I just received my Sprint Nexus S 4G from Sprint on Wednesday (moving from an EVO) and, of course, I've been playing with it non-stop. On the whole, it's amazingly fast and responsive - more so than I ever experienced with my EVO and a number of ROMs on it.
However, the one thing I have seen repeatedly since day 1 is that the GPS lock is abysmal. I wanted to say "weak", but no, it's much worse. I know the original Galaxy line was plagued with such issues but doing a general Google search for Nexus S GPS issues mainly revealed people wondering if the NS4G would have the same problem - not many reports of actual experience.
I can tell you that my EVO got GPS locks with nary a problem. If I was driving and had to whip out the phone at a red light to fire up the navigation, it was ready to go in moments. I did that a few times this week with the NS4G and was just annoyed. This morning was especially bad so I have been spending some time just opening up Google maps and hitting the location button to see how long it took to get a lock on me. It's truly something awful. The radius it shows is based on the cell tower estimate (I know from seeing where tower location usage without GPS pegs me when I'm at work on both my Hero and EVO) sits for MINUTES before it might get a lock on where I actually am. Even at that point, the accuracy radius is still huge compared to just being pegged where I am with the other phones I have/had. Then, with maps open, the phone goes to sleep (screen off) and I turn it back on a few minutes later and this starts all over again...
I'm actually surprised to find no real reports like this yet so I thought I'd prompt people to really take a look at their new NS4Gs and welcome a report from them. Is my unit bonk or is this more widespread? If you've got one, try it a few times throughout the day. Just open GMaps up and hit the location button on top right to get a fix on your position and take note of how long it takes to lock in to you.
(Before anyone asks, yes, in SETTINGS>LOCATION&SECURITY I have both "use wireless networks" and "use GPS satellites" checked off).
I've experienced this somewhat, although for some strange reason it seems to have tamed itself. The very first time I fired up Maps it locked on to me with a 20m window after about a half a minute, which I've found to be "normal" for AOSP. My Evo would get me within 2m and would do it in around 5 seconds.
The second time I wanted to use it, I used the voice control to ask for directions, at which point my stock Ns4G rebooted itself leaving me on the side of the road for a few extra moments before I was on my way.
The last couple days though, it's been decent. It still only locks within a 20m window, though, but it's been pretty accurate so far.
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
fraspas said:
Actually, I think I am suffering from the same issue. From time to time, depending on the location I would lose service (yet wifi works) and the only way I would regain service back would be to reboot my phone. It's the strangest thing ever, I believe its a problem between the Sprint network and the Nexus S. My old phone would get full bars but on my Nexus, its been only 1 or 2 bars in 3G. Sprint better be resolving this issue soon.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that you mention it, using this phone the past 2 days... it's the first time in god knows how long that I've seen signal issues. The first one being low bar readings - but I attributed this possibly being a difference in display of the bars on this phone vs my EVO. On the Nexus S there are four bars total, gray and green. I'm usually at one - two green bars with this phone. On my EVO I had a lot more bars (maybe 6-7?)... so maybe my actual signal strength was comparable but "seemed" like it was better because I saw more filled bars. Again, a display issue? I'll leave that open for further investigation...
However, the thing that is really strange is that I've seen the 3G go to 1X numerous times. I don't know if I ever saw this on my EVO.
All related or no? Color me perplexed...
edit: During my Google searching earlier I came across a search result posted in the Sprint forums titled:"Signal Issues with Nexus S" - however none of the links worked because the site was under maintenance. It's come back online... from reading through it, this appears to be a widespread issue (general signal issues, not GPS).
http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/286393
So, do we have TWO signal problems with this phone? Ugh!
20 meters accuracy is the norm for me. not the best, but thats all i need it to do.
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
DiNoise said:
...Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
DiNoise said:
Tried it inside of my house, got 30m lock, pressed again after few seconds got 8m.
Radio problems have been reported on other forums too,
Signal strength is the same as my Epic, but nexus can't pick up 4G signal in the same spot where my Epic does.
