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Preset wifi profiles on my Vario 2 = Free Hotspot access?

I was using my phone on my wifi connection earlier today, and I noticed in the Networks dialog there's a bunch of wifi connections already there (but I've not used the phone in town, and I've never even seen some of these wifi hotspot names before), so that got me thinking...
... Does the fact that I'm subscribed to Web 'n Walk as part of my tariff mean that I also have free access to any of the hotspots predefined in the list on my wifi networks screen?
Here's the full list:
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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}
Anybody have the faintest clue as to why these are already in my wifi networks list?

Yeah, I've got an idea. It's 2nd hand or ex-display. considering no-one else has reported having these hot-spots pre-configured on their Vario2s, it seems logical or at least likely that the device has been used before.
i.e. returned under the 14 day guarantee that if not satisfied with the product, they'll take it back and squash the contract. look under 'device information' and then call duration. If the call duration exceeds your actual usage, then that prooves it. If however it matches your call usage (see you call history), then maybe just maybe, T-Mobile have introduced this to their extended ROM in newer devices, but I doubt it.

All calls: 27min, 30sec.
This about tallies with the amount of calls I've made (mainly to customer services to get stuff like HSDPA set up) and a query about my account, plus a call to my Dad and a couple of mates...
I did notice during the customisation process that there was a cab containing 'June 2006' in its filename... Here's my ROM and hw stats:
ROM: 1.21.110.3
ROM date: 06/19/06
Radio: 1.05.05.00
Protocol ver: 32.36.7010.04H
My boot screen shows (in red)
M05
S04
B06
D1.21
at the lower left of the screen, and then my Radio and ROM versions show up fleetingly before the device shows the Windows Mobile splash screen. The device also had its protective screen cover on, which I had to peel off - and didn't look like the screen had been touched or used. Of course, they could clean it...
... I don't think this was a refurb though. Course, I could be wrong. I suppose I'll have to go find a wifi hotspot, or maybe ring up T-Mobile cust. services and ask :/

My Vario II also has lots of preconfigured wifi networks on it.
When I received the phone I did check the calls in/out and they were both 0 mins and the phone was immaculate (no scratches, fingerprints etc..) so I would be surprised if it was a return.
I have no idea if these wifi settings relate to free hotspots though or whether you would still have to buy a wifi key if you happened to be in range of one of them. I will give it a go next time I am in a larger town, where I live I don't think there are any public wifi hotspots.

I'm in Brum, so I'll go check it out (there's a T-Mobile hotspot in the bar just outside my uni building, which is actually a student bar too, so I'll have just go and have a couple of pints and investimagate

yeah, mine had all those preconfigured too. think it's standard.

christopherwoods said:
All calls: 27min, 30sec.
This about tallies with the amount of calls I've made (mainly to customer services to get stuff like HSDPA set up) and a query about my account, plus a call to my Dad and a couple of mates...
I did notice during the customisation process that there was a cab containing 'June 2006' in its filename... Here's my ROM and hw stats:
ROM: 1.21.110.3
ROM date: 06/19/06
Radio: 1.05.05.00
Protocol ver: 32.36.7010.04H
My boot screen shows (in red)
M05
S04
B06
D1.21
at the lower left of the screen, and then my Radio and ROM versions show up fleetingly before the device shows the Windows Mobile splash screen. The device also had its protective screen cover on, which I had to peel off - and didn't look like the screen had been touched or used. Of course, they could clean it...
... I don't think this was a refurb though. Course, I could be wrong. I suppose I'll have to go find a wifi hotspot, or maybe ring up T-Mobile cust. services and ask :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow. Very interesting indeed. I'm glad to be wrong. I wonder what else you and the other guys have in your extended ROMs as this does indeed seem to be a part of Your ROM. Please let us know how you got on with the Hotspots investigation and beers.

My Vario2 came pre-loaded with eleventy million different wi-fi profiles and wondered about free hot-spot access myself but when I tried to access the hot spot at my local Starbucks it still asked me for a log on I'd & password - I tried the log on I have for My T-Mobile but it came back as invalid. My guess is you have to subscribe to hot spot access seperately.

I just noticed in my Programs list I have an Interactive menu (with the T Mobile logo superimposed over a picture of a SIM card)... Clicking it goes into an app called 'STK Service', which gives me an interactive menu.
I have the usual, Fun, Info, Music, Chat, Sports, Games, Text plus, Groups, Voicemail, t-zones (oh aye?) and Prepay topup...
So I click on t-zones, it shows a white screen with the text 't-zones' on it, and the soft keys turn into Yes and No. I click Yes, and it opens IE with a weird URL (all boxes, so in a character set I can't discern), then WM5 shows a dialog box with "Cannot connect with current connection settings. TO change your connection settings, tap Settings."
The plot thickens...

I have all of those access points as well. And mine is a brand new Vario II.

