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Hi,
Could anyone please explain the various settings for GPS in the "settings" menu (under "location")? I find that the manual and tooltips are not very informative.
Particularly, I don't understand the difference between the first choice ("wireless networks"?) and the third choice ("assisted GPS"). I understand that the phone may use wifi or mobile network to detect my position (instead of or in addition to GPS satelites), but I don't know which of the two options to choose for this.
Also: When I enable "wireless networks", what does the warning that pops up mean? It mentions that data will be collected even when no software (GPS/map) is running. What is that? And what is the difference between enabling this and the fourth option ("share with google")?
Finally:
Does your GPS immediately start working when you enable it? Myself, I need to enable/disable GPS using the desktop widget and the various GPS settings several times before it managess to find my location. (My position is not the problem - once detected/connected, it works fine.) I still don't understand which combination of settings it is that finally makes the GPS work as expected.
As I understand the first option "Wireless Neworks" will rely entirely on data from Cell Towers e.t.c to determine your position. I guess this will be less accurate.
"Assisted GPS" enables your device to get a faster lock on your location by collecting available data from cell towers first before using the GPS receiver.
I think if you were only to activate the GPS in some circumstances it would take a lot longer to get a fix.
"Share with Google" just allows the gears addon within the browser to share your position with google allowing them to return results based on your location.
That's my take on those options.
"Wireless Neworks" - is using cell towers and wifi to locate you.
Probably they have (or use a 3rd party DB) for that. Anyway, is not (very) accurate.
"Assisted GPS" - i'm not 100% sure but i think is connecting to a location server to get the location of the GPS satellite so, will lock faster (at least this is what my Nokia 5800xm is doing).
The warning message you get is because google will (most likely) use your location (cell towers and wifi spots) to create and update their own database so, phones without GPS will still be able to use google maps.
Well, they probably do something more with that data but who knows what
I just wanna add that using any type of assistance for the gps chip in this phone is (in my personal oppinion) unnecessary. I am sitting inside my house, in my bed(with a window behind me) an in 10sec i get fixed on 10 satellites. Not much that can beat that ;-)
in addition, i am in the bottom floor in a 2floor house so it is alot of roof and cealing between me and the sky.
Sent from my X10i using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
Thanks for your replies. Much appreciated.
Just curious - which app do you use to monitor GPS satelites?
Also, does everyone's GPS find your location rather quickly after enabling GPS? I usually get the message "Your current position is temporarily unavailable", I retry, same result, I retry, same result ... Only after I disable/enable GPS several times, my position can be found.
My GPS usually finds my position rather quickly first time I switch on GPS. I have aGPS (Assisted GPS) enabled too, this way your phone gets help on locating the sattelites position from your mobile provider, hence locking onto GPS signal faster (is to my understanding).
Plus, if you're standing in an area with tall buildings, your position will be less accuratelly pin-pointed, bouncing GPS signal and all.
I'm using GPS test by chartcross ltd. Avalible in the free android market, and i really like it!
Sent from my X10i using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk
I never turned on A-GPS on this phone. There is no need for A-GPS.
This phone have fastest GPS fix of all phones.
I have noticed when I am running on 3G (H) I get the "location temporarily unavailable" notice, but if I force it to not go to 3G it will be E and I get my location. This holds true if I have setting for using GPS or not.
This seems to be a problem with Google Maps using the data transfer method of 3G (H) versus E.
Gah...this seemed like it was resolved for me, but now it's come back. When I have the GPS off and "Use Wireless Networks" turned on, my Vibrant (and every other smartphone I've owned in the past 5 years) has been able to use cellular location service to approximate my location. Again, I'm not talking about GPS. GPS is turned off.
This is really irritating as I use a lot of apps that require my location (weather, etc.), and I really don't want to turn on the GPS every time they need to estimate what part of the city I'm in...it just isn't necessary and takes too long. Location service is necessary for aGPS to get a quick satellite lock even if I was willing to use GPS.
It works great when I'm connect to wifi, but just using cell towers it usually either doesn't work or shows my location as somewhere I was hours ago. I'm in Chicago, by the way. Anyone else having this issue? I'm trying to determine if this is a problem with my phone or if T-Mobile's network in my area is just temporarily stupid. Thanks!
I've noticed that even with my gps turned on as long as I'm not constantly running an app that uses my location the gps will just blip on for whatever its needed for and then when you don't need it anymore its turns off, not wasting much battery.
