Cradle

Troubleshooting

Audio cuts out on Windows with a Bluetooth headset

When a Bluetooth headset works on Windows but Cradle calls drop in and out, the usual culprits are Bluetooth power management, competing devices, and the Bluetooth adapter going to sleep.

A Bluetooth headset that pairs fine and plays music cleanly, but cuts out mid-call on Cradle, is one of the most frequent specific tickets we see. It happens because your laptop's built-in Bluetooth has to share airtime with everything else nearby and can't sustain a clean voice stream.

The supported fix is to stop using your laptop's built-in Bluetooth. Switch to one of:

  • A manufacturer USB dongle (such as a Jabra Link 380) paired to the matching headset.
  • A wired USB or 3.5 mm connection.
  • A DECT headset with its own base station.

We don't support audio issues that come from a Bluetooth headset paired directly to a laptop's built-in Bluetooth. The mitigations below sometimes reduce the symptoms, but the underlying conflict doesn't go away. Only changing the connection does.

See Bluetooth headsets for the broader story.

Quick checks (try these first)

  1. If your headset has a manufacturer USB dongle, plug it in and use that instead of your laptop's built-in Bluetooth. This is the recommended path.
  2. Move the headset and any pairing dongle within a metre or two of the laptop, with line of sight.
  3. Update your Bluetooth driver. Check your laptop manufacturer's support site for the current Bluetooth driver.

Stop Windows putting the Bluetooth adapter to sleep

Windows aggressively powers down USB and Bluetooth devices when it thinks they're idle. On a call, your headset is silent during the moments you're listening, and Windows can mistake that for idle and cut power.

  1. Press the Windows key and type Device Manager.
  2. Expand Bluetooth.
  3. Right-click your Bluetooth adapter (and your headset's dongle if it's listed separately) and choose Properties.
  4. On the Power Management tab, turn off Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
  5. Click OK.

Repeat for any USB hubs you have in Universal Serial Bus controllers if the headset's dongle plugs in via a hub.

Reduce competing Bluetooth devices

Bluetooth shares the same 2.4 GHz frequency band as Wi-Fi and as every other Bluetooth device in the room. The more devices, the more contention, and the more likely audio drops out.

  • Unpair Bluetooth devices you're not actively using, such as old earbuds, idle speakers, or headsets you've changed jobs from.
  • If your Bluetooth mouse or keyboard is fine on wired alternatives, switch them over while you're on calls.
  • Move any 2.4 GHz wireless devices (cordless phones, microwaves, USB 3.0 hubs which generate noise) away from the laptop.

Use the manufacturer dongle, or switch to wired / DECT

If your headset shipped with a USB dongle, that's the right tool for this job. The dongle gives the headset a dedicated Bluetooth radio that doesn't share with anything else.

If your headset didn't come with a dongle, some manufacturers sell them separately. For Jabra business headsets, the Link 380 is the universal dongle. If you can't get a compatible dongle, switch to a wired headset or a DECT headset for the calls that matter. Those are the connection types we support.

See Bluetooth headsets for the longer story.

Realtek and other audio drivers

A specific Windows / Realtek driver bug causes intermittent audio dropouts on some laptops with Bluetooth headsets. Symptoms include audio cutting out for half a second every minute or so, regardless of distance from the headset.

  • Check your laptop manufacturer's support site for an audio driver update. Don't use Windows Update for this; Windows often ships a generic driver that's worse than the manufacturer's specific one.
  • Restart the laptop after installing.

Disable Bluetooth audio enhancements

Windows applies audio enhancements to Bluetooth output by default. They sometimes make things worse for calls.

  1. Right-click the speaker icon in the taskbar.
  2. Choose Sounds.
  3. On the Playback tab, find your Bluetooth headset, right-click, and choose Properties.
  4. Under Advanced (or Enhancements on Windows 10), turn off any enhancements that are on.
  5. Click OK.

Still stuck?

If the audio still drops, the path of least resistance is a manufacturer USB dongle, a wired headset, or a DECT headset for the calls that matter. These are the connection types we support.

  • Email help@cradle.io with your laptop model, headset model, and a description of the dropout pattern.
  • Cradle support hours are 8:30 am – 5:00 pm New Zealand time, Monday to Friday.

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