My new-ish Note 3 is soo much better than my old S2 at finding and fixing to satellites.
This test was done under the same conditions (Left on my windowsill for 5 minutes then screenshots taken.
The S2 won't usally find GPS satellites for at least 2 minutes if i am trying to navigate (walking in town using Maps) (Not stationary).
My Note 3 with AGPS with GLONAS or whatever it is is so much better at navigation
My Note 3 clips on within 5 seconds to a satellite.
First attached file is my old S2, second is my Note 3
Yes the note 3 is very quick at locking to satellites. The note 2 was very good as well.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
GPS+GLONASS is insane, I see 21 satellites inside the house with my Nexus 4, and get an instant lock. It does drain more battery though...
I've found the GPS to be fairly poor so far on my SM-N9005.
Has anyone got the ZIP so you can selection your region mod?
androidlover287 said:
My new-ish Note 3 is soo much better than my old S2 at finding and fixing to satellites.
This test was done under the same conditions (Left on my windowsill for 5 minutes then screenshots taken.
The S2 won't usally find GPS satellites for at least 2 minutes if i am trying to navigate (walking in town using Maps) (Not stationary).
My Note 3 with AGPS with GLONAS or whatever it is is so much better at navigation
My Note 3 clips on within 5 seconds to a satellite.
First attached file is my old S2, second is my Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, quite strange, I am bumping this thread here just to try to gather a little more info on this.
My experience is that my i9300 (which was supposed to have a much better GPS than the S2) is VASTLY quicker at getting a GPS lock than my N9005.
That being said I was shocked to see that starting mobile (cellular) data on the N9005 made a pretty large improvement (I have Sygic so really I don't need to be online and also I would like the GPS in my N9005 to work even if no cellular signal is available - just as my i9300 did).
Any more insight in the N9005 GPS? Any more (hidden?) settings? Stuff on disabling Assisted GPS , enabling Glonass and so on?
Turning on wifi, even without connecting to a network, also improves the localisation speed. Which is useful when your provider has disabled roaming until you buy a dayticket.
Mine's very quick at getting a fix, even for Europe, which is known to not exactly hace perfect coverage. (often enough even a GPS tracker can't find more than 2 sats.)
Mobile data improves GPS tracking because it can use the network towers to send&recieve a data package and triangulate from that. This method is also used by the police when tracking a non-GPS enabled phone.
Send From My Samsung Galaxy Note 3 N9005 Using Tapatalk
ShadowLea said:
Turning on wifi, even without connecting to a network, also improves the localisation speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not certain this (hotspot-related positioning data) is what we were talking about, and to be even more specific in my own tests the i9300 constantly had very good GPS-lock speed even without WiFi or Mobile Data activated, while on the N9005 the GPS-lock was abysmal with no connection or with WiFi and was somehow passable (but nowhere near the i9300 with zero connections) when Mobile Data was active. (all those - I explain somewhere below in more details - under "cold start" conditions).
ShadowLea said:
...
Mine's very quick at getting a fix, even for Europe, which is known to not exactly hace perfect coverage. (often enough even a GPS tracker can't find more than 2 sats.)
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS system is designed such that there is no significant (average) coverage difference at similar latitudes (from instance from EU to US), and at the worst timing moment at least 6 satellites (up to something like 10 in a good moment) would be in direct line of sight at any moment from basically any point on Earth. (obviously being underground or masked by huge or metallic objects/buildings is a different story). All the above number basically double-up if Glonass is also used (which also improves coverage in polar regions).
ShadowLea said:
...
