Database Users

GPS Showing me in the wrong location

The other day the GPS had the weirdest issue. I was stuck in traffic and decided to turn on Google Maps to find out how long the traffic is going to be. To my disbelief, the GPS showed me in a different town and MOVING on the street and then onto some freeway about 50 miles from my location. I thought the GPS satellites are screwed up but my car was showing me in the right place (and never has made such a stupid error).
Makes me wonder if the GPS info is actually going to Google servers and coming back to the phone as I guess I was getting someone else's GPS data and the lines were crossed somehow. This continued to about 30 minutes as I was enjoying the error and wondering at the same time. Holding the phone out of the window and stuff did not work. Eventually I reboot (oops! I meant I took the battery out because HTC apparently thinks we never need to reboot te G1 so there is no PIN hole for reboot like most other phones).
has anyone else experienced the same issue?

brooklynite said:
The other day the GPS had the weirdest issue. I was stuck in traffic and decided to turn on Google Maps to find out how long the traffic is going to be. To my disbelief, the GPS showed me in a different town and MOVING on the street and then onto some freeway about 50 miles from my location. I thought the GPS satellites are screwed up but my car was showing me in the right place (and never has made such a stupid error).
Makes me wonder if the GPS info is actually going to Google servers and coming back to the phone as I guess I was getting someone else's GPS data and the lines were crossed somehow. This continued to about 30 minutes as I was enjoying the error and wondering at the same time. Holding the phone out of the window and stuff did not work. Eventually I reboot (oops! I meant I took the battery out because HTC apparently thinks we never need to reboot te G1 so there is no PIN hole for reboot like most other phones).
has anyone else experienced the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS is not being relayed to google... but google maps may be the thing that is wrong here. You can't get your "lines crossed" when using google maps but the maps may be downloading the wrong set. I know I have seen it do some weird things but that is expected to happen when you have several countries you have to have maps for.
As for the reboot issue... is it really that hard to hold down the power button? You do realize that the pin hole on previous devices is for emergencies only. It could really screw up the phone. Similarly like using your computer and unpluging it while it is on... or just pressing its reset button.
Maybe this is the reason for your problems with your G1.

I was just browsing my location and found that the location was in my local Radio Shack that was 2 blocks away. I tried to refresh but wouldn't allow me to.

G1 uses assisted GPS, which performs some calculations away from your phone. Could have been your A-GPS server was sending back some faulty data.

Some Application in G1 read Location info from Proprietary GPS Chip and also relies on Cell Tower GPS Coordination if GPS Signals is not available, in India my Airtel Company have Bad GPS Coordination in my Cell Tower, I Personally know which Cell Tower i am hooked to while i am at home but the Cell GPS Coordination is 8 Miles away from my Cell Tower.
Check that your GPS Signal were Strong and you have not just started seeing maps when that error occured.

I think it was stong. I had all my bars full and the 3g logo on it. Oh well I'll probably fiddle with it a little more tomorrow after I try to get a screen protector for the phone

I thought the problem had gone away until last night it happened again, with one difference. I still had me being shown 20-30 miles away (interestingly not across the globe but simply 30 miles away) the problem corrected itself after about 5 minutes.
I have a car GPS and a portable GPS and I have never seen this happen before. The issue is definately the A-GPS. I always thought during WAR the military may scramble the GPS data to confuse the enemy, I guess that is what promted Europeans to install their own GPS that is much more accurate than ours.
And there are controversies over this as well. Google is recording my location and my cell towers and IP addresses and URLs according to its NO privacy policy. This is definitely not fun.
Sending my GPS info to Google servers (which is in fact the case) without me knowing it and sending it back to my phone through internet channels it not something I am comfortable with. Especially if Google releases information to law enforcement one day that may be incorrect showing me somewhere I really was not at!

