Windows 10: Designer Bluetooth Desktop Keyboard disconnects / no connection at startup

Hi!


Since mid October 2020 my Microsoft BT designer keyboard has massive connection issues: It is mostly not connected before windows login, so I cannot use it to log in. Further whenever I do not use the keyboard for a few minutes it disconnects and sometimes needs many keystrokes and ~ 10-20 seconds to reconnect. In rare cases I have to reconnect in the BT settings page.


What I find suspicious:


The drivers assigned to the bt keyboard are from 2006 is this normal?:

umpass.inf ver 10.0.19041.488 Bluetooth LE Device

The keyboard does not have a power management tab in device manager details.
Search for updates says the driver is up to date.


The keyboard worked fine until mid October. All other BT devices incl. the MD designer BT mouse are working perfectly. It is pretty obvious that it is an BT energy saving issue and it may be related to Windows updates in October.


This is what I already tried:


* unpaired and paired the keyboard

* inserted fresh batteries

* driver search in device manager

* uninstalled all bt devices in device manager

* checked energy saving settings / power plan

* tried some settings to bt in services.msc like mentioned in MS forums

* the vendor actually replaced the hardware

* reported in feedback hub

* opened a support ticket

I am using an HP Probook 440 G6 with integrated Intel Wireless Bluetooth.


Any ideas what to do?

:)

 

Designer Bluetooth Desktop Keyboard bluetooth constantly disconnecting

Followed all steps, still no resolution, and my bluetooth mouse, headset, and even and xbox one controller all work and connect perfectly to bluetooth. Only the keyboard disconnects and unpairs. I highly doubt it is the keyboard's hardware, as it operates
just fine when its actually connected.

 

Designer Bluetooth Desktop Keyboard bluetooth constantly disconnecting

The Microsoft Designer Bluetooth Desktop Keyboard and Mouse as per the title of this thread...

 

Designer Bluetooth Desktop Keyboard bluetooth constantly disconnecting

The bluetooth connection frequently drops if I allow the keyboard to idle for too long, even within a few minutes. Pairing the keyboard works fine and encounters no problems, but its an inconvenience to have to do this every time I leave the keyboard for
more then 5 or so minutes.

I am running Windows 10, the bluetooth drivers are updated, and troubleshooting turns up no problems. I have the services set to Automatic (Trigger Start) under the services manager. I even replaced the batteries. The bluetooth is connected through a usb
dongle using bluetooth 4.0, but I use other bluetooth devices that do not encounter this problem, such as a headset that connects every time I turn it on.

I searched through other questions and it seems that some others have encountered this problem, but none of the questions were answered and some were older from last year.

I suspect that the problem is a power management setting that allows my pc to turn the bluetooth device off to conserve power. I encountered this problem with a previous bluetooth keyboard while using Windows 7, and once the setting had been deselected,
the problem was resolved and the keyboard woke up anytime I began typing. However, on Windows 10, the power management tab under the designer keyboard in the device manager registry option that allows
the computer to put the device to sleep is greyed out but unchecked , so I cannot check or uncheck the setting. The power management through the dongle is set to not allow the computer to put the device to sleep.

I asked this question awhile back and the solution was to turn the service to Automatic trigger start from the Windows Service registry. While this did not directly solve the problem, as the keyboard
still went to sleep occassionally. I could open the bluetooth page and simply tap a key on my keyboard and it reconnected without any further steps, so it was an easy enough fix. This is no longer the case, as the keyboard will sometimes disconnect even if
it states its still paired in the bluetooth devices list.

Thank you for your help

*Edit: I forgot to mention that occasionally when the keyboard has disconnected and I try typing to reconnect it, the computer will actually freeze up, and my mouse will not be able to move for a few seconds. This only started happening in the past month
after the Windows update. It resolves itself quickly, and I can reuse the mouse. But the mouse isn't connected the the bluetooth receiver, its a logitech that uses logitechs micro usb receiver.