DOES present a new problem: my controller won't connect at all each time I turn off/restart my PC. I have to go to the Bluetooth page, remove the Dualsense, and then pair it again so that it works.

I really don't want to have to do this every time, so even if this adapter solves the disconnecting issues, this is actually a more annoying one. Please continue to assist me.

 

[Dezzy]

Can't quite figure out which one of these would be my internal blueooth:

Besides the adapter and controller.

Click to shrink...

Did you check BIOS settings for an option to disable it? My MSI board had the option in the same menu as on-board Ethernet and audio.

 

[SOLDIER]

Did you check BIOS settings for an option to disable it? My MSI board had the option in the same menu as on-board Ethernet and audio.

Click to shrink...

I haven't been able to find it if there is an option.

This is my PC by the way: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-ome...080-1tb-ssd-jet-black/6487503.p?skuId=6487503

 

[Spacejaws]

This is with the USB adapter plugged in, btw. I don't know why 5.0 and 5 are listed at the same time, and disabling/uninstalling the 5 with the warning canary won't get rid of it.

The bluetooth seems to be turned off internally on my PC now, as unplugging the adapter makes all these devices disappear.

Here's the thing though: while I can't confirm yet if this adapter is fixing my disconnecting controller issues, it DOES present a new problem: my controller won't connect at all each time I turn off/restart my PC. I have to go to the Bluetooth page, remove the Dualsense, and then pair it again so that it works.

I really don't want to have to do this every time, so even if this adapter solves the disconnecting issues, this is actually a more annoying one. Please continue to assist me.

Click to shrink...

Ah sorry dude that sucks. Happen to have any other bluetooth devices you could test with? Like headphones?

See if they do the same thing. If so maybe try and enable the two enumerators, reboot and try again. That warning canary does theres something wrong with that device, not a great thing to see. Could have been causing your issues previously?

If your having these odd bluetooth issues maybe you would be best to just uninstall all those devices and reboot. Windows will install the basic drivers and you can get specific ones from your computer manufacturer. Looking at the model possibly it's this one?

Realtek RTL8821CE/RTL8822CE Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Driver | Driver Details | Dell UK

(Looks like its a combined bluetooth and wifi driver so always a small risk your wifi doesn't work after if it fails, realtek stuff usually is pretty stable though and if it does fail uninstall the adapter in device manager and reboot and windows will just go back to the default driver again)

Also if you haven't already make sure the dongle is plugged in the front USB's.

 

[Pharaoh]

Sony needs to release a dongle that supports the DualSense features over wireless

Click to shrink...

This. Sony should either release a proprietary dongle or support it via Bluetooth, even if it demands the most recent version of it to work.

It's so frustrating that you have to use it wired to support the DualSense features. Hell, if you want to use the DualSense in games like RE4 and Dead Space natively, without using a middle man like Steam Input or DS4Windows, you have to use it wired since the games only recognizes the DualSense that way (even though both games don't support Haptics nor Adaptive Triggers).

DualSense native support on PC is a frustrating mess.

 

[SOLDIER]

Unfortunately I still have this problem; it'll work perfect for the most part, days at a time, but last night during an online SF6 match the damn controller disconnected, and once again I had to hold the PS button down completely to shut it off, then hold it back to turn it on so it could pair.

I'll also run into occasions where it says my Bluetooth is turned off in the Bluetooth settings, and it won't turn back on unless I do a full restart of my PC.

The dongle that was listed before didn't help at all, so I returned it. I'm still looking for any other ideas/accessories I can try.