And I get signed out of gtalk randomly, I guess its when it loses signal, 3G or WiFi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I can tell, there's actually a difference between the white-ish signal bars and the green ones (it's probably in the manual but this would be the FIRST manual for any tech device that I didn't read front to back right when I opened the thing). Green bars mean you're connected to Google directly or something like that. White is just to the network. I tried to see the difference myself by going into mobile networks and disabling data - the green bars immediately turn white. When I turn the data back on they're still white for a little bit but I can get them green again immediately by logging into Google Talk.
Of course, the gray bars are still "no signal" bars as far as I know. White or green, I'm still only getting 1-2 bars of the four and going from 1X to 3G a lot. I thought I'd share that bit about the Green/Google connection because it might help you look up more info on that problem, too. I've already seen reports of people's connections to Google (lots of white, little green) being spotty, too.
It's too bad - this phone is really growing on me. It feels good in hand, perfect weight, looks gorgeous on or off... but the connection and GPS problems are a deal breaker. We need to see something happen. Really, REALLY disappointed in Samsung now.
Just got the nexus s 4g about two hours ago now and the gps has been great for me compared to the epic I traded it in for. Sitting at my desk on the second floor of my house and getting instant 2 meter locks. So far so good on my first pure google phone.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
I came from the Moment and it had 6 bars for signal strength....the Nexus has only 4 and from what I've noticed, reception has been the same or better than what I had. I haven't had any problems with 3G switching to 1x except when I was in our storage basement at work, in a heavily populated downtown. I haven't been able to try out 4G yet because it isn't offered in my area yet but assume it'll be the same or worse downtown. I have had issues with the GPS taking forever to get a lock, but I only use the GPS chip with NO help from the cell network. Most of the time, since it reboots in about 45 secs, I just reboot and it works fine for a while.
I did something slightly different. Before I used the GPS for the first time I completely removed google maps and didn't have any map program. I did have the evo shift sprint telenav map apk already on this phone. I installed it and started up the gps. After a few minutes of downloading files, the map screen came up and showed my correct position. I've found in the past if I fire up sprint maps for the first time I use the gps, it doesn't have problems locking afterwards. If I use google maps first, if it locks it takes a long time.
mrhinkle83 said:
I came from the Moment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
So I was driving to one place today and needed gmaps to show me shortest route from my location, turned on GPS, could not get any sats to lock, I probably waited 20-30 secs and then remembered one old trick with GPS Status app.
Downloaded the app, went to tools, reset, redownloaded data, got 9 out of 9 sats locked on in 1 second, 2m accuracy. I can live with that.
But still not happy with 3G/4G performance, and at the same time I dont wanna go back to my Epic.
Mine locks instantly but up to 20m which doesn't bother me as long as it gets me where I need to go
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
p00kienrayray said:
Funny that you say that. When I had the EVO, coverage and download speeds over 3g werent a problem. now that i have my ns4g, same coverage but super slow 3g speeds in my area. not sure if its my phone, cuz where i work i get legit 3g speeds here and there. i'll give sprint a couple weeks to sort this out before my buyers remorse period ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, what I meant was that signal strength in "dBm's" was the same, or at least that's what both phones' status showed. But with speed test app 3G speeds on NS4G were MUCH slower than Epic's, and of course I couldn't even test 4G...
I'm also thinking if I should return it before 30days or just keep it and hope there will be fixes to make NS4G's radio better and better, to be prepared for ice cream desert, and then just jump to next Nexus
styckx said:
God bless you.. I had that paper weight for awhile and ditched it for the Epic. Worst phone I've ever used. The Nexus S must be like heaven compared to that thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the difference is like night and day! I'm just amazed at the battery life...I can actually go a full day without nursing it with a charge here and there, the moment wouldn't go longer than 6hrs before crapping out...and that was with light useage! I've had the nexus for over a week and I'm hooked....and the GPS issues seem to have settled down, it locks within 30-40 seconds now and is pretty accurate.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
GPS reception issues, but only while biking
OK I've searched around and haven't found much on this particular problem:
I use the MayMyRide app to track and log my bicycle rides. It consistently shorts my ride by at least 1.5 miles and several minutes, as compared to my computer on the bike.
This only started happening after I switched to the NS4G on Sprint from the Moto Defy on T-Mobile. I used the same app on t-mobile and it was generally pretty accurate.