I emailed T-Mobile a while back asking this, and the other week I got a response:
Ross @ T-Mobile said:
Hi Christopher,
Thank you for your email about Wifi on your MDA.
The profiles on you phone are mostly T-Mobile related, there are some which are for T-Mobile in other countries, BT is also there as we have an agreement with them. The others are just large Wifi providers.
They are put on the phone just to make it easier for you to connect to them. They are not essential in any way to making your phone work and if you want to delete them it will not cause any problems.
I hope this answers your question, if you have any further queries please don't hesitate to contact us again.
Kind regards
RossT-Mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just a bit of preferential configuration on their part Only takes a minute to remove though, so it's ok.

I have the exact same pre-configured Wifi profiles on mine. I just deleted them.

me2

Yeah, I got a response a while back from T-Mobile - they are purely 'to help you connect to one of our hotspots more easily' for want of a better way of putting it.
I did a more custom install this time round when I got my replacement Hermes, and didn't install the CAB which sets up the access point SSIDs in the Wifi Network profiles... They now don't appear.
The TM rep confirmed that I didn't have access to the networks, they were just there as, effectively, shortcuts.

Not true
mackaby007 said:
Yeah, I've got an idea. It's 2nd hand or ex-display. considering no-one else has reported having these hot-spots pre-configured on their Vario2s, it seems logical or at least likely that the device has been used before.
i.e. returned under the 14 day guarantee that if not satisfied with the product, they'll take it back and squash the contract. look under 'device information' and then call duration. If the call duration exceeds your actual usage, then that prooves it. If however it matches your call usage (see you call history), then maybe just maybe, T-Mobile have introduced this to their extended ROM in newer devices, but I doubt it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine was brand new and sealed and came like this. There is another thread about it somewhere as I remember seeing it - it definately doesn;t mean it isn't new.

Totally brand-new Vario - and these (useful) profiles were included.
If you use BT's Total Broadband package (as I do) then you will have 500 free OpenZone minutes to use every month (something they do not advertise very much).

mackaby007 said:
Yeah, I've got an idea. It's 2nd hand or ex-display. considering no-one else has reported having these hot-spots pre-configured on their Vario2s, it seems logical or at least likely that the device has been used before.
i.e. returned under the 14 day guarantee that if not satisfied with the product, they'll take it back and squash the contract. look under 'device information' and then call duration. If the call duration exceeds your actual usage, then that prooves it. If however it matches your call usage (see you call history), then maybe just maybe, T-Mobile have introduced this to their extended ROM in newer devices, but I doubt it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's so not true. I broke the security seal on the package. There was not a single finger mark or anything, you don't need to be a genius to tell if a phone is ex-display or 2nd hand.

(Help) Google Maps My Location and Vogue

So Google is currently offering a beta version of the GPS Emulation software in the latest Google maps. My problem is that I can't get it to work with my Sprint Touch (Vogue), I keep getting a "Your location is currently unavailable" message. A co-worker of mine is able to get the My Location feature to work on his Blackberry. I was wondering if sprint is blocking this part of the software. Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Edit: Yeah sorry my location is Chicago, IL and my carrier is Sprint. Apparently it works on the regular touch so maybe a different ROM would fix it. According to Google the reason My location isn't working is because "The device is not reporting a cell". Now I haven't got a clue what that means, so if someone more knowledgeable has any idea any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jack Everyman said:
So Google is currently offering a beta version of the GPS Emulation software in the latest Google maps. My problem is that I can't get it to work with my Sprint Touch (Vogue), I keep getting a "Your location is currently unavailable" message. A co-worker of mine is able to get the My Location feature to work on his Blackberry. I was wondering if sprint is blocking this part of the software. Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hasn't worked for me either in the Baltimore <-> DC area. I'm assuming Sprint is blocking it.
If you do get it working report your general area and cell provider.

The GPS feature of the Sprint Touch has not been activated yet, offcially.
Unless I am misunderstanding your questions... It won't work until GPS is turned on...

Insoc said:
The GPS feature of the Sprint Touch has not been activated yet, offcially.
Unless I am misunderstanding your questions... It won't work until GPS is turned on...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This services uses Cell Tower Triangulation when GPS is not available...SO it should still work

As well sprint does list the Touch as one of the phones that works with their Family Locator software. So...

I was wrong...
http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/11/google_talks_up.html
Sorry, I was wrong about the GPS comment...

I'm on Bell in Canada, the GPS locating didn't work for me but I did get an automated call from Bell the other day welcoming me to their service, the message also mentioned that my "phone has a global positioning chip that will help locate you in a case of emergency"
So we need to figure out how to unlock GPS. I heard Sprint will be providing an update that unlocks it sometime soon, but that doesn't help me

I have a Htc Touch with Telus, and because GPS is disable for now, I was able to configure a External gps receiver with Google Maps mobile. Works very good.