CORRECTION: A-GPS is for phones without GPS. It does not apply to this thread.

brooklynite said:
CORRECTION: A-GPS is for phones without GPS. It does not apply to this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you get your information? aGPS is for phones with GPS... it uses a data connection to locate you within so many meters than uses the GPS signal to pinpoint so you are located faster.

brooklynite said:
CORRECTION: A-GPS is for phones without GPS. It does not apply to this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_Phone
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/gps.html

I have the same dxmn problem with the gps f-ing up. It started with RC30...When I was on RC19...I had NO PROBLEMS with gps.
It would pinpoint my location in 5sec. Now it's take 10-15min to pinpoint me. Google need to fix this fast.

whether it is related to this thread or not...A-GPS....
, generally abbreviated as A-GPS, enhances the startup performance of a GPS satellite-based positioning system. It is used extensively with GPS-capable cellular phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

same problem here. i also think it started with the update.

Guys, I am not wrong.
A-GPS as Google calls it (and there are other versions of it), is for phones without a GPS chip (thats how Google Maps find you on a T-Mobile WING), it started after an fcc mandate to be able to locate 911 callers from cell phone. It finds your location using a triangulation of the cell towers you are connected to and this particular technology and the extensive data that is required is owned by Google however Google may not call it AGPS.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/google-mobile-maps-pinpoints-your-location-without-gps/
Now it seems to me that Google is enhancing its data network of cell towers using our phones to collect location data. So it collects the cell towers we are connected to with the strength+ the GPS info from our phones and puts all this data in a server to that non-GPS phones using Google Maps can have a better triangulation as more data is gathered from across the country. Eventually the system could be perfected to locate any cell phone without a GPS chip or to locate a cellphone with the GPS feature turned off for privacy, and that is what concerns me.
When my phone shows me 20 miles from where I am, on the freeway, cruising at 55MPH while I am sitting in traffic on the other side of town, it concerns me.

brooklynite said:
Guys, I am not wrong.
A-GPS as Google calls it (and there are other versions of it), is for phones without a GPS chip (thats how Google Maps find you on a T-Mobile WING), it started after an fcc mandate to be able to locate 911 callers from cell phone. It finds your location using a triangulation of the cell towers you are connected to and this particular technology and the extensive data that is required is owned by Google however Google may not call it AGPS.
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/google-mobile-maps-pinpoints-your-location-without-gps/
Now it seems to me that Google is enhancing its data network of cell towers using our phones to collect location data. So it collects the cell towers we are connected to with the strength+ the GPS info from our phones and puts all this data in a server to that non-GPS phones using Google Maps can have a better triangulation as more data is gathered from across the country. Eventually the system could be perfected to locate any cell phone without a GPS chip or to locate a cellphone with the GPS feature turned off for privacy, and that is what concerns me.
When my phone shows me 20 miles from where I am, on the freeway, cruising at 55MPH while I am sitting in traffic on the other side of town, it concerns me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you getting your information? The link you provide just says they support phones without GPS but they never say it is only for phones without GPS. In fact it says that it will work on phones with GPS... that is what the whole article is about that phones in the future will have GPS and google maps will be able to pinpoint their location faster. Basically it says they are using A-GPS.
In the link above he links to http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/google-earth-heading-towards-extinction/ Which says people will be able to add their own commentary about places like a wiki. Nothing about using other peoples devices to send information for google to collect.
It also has this link http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20071128_maps_mobile_my_location.html Which is googles official press link saying it will work with both GPS and non-GPS phones by using the Cell ID and a special formula that google developed to pinpoint your location within a certain amount of distance. Nothing says it uses other peoples GPS signals. In fact it says "This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature."
All in all I think you are misreading and need to look over your data again.

neoobs said:
Where are you getting your information? The link you provide just says they support phones without GPS but they never say it is only for phones without GPS. In fact it says that it will work on phones with GPS... that is what the whole article is about that phones in the future will have GPS and google maps will be able to pinpoint their location faster. Basically it says they are using A-GPS.
In the link above he links to http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/google-earth-heading-towards-extinction/ Which says people will be able to add their own commentary about places like a wiki. Nothing about using other peoples devices to send information for google to collect.
It also has this link http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/annc/20071128_maps_mobile_my_location.html Which is googles official press link saying it will work with both GPS and non-GPS phones by using the Cell ID and a special formula that google developed to pinpoint your location within a certain amount of distance. Nothing says it uses other peoples GPS signals. In fact it says "This approximation is anonymous, as Google does not gather any personally identifiable information or associate any location data with personally identifiable information as part of the My Location feature."
All in all I think you are misreading and need to look over your data again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regardless of above, and you may be correct and I may be wrong, but the thread is getting distracted from the main subject. My main issue is this: Why is the GPS reporting me in the wrong location, and even MOVING which is weird. It was pretty obvious to me from what I saw that the Google Maps software in my phone was reading someone else's location data from someone else's GPS. I could see the person move through the streets and speed up and slow down. This makes me wonder if my locatio data is being sent to Google servers somewhere and then back to the phone (and in some cases crossed over with another persons data). This feels especially more true because Google MAPS has slowed down dramatically from finding "My Location" compared to "pre RC30" upgrade and even compared to the GPS-Chop-Free WING and even my ancient car's GPS system.