Mobile data improves GPS tracking because it can use the network towers to send&recieve a data package and triangulate from that. This method is also used by the police when tracking a non-GPS enabled phone.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am aware of Assisted GPS (but triangulation does not really represent a major part of it). Either way it does not quite explain why WiFi does not also result in improved lock-in on the N9005, nor does it explain why the i9300 under absolutely identical conditions (and without any form of data connection) still does the initial lock-in faster every single time, and MUCH, MUCH faster when the N9005 does not have Mobile Data. To give some sense of the numbers (all in Central Europe identical conditions indoors but with no major blocking structures around; most tests with the same program called GPS Test, but also some tests from inside Sygic) - i9300 is in the order of 20-30 seconds (no connection), the N9005 with mobile data is in the order of 30-60 seconds but without mobile data it can go as high as 300-500 seconds at times. The N9005 numbers tends to get a little better if I go outside, but still does not seem to be any faster than 60 seconds on a cold start. The lock is (on both devices) always faster if a previous GPS lock was done in the last 30-60 minutes, so in my comparative tests I always tried to get GPS lock after more than 1-2 hours since any of the phones had a lock.
Another funny thing is that the i9300 is claiming on the order of 12-16 satellites in view while on the M9005 I even saw 24 in view - a number which really would suggest something like a mix of 10 GPS + 10 Glonass + all 4 Galileo
Related
****************************************************************
"EDIT" UPDATE (7 oct. 2010)
Well you dont need to go actually much further then this first post!
Things got out of context over here, furthermore I decided to give
my external gps receiver a break and run some more tests with
the internal one of my SGS.
And the results I got were much better than any
other phone I tested before. Except the ones with a build-in SirfstarIII chipset.
If you have Gps issues,Just move on to this thread:
2nd edit (20 Oct, 2010): That thread was removed without any warning or explanation so I posted the videos in another thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8903056#post8903056
END EDIT
RCinFLA said:
Like to share my experience as cellphone chipset designer and my dealing with various parties involved with GPS in phones.
Many of the issues are caused by business interests involved and there are quite a few parties plying to control location based services revenue stream.
SUPL, secure user plane protocol AGPS was created by network operators interest in mine, with the objective of putting them in the controlling position when it comes to extracting revenue from location based applications on their network.
Control plane AGPS is a general system where network operator independent entities can create a assist server along with possible services offering. They can encrypt their access to allow only subcribed (paying) users to access their service. The network operators has little control over this scheme.
With SUPL, in most cases, network operators outsource the location server function. Network operator hold location of their cell tower, as a total database, in close confidence. The network tower locations are also very dynamic over time. I believe the AGPS contractors don't get reliable and timely updates from the network operators.
Then there are third party business like 'Skyhook' which is trying to work around the network operator roadblocks by establishing a 'ponzi scheme' server database. If your phone has a good GPS location lock and detects a WiFi network, Skyhook's background app will have your phone send a message to their server reporting the SSID of the WiFi and its location. They then sell their server AGPS service to other companies, like Motorola, for inclusion in their phone software. Motorola may run into conflict with network operators. A network operator might refuse to buy a Motorola phone model with Skyhook installed on it. I noticed from the Captivate forum that the ATT version of Galaxy S has Skyhook capability.
Google is the 900 pound gorilla and is trying to wrestle control of location based services from network operators.
Finally there are the GPS chip manufacturers. Almost all of them have an AGPS server scheme of their own and try to promote it. The frontend processing (up to recovery of raw 50 bps satellite data) has unique hardware and firmware that are considered proprietary by the GPS chip manufacturer. In most cases a phone manufacturers like Samsung or Motorola are not allowed to have the software source code for this firmware or information on the actual interface protocol to the GPS chip. They are given a bundled binary file that the phone manufacturer software just dumps to the GPS chip at startup.
It is now up to the phone manufacturer to implement the GPS chip and antenna systems (along with WiFI, Bluetooth, Near Field Comm, and multi-band cellular) and provide software interfaces and drivers necessary to run the GPS function.
For size and cost reasons most recent GPS chips rely on the main application processor within the phone to actually do the GPS fix calculations. The software for this is provided by the GPS chip supplier but it must be coordinated with the particular applications processor chip used by the phone. It must share processing time slicing with the apps processor and work with operating system software resources such as RAM and ROM management running on the phone.