Google Maps
The locator in Google maps doesnt have anything to do with GPS. I have sprint with the touch in Utah and mine doesnt work either.

The google maps locator is based on cellphone tower triangulation and it seems to be not compatible with sprint at this time. I 'think' microsoft is working on this with sprint for live search too ... someone in livesearch told me the other day "I can't tell you what we're working on but we've got more new things coming (for livesearch)" when I mentioned it.

..cont
It's a nifty idea and free but it's not all that accurate... like a few blocks to a mile or more.
I don't know about you but when I'm in my car I can usually tell you where I am within a mile or so without the help of a satellite or other electronic devices.

If the live search rumor is true that is great, but my interest in this is not to know where I am, but to know what is around me.

I don't this this technology will work with Sprint or Verizon because of the way CDMA works. Maybe in the future but not now.

Here's the article that said it was coming on Live Search/Sprint
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/09/18/sprint-microsoft-roll-out-location-based-live-search/
Sprint, Microsoft roll out location-based Live Search
Posted Sep 18th 2007 12:02PM by Donald Melanson
Filed under: Software, Sprint
It looks like Sprint users now have a few more search options at their disposal, with the carrier and Microsoft announcing today that Live Search will now automatically take the users' location into consideration. Apparently, the service makes use of cell-tower triangulation, and not GPS, to determine the users location, making it somewhat less accurate but far more widely available. What's more, the pair also announced a new voice search feature that'll work with five of Sprint's high end phones, including the Samsung a900 and a920, the Motorola Razr, the Sanyo 840 and the LG 550. As you can probably guess, it will let you speak search terms instead of typing them in, with it also giving you the option to press a button to call the business you're searching for. While Sprint is getting all Microsoft's attention at the moment, the company is quick to point out that the service is not exclusive, and "could become available via other operators in the future."

...more
note reference to GPS and 2008 update
https://shopbiz.sprint.com/popup_product2.php?phone_id=MP6900SP&bundleID=2256
http://www.wmexperts.com/articles/rumors/sprint_to_finally_switch_on_gp.html

I'm on Bell Mobility in Ottawa, Canada (Village of Carp) and "Your current location is temporarily unavailable" shows up for me too. I have the Vogue and blazing 1 Mbps speed. I'm opening up Google Maps every time I go out and hit 0 trying to get the towers more input. What is the word on Bell and Google Maps, am I doing this for nothing? Greater Ottawa has a population of 1 million, is Canada's capital and, therefore, should be a large dot! Mind you, best we stay hidden from nukes I guess....
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I am in the GHBOA - Greater Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville Area (anyone who lives here will think that’s funny) and also on Bell Mobility and I am getting the same “Your current location is temporarily unavailable” message.
I double-checked to make sure that my location service was turned on. My understanding from what I have read is that Google Maps will:
A) Use true GPS if present and show a blue dot to represent approximate location.
B) Fall back to tower triangulation if GPS is not available and show a blue dot with a light blue “halo” around it to represent approximate location.
On top of that I think we have also established in another tread on this board that the Vogue does indeed have a true GPS receiver inside but we are waiting in a firmware upgrade to enable it. In the meantime however the approximate location service using tower triangulation should work.
Perhaps GSM and CDMA networks report tower triangulation information differently and perhaps Google Maps only knows how to use the GSM info??? I have no idea if that makes sense but we CDMA folks do seem to get the short end of the stick a lot

I have a crazy idea that I want to “air” here and see what others think. Could it be that the Google Maps “My Location” feature doesn’t work on the Vogue because the Vogue has a real GPS receiver that is currently disabled?
I am thinking this because I did the following:
Start > Settings > System > External GPS > Access
There I disabled the “Manage GPS automatically”. This feature apparently gives Windows control of the GPS receiver and Windows marshals which programs can access it.
I then reset Google Maps and tried “Menu > Use GPS”. This resulted in “Initializing GPS” for a few minutes after which I got a message saying my GPS receiver wasn’t responding.
However I then went back into Start > Settings > System > External GPS > Access and re-enabled the “Manage GPS automatically” feature. I then went back into Google Maps (after resetting it again) and tried “Menu > Use GPS”. This time it resulted in a “Seeking GPS satellites (0)” message that never seemed to stop and never reported an error message.
So, my thinking is that perhaps Google Maps knows there is a physical GPS receiver in the Vogue and is trying to talk to it indefinitely and as a result is not falling back to tower-triangulation mode. Because the GPS is present but not enabled in the firmware Google Maps knows it is there but isn’t getting the appropriate response that would cause it to give up on GPS and switch to “tower” mode.
Just a thought... Does this sound reasonable to anyone?