Have you talked to Google about this? I think you are just speculating what you want and have a hidden agenda. Did it locate you within so many feet? or was it a real location? If it was a real location than it couldn't be Google as it only pulls the map the actual lat, long is coming straight from the sats... possibly it pulled the wrong location for that tower while using A-GPS and then this calculated the wrong GPS coordinates.
Since you don't know what or how A-GPS works this may be hard to understand. A-GPS works by using that method you described for non-GPS cellphones to narrow the search for satalites. This doesn't find your location it only finds the vicinity. You can see the A part of A-GPS work when it says your location within so many meters. This is what works on your wing. The actual pinpoint location is based only off the GPS and isn't sent to google. Google only needs the map coordinates to download. Your GPS is what tracks you on the map. This is why google maps always load in blocks.
To fully understand a map system you must learn how maps work and be educated in the art of cairegraphy

I think the real concern is that brooklynite was seeing himself moving through traffic while he was actually stationary. I can understand that perhaps the GPS got the wrong co-ords and the incorrect map was loaded showing him in another location, but you would still expect him to be shown stationary in the wrong location. So why would it show him moving when he was stationary?
The fact that he was moving on the map means the data must have been coming from another device doesn't it? How else could you explain it?
I would be concerned too.

neoobs said:
.... Did it locate you within so many feet? or was it a real location?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A real location about 50 miles away from my location. Somewhere I have never been since I have had this phone so it cannot be using the old data in my phone as sometimes it shows my locations from "last night".
...possibly it pulled the wrong location for that tower while using A-GPS and then this calculated the wrong GPS coordinates...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always have the "use wireless networks" off, afterall, the GPS chip is one of the main reasons I switched to the G1 from my older WING.
....
I have to add that I am amazed by the GPS accuracy, it even notices when I cross the stree, turn into a driveway or the side of the street I am standing on. When I switch to Sat. view, it literally shows my exact spot on the sidewalk, not in the middle of the street like a car GPS does.

Probably getting too far off topic but car GPS units are just as accurate, it's just that most of them have a correction feature to fudge your position onto the nearest road on the map if for some reason it is not. For the most part a driver doesn't care where he is on the road in relation to the curb....only that he is on the road he thinks he should be on.

Google Location Service unavailable (only with cell tower info, GPS working fine)

I've been looking through google to find posts related to the google location service, but can't really find an exact match to my problem. All the N1 users post complain that the GPS is not working fine, which is not at all my issue.
About a week ago my location service using cell tower info stopped working. I used the Desire r21 rom and switched back to Kang-o-rama 0.6 and it stopped working around the same timeframe, however I don't think it is at all related to the rom switch.
I tried wipping all the data again, in hopes it was just a messed up setting with no avail. Also turned off the cell phone radio and back on (airplane mode). Tried to switch from 3G to 2G and back.
Anyone have an idea what could be wrong. Also, I read that google's service sometimes goes down and that could be a cause, however I would have imagined that some else would have complained by now.
Thanks guys!!

There are a whole bunch of reasons this could happen, in my experience, they're usually network related. New towers, repairing towers, etc..
My "My location" service went down for approximately 3 weeks recently. Wouldn't work on any of my phones, Android or WinMo. One day it just started working again.
Currently, when I am at the office, "my location" thinks I'm somewhere hundreds of miles from where I am. I suspect someone at AT&T entered the Lat/Lon of the main tower I'm on incorrectly. When I'm elsewhere in my city (closer to another tower) "my location" places me correctly.
Edit: That reminds me.. when I'm at the office and the phone is on WiFi "my location" knows where I am and it has very good accuracy (like within a block).. I always wondered if that was a result of Google Maps mapping Mac addresses, or if they can do that with IP..