This is the first obsticle as most of the GPS chip suppliers have little expertise in the OS's that may be used (like Android or Symbian). The phone manufacturer usually has to provide help to create and debug the GPS driver software but the drivers are responsible/owned by the GPS chip supplier. There can be unique hardware/software interfaces that must be dealt with, like providing GPS TCXO calibration and cellular corrected frequency timebase to the GPS chip.
Then there is the OS's GPS interface. There can be translation software layers involved here. One such interface is based on GPS NMEA protocol but with additional hooks for things unique to phone operation like battery saver power strobing, and the complicated Secure User Plane or Control plane interface.
The AGPS system design landscape is litered with intellectual properties (patents) by many parties. Qualcomm is a dominate player here since their aquistion of SnapTrak company years ago. Royalties are paid to Qualcomm for every WCDMA phone sold, not only in AGPS area, but on basic CDMA patents used in a UMTS (Wideband CDMA) phones.
Now as to Samsung Galaxy S implementation of Broadcom GPS.
I think there is a lot of evidence that Samsung had early issues with the GPS antenna contact hardware. This has probably been corrected on recently manufactured phones.
I think the firmware supplied by Broadcom has the bandwidth of the correlators tighted down to provide greater sensitivity. This is great as long as there is a very good AGPS system to provide initial satellite ephemeris data. Without a good AGPS network providing satellite information the initial search and lock can take a very long time with narrow bandwidth frequency bins.
I have not seen evidence with my experience that my two Vibrants are receiving any reliable AGPS information from the T-Mobile network. They do seem to get rough Almanac satellite info from Google or other third party apps. These may be based on WiFi detection more then T-Mobile cell tower locations.
In LBStest I noticed that GPS Operational Mode has been set to 'Standalone'. I interpret this to mean AGPS is deactived. I don't see any difference when I switch to MS based assist, and clear the GPS saved memory to prevent it from prejudicing time to first fix lock test. Switching SUPL server to supl.google.com and port 7276 (with MS based operational setting) just seems to make my phone lockup for short periods of time.
Once phone does get full lock on satellites its performance is quite good. (my two Vibrant's were purchased in early Feb 2011). It rivals my Garmin SiRFstar III based GPS unit in locked on sensitivity while inside a building.
I think the AGPS system issues will get worked out over time.
The Qualcomm based CDMA2000 systems (like Verizon) will likely have better initial coordination on AGPS system operation. CDMA2000 also provides network timebase directly compatible with GPS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*******************************************************************
All this nagging about GPS.....that it is not working in many devices and it's working in other many.....and of course I am talking about those ones who still would go for ONLINE gps navigation.....
In my humble opinion, what you guys should be asking yourselfs and the big corporations is, why nowadays, 99% of the smartphones(so not just sgs), even the most expensive ones are build with weak, less capable internal gps receivers, forcing users to go online(celular network /a-gps) or using external bluetooth gps receivers to get stable satellite fixes that means stable navigation.
Years ago, many of the first smartphones came with sirfstar chipsets or alike , so once again, why not now? That's the question that should not be ignored or forgotten.
A friend of mine, that would not dare to pay more than a 100 box for a phone, bought an ancient ETEN device on a sale for 40 box with that old windows mobile 5 and guess what...the internal gps get fast fixes just like any standalone gps device because it got the same sirfstarIII chipset
Why the heck, the expensive so called high-end smartphones of today are not build with better gps chipsets? Why A-gps? So we are forced to get data accounts?
And what happens when I want to navigate abroad? Roaming?
For data transfer and internet I use wifi; I have it at home and I find hotspots everywhere...I will save those extra 120 euros(or more) per year (data account costs)
And nobody will force me to get one(internet/data account); not even for gps navigation that I so much use..