That's exactly what I observed and thought as well, but people tell me I need more cell users to use GMaps for tower input. I'm beginning to think that's not the case, too many other reports of "unavailable" in highly populated areas. The Vogue just CAN'T do it on Bell CDMA. Has there been ANY positive reports with this box and CDMA? Nope...

touchbell said:
That's exactly what I observed and thought as well, but people tell me I need more cell users to use GMaps for tower input. I'm beginning to think that's not the case, too many other reports of "unavailable" in highly populated areas. The Vogue just CAN'T do it on Bell CDMA. Has there been ANY positive reports with this box and CDMA? Nope...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we may just have to wait for that firmware upgrade that’s supposed to enable EVDO Rev A as well as the GPS.
At least this confirms that Google Maps behavior is modified by the GPS settings in Windows. It apparently “thinks” it is talking to a GPS receiver when you enable it on the Windows side. Assuming my theory is right maybe Google will come up with an update that lets the user specify to use tower-triangulation all the time regardless of the presence of a GPS or not.

Will garmin be availabe on Nexus One

Garmin and Asus have released several GarminFone with Garmin navigation software. I know it's not in 2.1.
Will there be garmin running on Nexus One(2.1 or 2.2)?
Thanks!

Why would you need that...

I agree, why would you need that if you can already download Google Maps from the market?
I have a Garmin Nuvi 265 T in my car and the software is almost identical to Google Maps Navigation.

lol. You can always tell when people have solid coverage all around them. For many of us no matter which carrier we are on we are often without coverage. That makes online mapping useless to us at those times, hence the need for having a solution that works without a data connection. There are also those who are running their phones on wifi without a data plan or those who are pay per kilobyte and would prefer not pull down the data required.

Garmin allows offline turn by turn right?
That's why someone would want garmin on their phones.

I dont believe that to be true.
If I have no satellite signal the Garmin barks right away.
You get a popup screen that says Poor Satellite Reception.
I've even seen it on a clear day without a cloud in the sky.

lnjryan said:
I dont believe that to be true.
If I have no satellite signal the Garmin barks right away.
You get a popup screen that says Poor Satellite Reception.
I've even seen it on a clear day without a cloud in the sky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the previous post was meaning "offline" as being not connected to the internet. The garmin units do not require an internet data connection but must be able to receive the GPS signal. When you are traveling outside your phone coverage area the data connection on your phone is worthless. Thus the need for a stand alone GPS unit.

Forgot to mention that Navigon is supposed to hit here shortly with their android navigation. I emailed them and they described the launch as "imminent". That one will reportedly come in two versions, a stand alone and a connected version.

btmec said:
I believe the previous post was meaning "offline" as being not connected to the internet. The garmin units do not require an internet data connection but must be able to receive the GPS signal. When you are traveling outside your phone coverage area the data connection on your phone is worthless. Thus the need for a stand alone GPS unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so then again why would you want this on your nexus one...
and doesn't the nexus have a GPS receiver?

lnjryan said:
so then again why would you want this on your nexus one...
and doesn't the nexus have a GPS receiver?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, you are obviously in the dark about this thing, so why comment?
The guy is looking for an offline navigation app, one that has maps and routing abilities stored on the phone flash card. I need such a solution too and think it would be great to have a garmin app for android.
Unfortunately I am quite sure it will be non-profitable for garmin to release such, as it will be hacked in hours after the release.

lnjryan said:
so then again why would you want this on your nexus one...
and doesn't the nexus have a GPS receiver?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe I'll make it more clear...
People want to be able to navigate using GPS ONLY, not using EDGE/3G/HSDPA data.
There are already solutions for that, free and paid (cracked MotoNav adjusted for Nexus, CoPilot, Sygic, Waze etc), but naturally, people want better solutions, and some want Garmin - why not? Also, iGO is supposed to release the next Android version, which might be better than the one MotoNav is based on.
And yes, Nexus has a built-in GPS receiver. Too many don't understand the meaning of A-GPS, which is just a regular GPS, but the lock is acquired more quickly, using cellular triangulation to calculate approximate position and look for specific satellites available at that position, speeding the GPS lock time by a serious margin. Or using other algorithms for speeding up the GPS lock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

so then again why would you want this on your nexus one...
and doesn't the nexus have a GPS receiver?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to spell it out as much as possible:
A Garmin system keeps all maps locally stored on the device, so the only signal needed is GPS (aka being outside). All route information is calculated on device, with no 3G/E needed.
The Google Maps system only stores what you have downloaded through 3G/E in its cache, so it needs a pretty constant 3G/E connection in order to download maps, navigation routes, etc, as well as the GPS to position. Not everywhere you go has a 3G/E connection, so Google Maps doesn't work everywhere.
Garmin only needs a GPS signal to navigate, Google Maps needs a GPS connection and a 3G/E connection.