So sure enough, I checked it out in San Jose, CA today at work and it found my location within a quarter of a mile. When I got home (Hollister), the google map ticker still shows me in San Jose and when I click on "My Location" in the menu it just stays in SJ.
But here is the even odder thing. My finance has an iphone and her location service is spot on in Hollister without the GPS.
I have seen posts saying it may be an old sim card, but this one just got replaced when I upgraded to the TILT 2 a few months ago.
I guess we will just have to keep waiting until the service comes back for us.

My N1 has been doing the same thing lately. I will leave work and about 1/2 hour later when I look at Google maps, the locator service still shows me at work. I wonder if the location service has a certain polling interval.

GPS/location issues?

Hi folks,
I encountered problems with the location service of the Omnia7.
At first, A-GPS is working very rarely -most of the time I don't get a location until the real GPS finds a signal (that means I get no location indoors).
Second, the GPS doesn't find the right location. In 9 out of 10 tries, the GPS thinks I am somewhere in the Czech Republic (which is about 600km away). This bug occurs in Bing Maps as well as in WeatherBug.
Very rarely I get the right location but most of the times it's completely off -but it's always the same "off", so I think there must be something wrong with the GPS module or the software.
So I can't use the phone to navigate or as a sports tracker.
I wrote the Samsung Support today, hope they have an answer.
I hope for you guys to confirm or deny this issues.

skycamefalling said:
Hi folks,
I encountered problems with the location service of the Omnia7.
At first, A-GPS is working very rarely -most of the time I don't get a location until the real GPS finds a signal (that means I get no location indoors).
Second, the GPS doesn't find the right location. In 9 out of 10 tries, the GPS thinks I am somewhere in the Czech Republic (which is about 600km away). This bug occurs in Bing Maps as well as in WeatherBug.
Very rarely I get the right location but most of the times it's completely off -but it's always the same "off", so I think there must be something wrong with the GPS module or the software.
So I can't use the phone to navigate or as a sports tracker.
I wrote the Samsung Support today, hope they have an answer.
I hope for you guys to confirm or deny this issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Used bing maps few times already and never got a problem with them.
My wifes omnia is getting fix in about 2minutes still or even 10 when I am on the move.
Omnia on the other hand is getting my location very quickly (I have location turned on). Last time on halloween noght we were lost at some suburban area and my phone get us from there very accurately. I could see us moving like on proper sat nav application. I know we have to wait a little bit for nice TomTom or iGo.
Second hard situation, I got my location today at work (under roof) where HTC HD was getting signal only standing close to window. It is ok for now if u ask me.

No Problems Here...
Hi there,
I am getting "room level" accuracy all the time. If I am at home in the bedroom, Bing maps on maximum zoom in shows me in the bedroom. If I am on the other side of the house in the living room, it shows me in the living room.
Seems perfect to me.
Cheers,
Pete

Thanks for your replies...
...the strange thing is, it seems to be working now (for 1 day it's fine). I have played around with the Diagnostics menu (GPS-settings) and since that it's okay as expected. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I hope it's staying like this.

I also have problems with my Omnia 7 : the map is very imprecise (the gps apps indicate a 3000m precision) so I think it doesn't manage to get a fix and use 3G triangulation instead. I tried waiting for about 30 minutes outside, but nothing changed. The weird part is that it started working at same point, for a few days, and then broke again. I have no clue about what's happening.
I'm pretty sure I had those problems before discovering the diagnosis menu, but in case I tweaked something I shouldn't have, can someone (with a working gps) give me his settings ?
The "Test Mode" menu can be called by dialing *#1575# in the diagnosis app. Then there's three options in the "Change state" menu.
Thanks in advance.

MOLR CP/UP: CP MOLR state
3G MOLR request type: LocEstimate type
TLS Option: Unknown TLS Session

Thanks, my settings were completely off. I hope it will work now

KooKiz said:
Thanks, my settings were completely off. I hope it will work now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did it actually work?

Yes it did. It works perfectly now
Sent from my OMNIA7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App

hello, MAPS app onmy omnoa dont really fınd ny locatıon ıt just analys and so on,, so shld ı set sum dıffrences ın dıagnosıs menu.. may u help pls..