I use gps navigation only offline, using a external bluetooth device on a daily basis and, many times abroad; it works like a charm on my SGS; and I am talking about serious GPS car navigation software like iGo, Sygic, Navigon etc. .
Don't even use Google maps or alike.
I cannot tell you how my sgs is doing on online navigation, I dont have a data account so I wont even try it.
But once Samsung get this online gps navigation thing fixed, you guys should concentrate your energy on the real issue:
The A-gps scam
And for all the corporations out there: Just deliver a device with a capable gps chipset and you will sell millions..
And for all the users out there: Just get a good compact external bluetooth gps receiver and stop nagging....
Thanks to 3rd party developers, the Android OS on my SGS can be "fooled" and I can connect any navigation software to my bluetooth gps receiver threw programs like Bluetooth Gps Mouse Unlimited and Gps Provider.
I do have to " allow mock locations" at settings first...
« »
¿Ein? You don need data to get GPS fix, A-GPS is only an aid to get faster fixes
I thtink you're a littel misinformed
LOL.. o boy.. the AGPS is to help say if your indoors so you can get a faster lock... the phone will work without it.
Ummm I can see why you would think what you think, but I do believe you are wrong.
Firstly: as far as I'm aware, the SGS has the same GPS chip as the latest TomTom standalone unit.
Secondly: I guess AGPS is a data feature, it uses the triangulation of cell towers and pulls information to assist a sat lock, but it is not really a different way of using GPS. Ultimately you still need to get a sat lock to use a GPS App.
So it may speed up this lock, but it won't replace it. It just means it'll take you a little longer to get a sat lock than without it.
So you have the choice use it or don;t use it, no-one is forcing you to use data.
Logicalstep
Oletros said:
¿Ein? You don need data to get GPS fix, A-GPS is only an aid to get faster fixes
I thtink you're a littel misinformed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol those online translators dont work that smoothly...
I don't need a data/internet account to use celular networks aid, that means a-gps.That mean going online via 3g or 2g...
But IF I don.t have a data/internet account added to my phone subscription, my phone costs will be much higher depending on my use....
You are missing the point anyway...
betoNL said:
Lol those online translators dont work that smoothly...
I don't need a data/internet account to use celular networks aid, that means a-gps.That mean going online via 3g or 2g...
But IF I don.t have a data/internet account added to my phone subscription, my phone costs will be much higher depending on my use....
You are missing the point anyway...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you're missing the point, you don't need any kind of data connection to use GPS, you can use it offline
Exactly...already the first line of Wikipedia says it: "Assisted GPS, generally abbreviated as A-GPS, is a system which can improve the startup performance of a GPS satellite-based positioning system."
There is, however, a related issue w/r/t A-GPS and a data account. Back on WinMo, I could download the ephemeris data to speed up the GPS fix for one week in advance (I think it was called QuickGPS or something on my HTC TouchHD, also had sth. like it on an old Eten). This allowed you to get a quick fix for said week, even without a data connection. Android, on the other hand, seems to download this data on the fly - meaning that if you don't have a data account you will experience a slow fix until your almanac has been filled "naturally" by the satellites you're seeing. I experienced that while on vacation this year without a roaming data contract - it took me a good 3-5 minutes to get the first fix and it was good from there on (well, as good as the SGS GPS gets ). I'd love to have some tool that does exactly what QuickGPS did, but I am not aware of anything like it.
TriC_101 said:
LOL.. o boy.. the AGPS is to help say if your indoors so you can get a faster lock... the phone will work without it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have always smile in my face when someone thinks he can get a lock indoors..
Yes in a cartoon box you can. Not in real building I'm afraid.
And for all those who think SGS's GPS is usable without A.
Try it.
You will see.
Dont post things you just caught on wikipedia.
xan said:
I have always smile in my face when someone thinks he can get a lock indoors..
Yes in a cartoon box you can. Not in real building I'm afraid.
And for all those who think SGS's GPS is usable without A.