I have noticed that my margin of error on my vibrant seems to be bigger than on my G1, but I can't fully confirm that, however I would probably turn to saying that its tmobile's issue with their towers (triangulation and all that jazz)
bessertier said:
I've noticed that even with my gps turned on as long as I'm not constantly running an app that uses my location the gps will just blip on for whatever its needed for and then when you don't need it anymore its turns off, not wasting much battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that aGPS needs to use the location service to approximate your location...otherwise it takes a long time to get a GPS lock. Since my location service has been acting up I haven't been getting quick GPS locks anymore.
bessertier said:
I have noticed that my margin of error on my vibrant seems to be bigger than on my G1, but I can't fully confirm that, however I would probably turn to saying that its tmobile's issue with their towers (triangulation and all that jazz)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope so. I've never had problems with other phones in this area, so I hope it's not the Vibrant. I've already had it replaced once for a bad Menu "button."
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Nothing wrong with my gps. Have you upgraded to the latest firmware? Downloaded the A-GPS data (you can get this by using an app called GPS status)? Switch OFF wifi after you do, then leave it to get a full signal lock (takes up to 15minutes or so with a clear view of the sky).
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you are outside with a clear view of sky when you test. It can take any GPS up to 10 minutes to acquire the ephemeris information (satellite position at a certain time) and lock up. You phone cheats this by using the cellular network to provide a general location of where your are and therefore where to look for certain satellites.
thanks so much for the info guys. I had a feeling it had something to do with no cell phone band helping out. thanks!
GPS works fine here, as other have said the closer you are to the sky/window the better.
yeah..give your TF a few minutes to lock up sat positions (if you've never done this)..
this applies to most pure gps devices..cellphones can use cellular network signal to quickly locate your position but the data isn't really from gps itself.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1088120
Hope this helps
Acid lestitious 2.0. Fugumod 2.4 800 mhz
jerrykur said:
Make sure you are outside with a clear view of sky when you test. It can take any GPS up to 10 minutes to acquire the ephemeris information (satellite position at a certain time) and lock up. You phone cheats this by using the cellular network to provide a general location of where your are and therefore where to look for certain satellites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder if it does the wifi cheat like maps for android phones, where it uses the known APs to determine location? I say that because when I first fired up my transformer yesterday, after connecting to wifi, I screwed around on maps and it found me inside my house in less than 30 seconds.
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its the reverse for me! in the same room of house i often cannot get a fix on my Optimus 2x. i use GPS Staus app. but i often get fix within 30secs. as a test i have both machines running the app next to each other and the transformer always gets regular fixes.
..... hmm just realised as i type this that i have a phone called optimus and tablet called transformer, and they both run android!!!
I get fixes with no wifi (ie: only GPS) within 30 seconds.
Quite the opposite, mine is extremely accurate. After it gets a fix on maps that little google person is standing right in my front yard in the satellite view! Better than my Droid!
Mine is almost instantaneous. Just tried it at home based on this thread and had a read in probably 5 seconds.
I have not been able to obtain a GPS lock until today when I set my location to use wireless networks. To me this is really stupid because the GPS shouldn't have to use any location settings to obtain a lock in my mind. That is if the GPS chip in the TF is a true GPS chip it should not to rely on a wifi signal to obtain a lock. If the GPS is turned on then it should lock.
I tested sygic gps navigation 11 and signal lock and quality was better than my galaxy s was pretty accurate
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium App
Works fine for me, apart from one minor detail. When I switch from Google Maps to another app, even for a few seconds, then the tablet has to get a lock all over again. There appears to be no way to set the GPS to keep a lock while Google Maps isn't the active program.
That, for me, makes Google Maps near-useless in a moving vehicle. Hopefully other third-party apps won't have this issue.
Google Maps is prety much useless on the Transformer for GPS navigation as a data connection is need. I have heard of people caching a route before hand but ..... Copilot Live 7 is out for android so that is one option. However if the GPS relies on a wifi signal in order to obtain a lock then it is about useless too.
toddmp said:
I have never had my GPS locate me via google maps. My Phone has no issues. Anyone else have GPS issues? any tips? Hopefully a software update fixes it? I have a friend who has the same issue.
[Should have read "awful", not aweful]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gps works fine on mine....unlike my icons or Samsung...both returned
gps does use wifi to help gps locate, theres options to turn this off in settings, i went to pick up my dock today and couldn't get a gps lock while in the car with the transformer in my lap(gps status app showed 3 sats but none would lock) just lifting it up 12 inches closer to the windshield made 7 satellites pop up and instantly started getting locks
i think proximity to a window/line of sky is a big factor, and the transformer does have a true gps chip for those who seem to doubt it, also the navigation app keeps running in the background, its better to use that than google maps
No issues with gps here. The bastard finds me every time!
jadesse said:
However if the GPS relies on a wifi signal in order to obtain a lock then it is about useless too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't rely on WiFi for a lock, it just uses it to allow a faster connection if you don't already have current ephemeris data downloaded. That's a limitation of all GPS receivers -- it takes a fair while to download the ephemeris data if you're out of date or have travelled a significant distance, and without it the device can't get a GPS fix.