KooKiz said:
Thanks, my settings were completely off. I hope it will work now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was having the same issue. My settings were off as well. My device was set to UP MOLR state vice CP MOLR state. How does that happen? When I was on NoDo, the GPS was working great.

skycamefalling said:
MOLR CP/UP: CP MOLR state
3G MOLR request type: LocEstimate type
TLS Option: Unknown TLS Session
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This helped me too. Thanks o/
edit:
Again the same problem, but this time after flashing custom rom. And this time TLS option ''Unknown TLS Session'' is missing... Any help?

Locations not working on my Omnia 7

It worked once when I first tried it but ever since then for example when I go into maps, it's always searching and searching. the local filter in the bing search doesn't work either...
What can I do? Anyone have the same issue?

I've managed to bring up my location but it's highly innacurate. I downloaded the GPS app that is available in the marketplace and it's showing the wrong latitude/longitude coordinates as well.
Highly annoying.

Do you have Weatherbug installed? This app seemed to break my location service too. Sometimes it showed my location a few hundred miles away... I then uninstalled Weatherbug and somehow, after a while, it was working again -strange.
Now it's very accurate and fast.
Then go into settings -> "find my phone" and check the upper box for "saving the location".
It could also be a problem with your carrier -the location service first takes the location via A-GPS which is you provider's responsibility.
GPS might take a few minutes to determine the exact location.

I called 3 and they said I could arrange a door to door exchange but first they advised me to go to the 3 store nearby and use my SIM in another omnia 7 to see if it works.
Surprise surpise, after the call, the GPS is now perfect. I wonder if they did something at their end lol.

So after a few days use, I have come to the conclusion that the GPS doesn't seem to work well indoors, but as soon as I go outdoors, it's tracking me just fine.

digger1985 said:
So after a few days use, I have come to the conclusion that the GPS doesn't seem to work well indoors, but as soon as I go outdoors, it's tracking me just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS will absolutely NOT work indoors because it needs nearly line-of-sight to the GPS satellites above. The roof of a car might work but the roof of a house won't.
Indoors the phone is using A-GPS, the triangulation of cell towers of your network operator. It's very inaccurate and might get no location at all.
See my post here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9417735&postcount=2

[Q] GPS lock problem after kk

Seems to have GPS lock problems after kk update. Very difficult to get lock, and even when lock is eventually found, signal drops off easily. Anyone with this problem and have a solution for this?

koj012 said:
Seems to have GPS lock problems after kk update. Very difficult to get lock, and even when lock is eventually found, signal drops off easily. Anyone with this problem and have a solution for this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest I have seen that on my 4.3, where GPS lock takes more than twice longer (sometimes 5-10 times) than on my S3 - there is another thread on that somewhere. I was hoping 4.4 to come with improved firmware on that one, but apparently not so much

i'm not on kitkat, but i have problems with gps.
however, problems occurs only when recording a track with "my tracks" from google.. as navigation apps works fine, no issue with the signal. only my tracks is giving me huge gaps between checkpoints..

I dont have gps locking problem in kitkat, but with directions while navigation, gps marker points in opposite direction.
Sent from my SM-N900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

xclub_101 said:
To be honest I have seen that on my 4.3, where GPS lock takes more than twice longer (sometimes 5-10 times) than on my S3 - there is another thread on that somewhere. I was hoping 4.4 to come with improved firmware on that one, but apparently not so much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have actually had the same problem, I thought it was only me. I ran stock Italy ROM 4.3, but don't see any improvement under 4.4.2 Poland. Even GPS Status app does not seem to help.

xclub_101 said:
To be honest I have seen that on my 4.3, where GPS lock takes more than twice longer (sometimes 5-10 times) than on my S3 - there is another thread on that somewhere. I was hoping 4.4 to come with improved firmware on that one, but apparently not so much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting, my GPS lock in MapsWithMe Pro is almost instantaneous. About 5 seconds, usually. Unless I'm indoors, but you can't blame a phone for the laws of physics.
N9005 DBT 4.3 MK2/MJ7/MK2
If I use Google Maps, it will only triangulate if I turn on 'Use WiFi', 'Allow Google Location' and more of that rubbish, and even then it takes about 5 minutes to get a lock.
My advice: Stop using Google Maps.