Try it.
You will see.
Dont post things you just caught on wikipedia.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can get a lock on 6-7 Sat no problem inside.... and so can lots of others.. don't know what your doing wrong but its not hard to get a lock inside.
Pics or it didnt happen
seems you all are little misinformed as to how the gps on android specifically sgs works. It is actually three systems at work here. Gps standalone without gprs and cell triangulation which gets lock within a minute same as standalone bluetooth units (they also take up to a minute from cold boot but because generally it is plugged in the car lighter and always on people think its blazing fast).then you have agps that downloads preloads data regarding satellite location in regards to your position via network instead of downloading same data directly from satellite thereby saving time. Both these can be used without checking network location in settings so to recap if your network location is unchecked you are still using agps as long as you have network connection (data connection that is).and samsungs system for agps being better than others cause it downloads data for while week as opposed to others downloading data everyone gps is turned on. Third level is network triangulation via cell towers that gets you that instant lock at the cost of accuracy useful mainly to let apps get your general location without having to engage real gps thereby saving power as well as give maps a chance to start calculating route while gps is still getting lock therefore appearing to operate faster.
Idan73 said:
Gps standalone without gprs and cell triangulation which gets lock within a minute same as standalone bluetooth units (they also take up to a minute from cold boot but because generally it is plugged in the car lighter and always on people think its blazing fast)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Standalone gps's got their batterys, and thus they start "warm".
Thing is, standalone SRIF3/4 gps gets a warm lock without any AGPS nor network triangulation within 5-10 seconds. SGS (and bunch of top-of-the pack devices) cant come even close to that.
the GPS on the SGS works fine offline
i don't even have data on when going on long road trips
you just need an offline GPS software with maps, like CoPilot or some other one you like
xan said:
Standalone gps's got their batterys, and thus they start "warm".
Thing is, standalone SRIF3/4 gps gets a warm lock without any AGPS nor network triangulation within 5-10 seconds. SGS (and bunch of top-of-the pack devices) cant come even close to that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure they do. Sgs warm lock is 5 to 10 seconds as well. To test get the lock first then turn of data and network lock then start gps.restart of the phone same as restart of the standalone counts as a cold boot and takes about minute.
xan said:
Pics or it didnt happen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here ya go.... I don't have to prove anything just look on youtube.. This is the phone on for just 10sec.. if I had waited it would get down to about 10 feet... this pic was taken in a room where I get the lowest signal. and I live in a Condo with 2 foot concrete walls.. I don't have a digital camera.. this was taken with my old Samsung dumb phone.. but it does prove you can get a lock inside no problem.. also if i'm in a house I can get 6-7 sats to lock in the condo 5 at the most in that room.
only 3 sats and maybe the walls are thin
Polarfuchs said:
only 3 sats and maybe the walls are thin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL Trust me the walls and not thin.. i'm on the 10th floor of a 25 floor Condo complex. I get alot more signal is a house.. Now my X10 can get about 7 Sats locked in the same room. and down to 5 feet. but the point was you can get a lock inside..
I'll try it.
I live in a 3 stories house at ground floor. The shutters are down and I'm 1 meter away from the windows.
After 3 Minutes I get 5 sats in view but none used.
I'll hang on.
Even after 10 Minutes I only have 5 satellites in View and zero in Use.
So no fix for me.
The numbers on top of the bars are from 15 to 25.
Logicalstep said:
Ummm I can see why you would think what you think, but I do believe you are wrong.
Firstly: as far as I'm aware, the SGS has the same GPS chip as the latest TomTom standalone unit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of Tomtom devices got a SiRFstarIII™ GPS chipset
If the GS got such one the amount of GPS threads in this Forum would be reduced considerably
What is your awareness based on?