NexuGsx said:
I'm going to spell it out as much as possible:
A Garmin system keeps all maps locally stored on the device, so the only signal needed is GPS (aka being outside). All route information is calculated on device, with no 3G/E needed.
The Google Maps system only stores what you have downloaded through 3G/E in its cache, so it needs a pretty constant 3G/E connection in order to download maps, navigation routes, etc, as well as the GPS to position. Not everywhere you go has a 3G/E connection, so Google Maps doesn't work everywhere.
Garmin only needs a GPS signal to navigate, Google Maps needs a GPS connection and a 3G/E connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good clarification !
now, about the google maps cache; how much "look ahead" does it cache, if any ? I haven't experimented with turning off connectivity (cellular) on the phone while using the navigation app yet, so I'm curious.
if it were easily possible to cache ohhh, just the route, on a 1000 meter resolution for a long trip, wouldn't that work fairly well ?
I'm sure someone here is a garmin/gmaps/copilot guru, and can answer that. Hope I haven't changed the subject too much.

I would like to see some posters in this thread use Google Maps abroad, you know when you actually need navigation, when they are roaming. Say hello to a pretty hefty phone bill if you used Google Maps for your navigation needs.
More offline map solutions are needed on Android and hopefully they will come soon.

SBS_ said:
I would like to see some posters in this thread use Google Maps abroad, you know when you actually need navigation, when they are roaming. Say hello to a pretty hefty phone bill if you used Google Maps for your navigation needs.
More offline map solutions are needed on Android and hopefully they will come soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
totaly agree with you .... also in Bulgaria 1MB 3G/E traffic cost around 3EUR - so if i need to be navigated morning from home to my workplace it will cost me more then the fuel

Just to clarify, as I know, Google Navigation is just available in a few countries and it doesn't provide offline map and needs data connection to download map...
If your country doesn't have Google Navigation, or the expense of GPRS/EDGE/3G is expensive(for example, in xxx, it cost about 1.5$ for 1M), you will need Garmin or something else that provide offline map(doesn't need data connection), navigation.
Garmin is available in symbian and win mobile now. Hope Nexus One could have it soon...

tostefoo said:
totaly agree with you .... also in Bulgaria 1MB 3G/E traffic cost around 3EUR - so if i need to be navigated morning from home to my workplace it will cost me more then the fuel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The expense of adding my google account and downloading 2.1 update1 is 18.5$ when Nexus one was started for the first time. Just 19M data, can you imagine?
Off course, it's not in U.S.

Jack_R1 said:
Maybe I'll make it more clear...
People want to be able to navigate using GPS ONLY, not using EDGE/3G/HSDPA data.
There are already solutions for that, free and paid (cracked MotoNav adjusted for Nexus, CoPilot, Sygic, Waze etc), but naturally, people want better solutions, and some want Garmin - why not? Also, iGO is supposed to release the next Android version, which might be better than the one MotoNav is based on.
And yes, Nexus has a built-in GPS receiver. Too many don't understand the meaning of A-GPS, which is just a regular GPS, but the lock is acquired more quickly, using cellular triangulation to calculate approximate position and look for specific satellites available at that position, speeding the GPS lock time by a serious margin. Or using other algorithms for speeding up the GPS lock: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for explaining it to me... obviously I didn't understand the OP's question...

I caught this on LH a few weeks ago:
http://lifehacker.com/5508032/mapdroyd-downloads-free-maps-for-offline-navigation
MapDroyd Downloads Free Maps for Offline Navigation
http://lifehacker.com/5508032/mapdroyd-downloads-free-maps-for-offline-navigation
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Android: When you're traveling where a cellular connection is fairly certain, Google Maps' own Navigation tool is a total GPS replacement. For those without data plans, or heading into the wilds, MapDroyd makes for a nice offline map backup.
When you start the app, you'll want to hit the Menu button and head right to "Manage Maps," where you can then drill down from continents to countries, to states and provinces and districts, and check off the maps you'd like to have available offline. Sizes will vary, but assuming you've got a decent microSD card installed, 34 MB for New York state, for example, is hardly a burden. The map data comes from OpenStreetMap, which has some fairly reliable highway and main thoroughfare information.
Gas stations and major restaurants will show up on your maps, as will other landmarks, depending on how well covered your area is by the open-source mapping crowd. You don't get directions or automatic searches of nearby spots, but the app can locate you by GPS. If it can't fix your GPS position, you will, unfortunately, have to manually zoom in from the world view to your own little corner of the world, where you're trying desperately to get back on the highway.
MapDroyd is a free download for Android phones only.
MapDroyd [via Android and Me]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

krabman said:
Forgot to mention that Navigon is supposed to hit here shortly with their android navigation. I emailed them and they described the launch as "imminent". That one will reportedly come in two versions, a stand alone and a connected version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android navigon is out for some time now. not NA version tough . don't understand what you mean by stand alone and connected version .

HD2 Handset or 3G Blackspot?