ShadowLea said:
Interesting, my GPS lock in MapsWithMe Pro is almost instantaneous. About 5 seconds, usually. Unless I'm indoors, but you can't blame a phone for the laws of physics.
N9005 DBT 4.3 MK2/MJ7/MK2
If I use Google Maps, it will only triangulate if I turn on 'Use WiFi', 'Allow Google Location' and more of that rubbish, and even then it takes about 5 minutes to get a lock.
My advice: Stop using Google Maps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I almost NEVER use Google Maps (OK, maybe for testing stuff) - and I can only wonder how you got that idea anyway Generally I am very happy with Sygic and I also use GPS Test for quick testing, also Accurate Compass (for very quickly calibrating the compass).
2. I have now tested MapsWithMe for like 2 days and I can guarantee you that the "instantaneous GPS lock" is COMPLETE bullsh*t - the program is only caching your last position (which generates huge problems if you move between locks), then it tries to use location data from your WiFi connection if that is active; if not it then tries to use some very basic and EXTREMELY INACCURATE positioning based on GSM cell towers (at which point the error displayed for my position was in the order of 1-2 km); during all those steps the program also fires-up the GPS - but it acquires the lock EXACTLY with the same speed (or complete lack thereof) as any other program attempting GPS lock
3. What still remains a little surprising for me is that sometimes (like well over 50% of time but NOT 100%) my GPS lock is MUCH, MUCH faster (in any program) if I have the Mobile Data connection active (which normally I rarely have); once I have the GPS lock I can then stop the Mobile Data connection and the lock remains perfectly good. EDIT: However the WiFi connection does NOT seem to make ANY difference on GPS lock whatsoever.

Isn't this basicly what AGPS should be doing. It requires a data connection to get the positioning fix faster than just using the GPS. once it gets the location it does not need the data that much. Except for google maps to download the map and navigation information, and this is why it needs a data connection all the time.
Sygic does not need a data connection for the map nor navigation. But, of course, having a data connection well get the fix faster.

y2kkingboy said:
Isn't this basicly what AGPS should be doing. It requires a data connection to get the positioning fix faster than just using the GPS. once it gets the location it does not need the data that much. Except for google maps to download the map and navigation information, and this is why it needs a data connection all the time.
Sygic does not need a data connection for the map nor navigation. But, of course, having a data connection well get the fix faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I had no surprise from the fact that aGPS can work
What I might have not mentioned above (fixed that now) was:
- a WiFi connection never improves things
- my old i9300 never needed the mobile data connection (or any kind of connection - that made basically no difference on it).
Those two seem to suggest that the Note3 "GPS driver stack" is worse than the old i9300. Also the fact that the mobile data connection does not improve things in 100% of the cases was IMHO interesting to note.