Oletros said:
No, you're missing the point, you don't need any kind of data connection to use GPS, you can use it offline
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idan73 said:
seems you all are little misinformed as to how the gps on android specifically sgs works. It is actually three systems at work here. Gps standalone without gprs and cell triangulation which gets lock within a minute same as standalone bluetooth units (they also take up to a minute from cold boot but because generally it is plugged in the car lighter and always on people think its blazing fast).then you have agps that downloads preloads data regarding satellite location in regards to your position via network instead of downloading same data directly from satellite thereby saving time. Both these can be used without checking network location in settings so to recap if your network location is unchecked you are still using agps as long as you have network connection (data connection that is).and samsungs system for agps being better than others cause it downloads data for while week as opposed to others downloading data everyone gps is turned on. Third level is network triangulation via cell towers that gets you that instant lock at the cost of accuracy useful mainly to let apps get your general location without having to engage real gps thereby saving power as well as give maps a chance to start calculating route while gps is still getting lock therefore appearing to operate faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL... Lets put things in perspective :
1) Wich car navigation software do you use
2) when you UNcheck wireless networks =a-gps(in location and security) and you CHECk "use GPS satellites = build-in gps receiver and then you go outside, you start your car navigation software in you gs( taking into consideration that you have the righ map installed) how long does it take to get a fix so you can start driving?
3) Do you know the difference between a cold and warm start? Why the heck some of you mention car lighters????
Please just answer me these 3 questions and meanwhile I will post some educative information
http://thisismynext.com/2011/05/12/google-android-skyhook-lawsuit-motorola-samsung/
this is a must read!
Saw this the other day. Yes we lost skyhook, but for the end user that doesn't seem to make much differece. Indeed, GPS is faster and more stable than ever in JVB/JVH.
Of course, the ethics of the action are definitely questionable, but I leave that for the corporations themselves to figure out
As much as I love google, I don't want it to have an iron hand on the market, it must respect the rights of its competitors.
As an owner of Milestone and Galaxy S, I can tell you using google's SUPL server is much better then what MOTO and Samsung original offering.
Its more like how google screwed Skyhook. Anyways, despite Google's monopolistic behaviour, I dont think this case has anything to do with the well known GPS issue of Galaxy S.
Skyhook is more like an AGPS service + an alternative positioning system for indoors; and it relies on already recorded data about wi-fi networks (only works in major cities where they have already mapped the wi-fi networks). Therefore I don't think Skyhook could’ve solved the GPS issue most people experience with SGS when connected to GPS satellites outdoors.
Skyhook is a service for when you may lose GPS signal or have a weak signal .
As been said its an enhanced form of A_GPS and does little if you have a good GPS signal .
Under normal open sky conditions with clean cold boot and WiFi-AGPS off is how to test GPS .
jje
JJEgan said:
Skyhook is a service for when you may lose GPS signal or have a weak signal .
As been said its an enhanced form of A_GPS and does little if you have a good GPS signal .
Under normal open sky conditions with clean cold boot and WiFi-AGPS off is how to test GPS .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This...plus it actually lets us use navigation on times with solar flare phenomenae..
Sometime when you're in town with many big buildings, the GPS signals are very weak, so it's difficult to have a good GPS fix.
On the contrary, in town there are often many wifi access points visible, if they are in the skyhook database, skyhook is then able to guess your location quite precisely (and sometime with a better accuracy then with GPS).
I wonder if it is possible to use my GPS without my mobile connection. I like to use GPS in the airplane with an offline navigation.
Whenever I turn off my mobile connection of my HTC DESIRE, the GPS gets lost too . Is there a way?
What application are you using for your GPS? Most apps pull the actual maps from the internet and don't store them internally which might be the reason you can't use your GPS when your network is off. I guess if you could find an app that has the reference to the maps locally and install the maps locally (about 1GB for the US) then you shouldn't have a problem.
http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f12/offline-gps-maps-20226/
Some discussion on the thread above regarding your topic. Many people have posted about it. Not sure what's out there.
it's first bcoz it can't download the maps from the net.