Right. You might remember I had connection issues with the HD2. I sent it off for repair, and it came back, but now displaying "3G+" at the top. This was super fast and everything was working fine. Now, all of a sudden it has gone back to 3G that is REALLY slow! Now, I see other people are having this problem. According to Vodafone, I am in a 3G blackspot and there is nothing I can do. If this was the case, I would never receive 3G+ in the first place, which they just ignore when I ask them about it. Could it possibly be the phone? I personally think Vodafone are just messing me around

Only 1 view? Any reply would be appreciated, this is an ongoing problem for me...

Edited : Was being a fool

Just because people look at it it doesn't mean they are going to have an answer i have seen some threads on here go unanswered for the best part of the day until someone comes on-line that actually has an answer, so just give it time, not every member knows what everybody else knows, that's why its a forum for people to club together and help each other out.
rant over

Oh ok, I'm sorry

Ok, so now Vodafone are ignoring me, which is just great (pfft). I would appreciate ANY help if there are any tips as to any procedures I could undertake. The HSDPA I was receiving just cut out the other night, and won't budge from 3G any more, not even to G or E, which is kinda annoying.

Have you tried it in a different area? You'll not get HSDPA coverage everywhere - that's normal. The way you're talking, seems like you're just sitting in your house testing it.

Of course I've tested it elsewhere. What you need to understand is though, I was receiving HSDPA full in my house for a good few days after I got the phone back from repair, now its just gone. All of a sudden, gone. I try doing the network selection process again, and the 3G+ flickers for a millisecond at the most, and then disappears. I don't know why this is happening, I used to get brilliant HSDPA connection wherever I went in Preston

Just to give you guys a glimpse of EXACTLY how bad the connection is, I ran a speed test on my phone via speedtest.net. Here are the results:
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There is DEFINITELY something wrong here, but what could it be?

Faz20 said:
Just to give you guys a glimpse of EXACTLY how bad the connection is, I ran a speed test on my phone via speedtest.net. Here are the results:
There is DEFINITELY something wrong here, but what could it be?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is wrong? that you're getting as-expected 3G speed (.38mbps is the equivalent of 384kbps 3G standard) or the fact that you're getting a 3G+ symbol but are only getting 3G speed? Just because it's showing 3G+ (im assuming that it's similar to HSPA) doesnt mean you're at the optimal cell distance to receive it. It may be VERY POOR in your case, so it bounce you down to 3G.

That's the thing, its not poor in my area. I mean, I don't think even standard 3G is as slow as I'm experiencing. A 12 second YouTube video taking a minute to buffer? www.google.com taking a LONG time to load, there's something wrong man. I feel like just selling this phone and getting a BB or something, I know the connectivity will be strong with that.

Faz20 said:
That's the thing, its not poor in my area. I mean, I don't think even standard 3G is as slow as I'm experiencing. A 12 second YouTube video taking a minute to buffer? www.google.com taking a LONG time to load, there's something wrong man. I feel like just selling this phone and getting a BB or something, I know the connectivity will be strong with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you verify? Do you have another vodafone nearby that you can test out?

That's the annoying thing, I can't test out my SIM in another smartphone, as this is the only one I have. I have however tried another SIM in my phone and there is the same problem. This is the reply I get from Vodafone eForum:
Hi Faz20,
If it was a site fault that was to blame for this before, then it's highly likely to be the same sort of problem again. Issues like this are rarely ever the fault of the handset.
I have checked the postcode listed in your profile, and can see there are three possible HSDPA sites around you, none of which are showing any open faults at this moment, so we'll need to raise a case to our Faults Team for this to be investigated further.
I've emailed you so that we can start this process off
Jon
eForum Team
What is annoying me is that they keep ignoring me when I say I was experiencing fine internet connection with smooth speeds, and it just suddenly cut out. They just change the subject ALL the time when I mention it :angry:

One more to remember: you have to consider the speed AND QoS as well.
Try another site, I'd google for visualvare my speed.
If you have poor quality of service (you have veeeery long ping) that means: your phone tries to download.. then waits.. then tries again.. and some packets are lost.... so tries again... and so on.

1699ms ping is quite a lot I imagine? As my puter is only like 0.6ms, but surely the phone can't have that big a difference. Is there anything I could do to lower the ping, I don't want to flash and cooked ROM's atm as I am very inexperienced and don't want to void the warranty.

Faz20 said:
1699ms ping is quite a lot I imagine? As my puter is only like 0.6ms, but surely the phone can't have that big a difference. Is there anything I could do to lower the ping, I don't want to flash and cooked ROM's atm as I am very inexperienced and don't want to void the warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you're simply in a 3G blackspot. I know it's disheartening for having an HD2 and stuck with ****ty data coverage, but that's what seem to be the problem right now. You have a seriously high ping coupled that with slow transfer speed would only dictate that you're not in an ideal area where 3G coverage is plentiful.