xclub_101 said:
1. I almost NEVER use Google Maps (OK, maybe for testing stuff) - and I can only wonder how you got that idea anyway Generally I am very happy with Sygic and I also use GPS Test for quick testing, also Accurate Compass (for very quickly calibrating the compass).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, miscommunication. I did not mean you used Gmaps, I meant people in general. Gmaps is a nightmare, on 50Mbps LTE it still barely loads... Even on my homenetwork of 120Mbps WiFi it takes ages to load the map itself, surely the packages are not 1GB a piece?
2. I have now tested MapsWithMe for like 2 days and I can guarantee you that the "instantaneous GPS lock" is COMPLETE bullsh*t - the program is only caching your last position (which generates huge problems if you move between locks), then it tries to use location data from your WiFi connection if that is active; if not it then tries to use some very basic and EXTREMELY INACCURATE positioning based on GSM cell towers (at which point the error displayed for my position was in the order of 1-2 km); during all those steps the program also fires-up the GPS - but it acquires the lock EXACTLY with the same speed (or complete lack thereof) as any other program attempting GPS lock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I travel an average of 600KM a day.
Yes, MWM caches the last position. Which is hilarious from time to time, last week it thought I was still in Zurich when I was actually in Berlin. If you click the gps icon three times again, it repositions. Waiting for it to refix automatically takes ages.
I do not have WiFi on the Autobahn, (If only! ) and 70% of the journey I do not even have a mobile signal.
3. What still remains a little surprising for me is that sometimes (like well over 50% of time but NOT 100%) my GPS lock is MUCH, MUCH faster (in any program) if I have the Mobile Data connection active (which normally I rarely have); once I have the GPS lock I can then stop the Mobile Data connection and the lock remains perfectly good. EDIT: However the WiFi connection does NOT seem to make ANY difference on GPS lock whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing suprising about that. It uses the celltowers to triangulate by sending a data package, as opposed to attempting to connect to three satelites. If the network is fast enough (UMTS and above) it is much easier to get an accurate position. GPRS doesn't work all that well, nor does having 1 bar of signal on anything but LTE.
WiFi only helps if there are active points nearby (no need to connect to them, detecting them is sufficient) and you have 'use wireless networks' enabled under Location Settings.
I just tested: WiFi and Mobile Data off, No network signal, on the Fyra (Highspeed train. Or as much as the NS can manage, anyway.) from Schiphol Airport to Breda @160kph. Got a lock with SpeedView in 15 seconds, detected 24 sats. Not instantaneous, but then you can't ask for that at such speeds.
I do have to say, on the previous firmware it took much, much longer. About 1-2 minutes. And I tried a Dutch Note 3 yesterday, it required almosylt a minute on the same firnware version.
The weather also influences the signal, clear skies vastly improve things. As does solar activity. Last October you could wait an hour and not get a lock, due to a solarstorm causing too much magnetic interference in the atmosphere. Even my GPS locator itself took almost half an hour.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk

ShadowLea said:
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Nothing suprising about that. It uses the celltowers to triangulate by sending a data package, as opposed to attempting to connect to three satelites. If the network is fast enough (UMTS and above) it is much easier to get an accurate position. GPRS doesn't work all that well, nor does having 1 bar of signal on anything but LTE.
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Actually original aGPS doesn't quite work that way at all - here is some info from some of the guys doing some of the Linux kernel drivers for aGPS devices (I can not guarantee it is 100% accurate but fits OK with other info that I have seen):
http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/Hardware:AGPS
And another thing to remember when testing GPS - after a successful GPS lock it is very likely that you will have a MUCH faster 2nd GPS lock for up to about 2 hours. So any such immediate 2nd lock should be see in the above context, also the lack of it

Least this problem isn't just me. Always used to track my rides with Endomondo without a hitch but I went out for the first time since KitKat and I couldn't tell you how many times it dropped out on that 2 hour ride ... but it was alot

Xalies said:
Least this problem isn't just me. Always used to track my rides with Endomondo without a hitch but I went out for the first time since KitKat and I couldn't tell you how many times it dropped out on that 2 hour ride ... but it was alot
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Seems to be a very common problem. Read somewhere that this is a software issue and there is a fix if the phone is rooted by flashing a patch on it. But I'm not about to root my phone and lose the warranty. SAMSUNG please release an update quickly that fixes this problem.

koj012 said:
Seems to be a very common problem. Read somewhere that this is a software issue and there is a fix if the phone is rooted by flashing a patch on it. But I'm not about to root my phone and lose the warranty. SAMSUNG please release an update quickly that fixes this problem.
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I am rooted (with knox 0x0 ) and I have looked into that patch - the one that I saw only sets a different AGPS server address and has minimal or no impact - actually I have a strong feeling that there is something in the CSC that overrides it, which explains why the AGPS server only improves things for me when connected only on mobile data and not over wifi.
IMHO that seems to be mostly a firmware / software driver issue - on my old S3 it looked like there was a lot more "caching" of the "GPS almanac" and slightly more pre-calculation of the "GPS ephemeris", possibly on the application CPU on the phone (which has humongous general-computing power compared with the CPU used inside the GPS circuit, which however is highly more specialized). On the Note 3 it seems to work in a "safer" approach in which older (than like 2 hours) GPS almanac data is considered inaccurate and so is the time otherwise used to pre-calculate GPS ephemeris (which time to be honest I have seen WILDLY inaccurate on some carriers, something like 27 seconds away; and of course if the time is not carrier-set the phone time can easily be tens of minutes away ).