But even without this, if you're using GPS Essentials or GPSTest for example -apps which only display the GPS stats- you'll notice it doesn't work either. And this is because the chips in s-phones are A-GPS chips, which need an internet connection to download precalculated data about satellites approx. positions, almanach data, etc etc. This helps the chip in getting a GPS lock faster, but makes it internet-dependant (the data is valid for 6 days, provided you don't change location by more than 50 miles or so. But usually the device tries to download fresh data each time the GPS is 'cold-started' -first start after a reboot or some prolonged inactivity period- and falls back to the old data if there's no connection. Past 6 days, the data is flagged as 'deprecated' and isn't used anymore whatever the case may be)..
At first only a handful of smartphone makers implemented those chips because they're cheaper to produce and take less space (most of the calculations for determining the user's position is done by the CPU, the A-GPS chip mostly only collects the data, filters it and forwards it), but then some american government agency (can't remember if it was the one regulating automotive transportation or some other though) made it mandatory for all devices sold in the US, to help paramedics and other rescue services in locating injured car-drivers quicker and more efficiently (the theory behind being that an A-GPS chip equipped device demands less interaction from the user to start up the GPS function and get an accurate fix on the position. An A-GPS chip is *supposed* to be able to get a lock and fix all by itself once the GPS is started, so that'd be only a movement of the thumb for the injured person to launch a distress call -provided he/she is able to grab the phone, of course...). But they were a bit shortsighted -as usual, if I may say- in that if the driver 'choses' to crash in a remote location where there's no 2G/3G/4G carrier coverage, he's pretty much screwed anyways, unless he resorts to the good old voice-comm'..
And of course since the US is one of the main phone markets in the world, the same phones are winding up all over the world by now.
thanks for all replies.
it actually worked well in FLIGHT MODE. I used to pre-cache some maps which is possible since the new google maps update.
worked like charm
yea but this is because you got a HTC phone.. They're typically embarking better A-GPS chips than the norm (Qualcomm-made, for the most part).
They're better than the SirfStarIV I have in my SGS2 for example, not by their precision (which is roughly the same and even a bit superior for the SirfStarIv) but by their lock-on times and the quality of their reception (which relies a lot on the built-in antenna which seems to be better by HTC).
With my HTC Desire "S" I was often able to get a lock-on even within a building (=with no clear overview of the sky), just by standing near a window... With the Galaxy S2 I have to extend my arm as far out the window as I can to be able to lock a puny 4-5 sats... :/
Hi Guys,
Lucky me, I've got 2 devices as gift from 2 different persons on an occasion. One being Tab 7.7" and the other being Tab 7 Plus
Obviously I love the 7.7 for the brilliant screen. I thought I will use one of the 2 devices in my car just for navigation but just to my shock I've found that the GPS lock is taking longer when compared to other devices (Okay, My wife has a iPad and an iPhone) ....
As far as difference in time to lock in to the satillites like the Tab 7.7 sometime take more than 5 mins (Once it took close to 10 mins) even while I am in a road with clear sky but the Tab 7+ is a bit faster may be 2 - 5 mins for the same which is still longer than acceptable.
Edit: SIM card on.
Car Navigation Application : Sygic (Singapore & Malaysia)
This application is a charm and it work beautifully on my HTC Desire HD (<5 sec for lock) and iPhone 4 (2 - 5 secs) even on a cold start. So it surely is not an issue with the version of the app in android but the problem with the device.
I am still very happy with the tab 7.7 after all what more can I ask for something that I've got for free but just curious about others experience as it could be a HW issue for me.
Let Us all share our GPS experience here wrt issues and accuracy (both good and bad) with which we can create an repository of information for others to refer with.
I have noticed that my GPS won't lock on unless I have a sim card or when I was thetering to my Samsung galaxy s phone. Also noticed that it is not really accurate its off by quite a bit. Any suggestions on how to get it to be as accurate as possible.