You can think of the WiFi location system as analogous to a cellphone being able to use tower locations to help position itself while waiting for GPS ephemeris data.
Here's what happens... if I have just GPS enabled (no Wi-Fi), and I tell it to locate my position while I'm at home, it tells me I'm about 5-10 kilometers away. It's in the correct town, but isn't near where I actually am, and I'm standing right in the open, no buildings or anything.
Now, if I enable GPS and Wi-Fi, it tells me I'm currently where I USED to live, which is about 50km away from my real position. The place it tells me I am is actually right near my gym and where I used to live, but I haven't lived there for close to two years but I still frequent the gym.
Anyway, I'm totally confused. I could understand that if I enabled my Wi-Fi and it's telling me that I'm near where I used to live, it could have something to do with having the name of my wireless router cached at that location, even though it hasn't actually existed at that location for two years. What leads me to believe that this is some sort of caching issue is that if I am at work and use the GPS (or anywhere else I don't frequent for that matter) it locates me fine, instantly.
So... what can I do?
Anybody have any idea? This is awfully frustrating...
You could try using GPS status from the market to reset and download your AGPS data?
That fails i would backup data and factory reset as symptoms are of faulty settings . You could also replace the modem .
jje
I'm also having issues, "GPS Status" app sees 10 satellites but never locks. This is outdoors.
With your Wifi location issue, I think that's because the google vehicles collecting street view data recorded your wifi SSID to be at your old house, which is why it thinks you're there.
EDIT: I should also mention, mine worked fine before rooting, then I used Chainfire's kernel to root and I have the issues that we're seeing (JP_XSG_KG2 and ZS_OZS_KG2).
One of the reasons I'm waiting on a proper Canadian Kernel to use.... too many unknowns.
Fixed!
Using a different kernel and ROM (XXKG6, Android 2.3.4):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1124396
GPS locks within about 5 seconds outside and network speeds seem to be the normal for Rogers.
Do you have a working 3G connection?
So, I downloaded that GPS app and did everything that it had available... nothing really helped. When I'm anywhere but my house, the GPS locks fairly fast, but can still be somewhat slow.
I believe I was having no issues as well before rooting, and I used CF Root as well. I obviously agree regarding updated firmware from Samsung/Virgin... I'm sure it could very well resolve this and some other issues.
I have a 3G connection... it's always listed as H+ though.
GIR said:
Do you have a working 3G connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep! It indicates 3G when idle, and when I'm using the data connection it switches to H+. Rogers download speeds of ~4Mbps.
Anyone else seen this behavior?
This has happened twice to me now... These are the symptoms:
1. Very poor signal area, phone going in and out of coverage (in someone's house for several hours)
2. Using WiFi, also going in and out of coverage (may not be relevant)
3. Return to good 4G coverage
4. 4G seems to work fine
5. After typically 10 mins or so travelling (or after some event?) the cellular & GPS connections drop completely.
6. Reboot required, then all works fine again
I'm on EE network in the UK
I have noticed all this through my navigation app (TomTom). At step 5 above the status bar still shows the 'GPS active' icon on the top right list of icons and no bars (neither 4G/3G nor 2G) signal strength under these circumstances.
So something is killing off BOTH GPS and cellular radios? Apps (even broken ones) can't do this, can they? So this will be a bug in the OS, right?
Stock/unrooted LPD23.118-10
I know this is an old post but it is still relevant to any X play users.
Has anyone found a fix for this.
My X play will run for weeks using GPS and various mapping apps without problem and then it will say looking for a GPS fix and the Cell signal has also gone even though I know that a very good signal is available (my work phone is with me on the same network).
The quick fix is to go into the drop down menu on the home screen and turn the location icon OFF then ON, the phone then gets a fix within a seconds (even when travelling) and then in 10 to 20 seconds the 4G icon comes up, first with ! then once it has made a proper connection (IP address I assume) it goes away and all is well.
I guess that the radio driver for the GPS and Cellular side must be interconnected someway or there is a memory issue which is cleared by turning location OFF the ON.
Any thoughts folks ??
The X play is running standard MOTO 6.0.1 android.
Thanks