How would that explain that I was receiving fine connection speeds before? This is where my hair is falling out

Faz20 said:
How would that explain that I was receiving fine connection speeds before? This is where my hair is falling out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you're hallucinating that you had fast connection before? Maybe Vodafone thought that your area doesn't deserve the bandwidth and thus prioritizing the 3G speed for other, more robust, cities? Or maybe radioactive termites have run amok on the cell tower, causing you to not get fast 3G speed?
Who knows...

Nah, I can assure you I wasn't hallucinating, I stay away from the Magic Mushrooms
I just think Vodafone are a bag of s*it. All my friends with the same phone on O2, Orange are receiving HSDPA all the time. Its stupid
I'm gonna phone up Vodafone today and kinda go mad at them. The last time I phone they "escalated" the connection, maybe the reason why I was getting HSDPA all the time, wherever I went. Now suddenly its gone again. Quick question for you guys, when your phone is on 3G Full bars, how is the speeds. Are they quick and rapid? Do Internet pages load quickly? etc. etc.

Ok, so what do I get told when I ring up Vodafone. I have bad 3G coverage in my area (blatant lie). When I ask how do I resolve this? Buy Vodafone Sure Signal, £50 one off payment or £5 a month. Great way to resolve a problem, try to sell me something else, another one of Vodafone's probably bullsh*t products. Its so frustrating, having to live with a stupid network provider with such a beautiful phone!
Can I cry on someone's shoulder?

Searching for GPS

I bought my Tab from craigslist, brand new, never opened. I didn't want T-Mobile service because I can just tether my 3G through my EVO. Can anyone tell me if I need T-Mobile in order to use GPS? Every time I turn on my GPS and Google Navigation, it's always saying "Searching for GPS."

No, you don't need T-Mobile service to use GPS. It takes long time to lock to satellites if you don't have adequate level of GPS signal (cloud, inside building...)

This happened to me....
Instead of going into the Blue arrow, I started IN Google Maps, got directions for somewhere and then through the menu selected Navigate. It was weird, I almost returned my tab, no help from CSR. This seemed to "jumpstart" the process and now it works everytime.

no working
will mine is not working it keeps on checking navigation availability display and iam out side and not near any towers and the sky is clear

CyberGhos said:
No, you don't need T-Mobile service to use GPS. It takes long time to lock to satellites if you don't have adequate level of GPS signal (cloud, inside building...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct me if I am wrong but the Tab does not have full sat GPS only A-GPS which triangulates using communication towers. Not only is this less accurate but if your out of phone signal range then your GPS does not work.
This is why I can't understand why there are car docks for the Tab and no mention of the restrictions. I for one spend time in National Parks and remote areas so the Tab as a GPS device is next to useless to me.

siejones said:
Correct me if I am wrong....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay,
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"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
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"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
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And no, I don't have a SIM in my device.

mjduke said:
Okay,
And no, I don't have a SIM in my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like I said I hope I am wrong but you don't need a sim to get a signal.
I have seen GPS sat info as well but presumed it was being simulated via net.
When I first researched the tab I found many sites claiming the tab had no dedicated GPS chip but instead used 3g chips agps capabilities.
Unfortunately it seems there is no system info or sensor info apparently that will give you this info. At least not one I have found.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

The Samsung Galaxy Tab has a Broadcom BCM4751 standalone GPS receiver which has A-GPS (assisted GPS) capability so when a 3G connection is available it will download GPS assistance data over the high-speed cellular network decreasing the time for GPS location determination. The Broadcom BCM4751 is a very small single chip GPS receiver with a massively parallel, hardware correlator architecture to speed signal searches and very low average power consumption to suit mobile devices. It includes software optimized for cellular integration and personal navigation performance and includes sophisticated algorithms to mitigate multi-path errors.
It does have aGPS, but its to BOOST the performance of using the receiver chip alone. Helps keep it from dropping out easily.

mmathai77 said:
The Samsung Galaxy Tab has a Broadcom BCM4751 standalone GPS receiver which has A-GPS (assisted GPS) capability so when a 3G connection is available it will download GPS assistance data over the high-speed cellular network decreasing the time for GPS location determination. The Broadcom BCM4751 is a very small single chip GPS receiver with a massively parallel, hardware correlator architecture to speed signal searches and very low average power consumption to suit mobile devices. It includes software optimized for cellular integration and personal navigation performance and includes sophisticated algorithms to mitigate multi-path errors.
It does have aGPS, but its to BOOST the performance of using the receiver chip alone. Helps keep it from dropping out easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for that.
I know a-gps in many devices work along aside a dedicated chip using tower triangulation to speed up real GPS acquisition but there also many devices that claim to be GPS with no dedicated chip and are a-gps only.
It seems at the time of my research the pre-release/preview versions of the tab did not have a dedicated GPS chip. Some previews/reviews were based on this version. Apparently after a few user discussions at a later date Samsung decided to add the Broadcom chip for the official release version. Problem is these initial reviews still exist.
Anyway that is great news to me
Hope the op managed to sort his issue out.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