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
I got the same problem, on my p1000 i can get a lock for 2-5 secs using copilot, i used the same on my 7.7 and it takes forever to lock..
Another this, using this as a gps device might not be a good idea, it could cause burn in issues that AMOLEDS suffers from.
Just my two cents
when i bought my 7.7 tab it has no sim in it for about a week but the GPS locks very quickly (i precacached google maps and used it as GPS device when driving), initial lock takes about <1min while succeding GPS locks <10secs, as far as the specs indicate it has the same GLONASS GPS capability as the GNote
On android, I'm pretty sure GPS is useless without a data connection. My 7.7 takes a few seconds to lock on at the most, using a sim card. Even locks on inside buildings. When I took the simcard out once, it then took forever to lock on..
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
I can confirm that my 7.7 takes only a few seconds to lock on with sim inside. Haven't tried without it yet.
Just tried mine for the first time. Enabled satellite + Wifi location tracking. Locked on within a few seconds.
I am in Muscat, Oman and Wifi isn't as eponymous as in US cities.
Edit: Just to be clear, I have a sim card with an active data plan in the device.
I got problem, on my p1000 i can get a lock for 5-10 secs using copilot, i used the same on my 7.7 and it takes forever to lock..
Guess it suffer the same problem as asus transformer prime. because of the metalic back it cause the GPS to suffer.
can anyone try GPS track program? see how many GPS satellites being lock ?
Mine locked within 10 sec for the first time while riding in a cab (it was down to 5m accuracy)
How can we increase accuracy?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
quizesilver said:
Guess it suffer the same problem as asus transformer prime. because of the metalic back it cause the GPS to suffer.
can anyone try GPS track program? see how many GPS satellites being lock ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I used my GPS in Germany and France my data roaming was DISABLED, so I guess it only used GPS to lock on within the 10 seconds that it did so?
I have noticed that the GPS only works if you have some form of data on the tab ( either sim or wifi ) if not the GPS will not lock on and it says "data connection lost", why would this be? Is this normal or a bug?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
adinis78 said:
I have noticed that the GPS only works if you have some form of data on the tab ( either sim or wifi ) if not the GPS will not lock on and it says "data connection lost", why would this be? Is this normal or a bug?
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The tab's GPS unit probably requires AGPS data, which is downloaded from the internet. Some GPS units don't require the data but I assume this one does.
teiglin said:
The tab's GPS unit probably requires AGPS data, which is downloaded from the internet. Some GPS units don't require the data but I assume this one does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ahhh OK, thanks for the info. Actually then how do the wifi only version work? Guessing by what you mentioned it does not require AGPS
Sent from my GT-P6800 using xda premium
The Wifi only version would use AGPS as well. Basically AGPS is assisted GPS. It uses cell towers (for 3g models) and/ or wifi hot spots to provide location data, hence assisting the GPS unit in your phone or tablet. Try removing your sim from your phone and switching off wifi, the same thing will happen. It will take awhile to lock.
I have a galaxy S, which is notorious for poor GPS reception. I use a bluetooth GPS unit (check out apps in the market) with my phone, and it works a treat.
Mine 2-5 seconds with SIM and using fasterfix for my region (China) -- accuracy is TIGHT (5m)
MrWulf said:
The Wifi only version would use AGPS as well. Basically AGPS is assisted GPS. It uses cell towers (for 3g models) and/ or wifi hot spots to provide location data, hence assisting the GPS unit in your phone or tablet. Try removing your sim from your phone and switching off wifi, the same thing will happen. It will take awhile to lock.
I have a galaxy S, which is notorious for poor GPS reception. I use a bluetooth GPS unit (check out apps in the market) with my phone, and it works a treat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Mate,
Can you let me know the Bluetooth GPS device name/price so that I can give a little life to my Galaxy S I9000 ?
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:
...
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.
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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 ).