Any help over here I still could not use the navigation system in my tab, the Google navigation gets stuck on searching for satellite, is there any tweek that I have to do
I'll highly appreciate any suggestion
regards
bobgaby
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

bobgaby said:
Any help over here I still could not use the navigation system in my tab, the Google navigation gets stuck on searching for satellite, is there any tweek that I have to do
I'll highly appreciate any suggestion
regards
bobgaby
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried any GPS Apps from the market? It may not be getting a fix but is it seeing any satellites at all?
"GPS test" is free and will show you sat info.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App

bobgaby said:
Any help over here I still could not use the navigation system in my tab, the Google navigation gets stuck on searching for satellite, is there any tweek that I have to do
I'll highly appreciate any suggestion
regards
bobgaby
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What Tab do you have Sprint? DId you buy it used? Maybe the person previously screwed up the firmware and used the *ALMOST STOCK Rom from these forums to recover most of the stock firmware. This screws with the modem.bin file and renders the GPS bricked.
Nothing you can do about it now but wait till someone figures out how to extract the modem.bin file properly, or a big update gets released.

Hi, I bought my Tab new from the open market not from any carier but I do have a data plan though from Etisalat a local carier over here in Dubai, could it be the carier is blocking the service, but then that does not make any since because I also not getting the sats on the wifi (i do have powerful wifi connection I could stand out side of my house and still have connection to my wifi)
thanks siejones for the tip i downloaded GPS test from the market and this is the results
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
but still cant use Google navigation, i could try using other navigation but in UAE i am not sure which works and which not

bobgaby said:
Hi, I bought my Tab new from the open market not from any carier but I do have a data plan though from Etisalat a local carier over here in Dubai, could it be the carier is blocking the service, but then that does not make any since because I also not getting the sats on the wifi (i do have powerful wifi connection I could stand out side of my house and still have connection to my wifi)
thanks siejones for the tip i downloaded GPS test from the market and this is the results
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA App
but still cant use Google navigation, i could try using other navigation but in UAE i am not sure which works and which not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's not hardware or firmware and you can get a fix so it must be google nav. it's self.
I can only think of the simple suggestion that you try uninstalling google maps using the app manager. Then try downloading and installing it from the market place.

Google navigation
hi guys
just a question, is there a deference between google maps and google navigation?
i am asking because i got two deferent widgets on my tab and thats how it was since the beginning i searched for google navigation in the market but could not find it but i got the latest google maps ver 5.0.0
Regards
Bobgaby

The gps of the tab does suck.
I use it daily for running and cycling.
I go outside, remove the tab from the leathercase, start trackerbooster, hold it in the air, and still have to wait several minutes for a gps-lock.
In the car its almost impossible to use gps without stopping and going outside first.
Thats because it sucks.

I use the GPS for various things including turn-by-turn. Sometimes it refuses to get a proper lock though. Usually in that case, powercycling the GPS chip results in a lock within about 15-30 seconds.

bobgaby said:
hi guys
just a question, is there a deference between google maps and google navigation?
i am asking because i got two deferent widgets on my tab and thats how it was since the beginning i searched for google navigation in the market but could not find it but i got the latest google maps ver 5.0.0
Regards
Bobgaby
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think they are two seperate programs as such with nav using api's from google maps but they both are installed under Google Maps app. Both are installed via the google maps market app.
Saying that....does google maps get a fix?

schmolch said:
The gps of the tab does suck.
I use it daily for running and cycling.
I go outside, remove the tab from the leathercase, start trackerbooster, hold it in the air, and still have to wait several minutes for a gps-lock.
In the car its almost impossible to use gps without stopping and going outside first.
Thats because it sucks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All my phone/PDA devices with GPS act this way including the GPS on my Touch HD2 and the older Touch HD.
I would only expect GPS dedicated devices that have better hardware or a GPS device that allows an antenna to be connected to perform much better.

siejones said:
All my phone/PDA devices with GPS act this way including the GPS on my Touch HD2 and the older Touch HD.
I would only expect GPS dedicated devices that have better hardware or a GPS device that allows an antenna to be connected to perform much better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Nexus One will get a GPS lock in a matter of seconds, if I hold my SGT right beside it, it can take close to a full minute before it gets a lock.
Even if they can both "see" the same number of satellites (via GPS Test), the SGT generally won't get a lock until it can see at least 7 of them, whereas the N1 seems happy with 4 or 5.
The GPS on the SGT is virtually useless, it's too slow to lock and too innaccurate when it does, which is a real pity as the Navigon GPS app that it comes with is much nicer than the Google Navigation app as the maps are stored locally and the directions are more precise.
Is this a hardware issue or a software issue? Surely the hardware in the N1 isn't any better?