Also, I seem to have decent GPS reception in general, the GPS lock times seem reasonable, and I can use google maps navigation with no problems.
Also, I've had this problem regardless of what ROM I'm running. I've flashed several, but I've mostly run Gummy, burnsra's CM9, and the latest Bugless Beast.
I've just started the process of flashing different radios, so I don't have enough info yet to see if that fixes the problem.
My hypotheses so far:
1) Poor reception in the rural areas that I ride, although since it's GPS I don't see why having poor network signal would affect it. But maybe it does.
2) Weak GPS antenna in the NS4G (?) (This doesn't make sense because GPS works fine in other settings.)
3) General sprint crappiness.
4) I don't think it's the app because it worked fine on T-MO.
5) I don't think it's the ROM because it's happened on several ROMs.
6) I don't have enough data yet to know if it's as simple as flashing a new radio. I flashed LC1 this morning so we'll see.
Any ideas?
I just got my sensation yesterday, coming from the G2x, my gps lock when using google maps/navigation takes more than 10 minutes to lock. I turn in in landscape mode loses data connection as well. Anyone else experiencing very slow gps locks? My g2 was instant
Something is wrong. Mine takes about 20-30 sec.
Return it
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Same exact thing here except for the data issue, on my second device and its nothing like my G2. Have you Tested other areas? Use gps test (by Chartcross Limited) and see your signal strength and how many satellites you can connect to.
My G2 can see 12 in a few sec
My Sensation only sees 3-0 at poor signal
Don't really have an option to return it cause I purchased it off of craigslist, and I use Simple Mobile. So I don't even have a T-Mobile account. Unless someone knows a work around this, I am forced to send it to HTC for "repair".
Just got my Sensation yesterday. First thing I tested was GPS. My heart sank when it saw zero sats outside. Tried various test apps, Google Maps, etc., checked and double checked settings, rebooted several times. Nothing. The GPS icon never even showed in the notification bar. Was about to box it up to send back and decided to pop the battery out. Rebooted, and bingo! Excellent signal strength even indoors, very quick locks, typically accurate to under 15 ft, and very stable map location. As close to perfect GPS as I had hoped for. Coming from the Vibrant GPS fiasco I'm VERY happy.
wish I could say the same about mine
mariopm2005 said:
wish I could say the same about mine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you download GPS test from the market and use the calibration tools? It could help. Or you can also try pulling the battery (old BB trick) instead of restarting to see if that helps. Keep your head up.
I got mine yesterday and had the same experience. I fixed it as follows:
SETTINGS->LOCATION -> Make sure "Use Wireless Networks" is UNCHECKED
Since unchecking that option, my locks are much faster.
However I turned WiFi Calling on and it started behaving like before. Never seeing satellites, minutes for lock.
I turned off WiFi Calling and now I get <10sec lock again.
Sounds like a software issue that HTC needs to figure out.
Let me know if anyone has success with this.
Did you try it out inside?
I just went outside and it's pretty cloudy and got 5locks in 3seconds and 10locks in under 10 seconds.
So there is something wrong or you are doing something wrong
I'm having trouble with my GPS and after searching forum after forum I can't seem to find anyone with the same issue as me, specifically: my GPS not being able to keep the satellites signal.
First off I'm running NexusMod 5.0.4 Beta2 on UCLF6. I've tried both: GPS Fix for Nexus and AGPS Patch. Both work, especially the GPS Fix for the Nexus. I get a lock on satellites quite fast, up to 11 sometimes.
But I am ALWAYS losing satellites. I am constantly going between 5 to 11 satellites and my accuracy is constantly ranging anywhere from 20m to 60m. It's absolutely infuriating looking on GMaps and Navigation and to see that damn blue circle growing larger, smaller, larger, smaller...
Anyway, after two days of searching I'm hoping someone has the same issue as me and hopefully a solution. If not, does anyone have any suggestions as to what in the world could be causing this? I'm hoping it's not a simple solution as the ROM itself since I absolutely love my current ROM; however this was happening when I was running Sky-ICS Themed Gingerbread as well.
Thanks.
Did you ever figure out what was going on?
Were the 5 to 11 satellites seen while inside or in the open?
I am having similar GPS issues and was wondering what the "normal" number of satellites is. Mine seem to range between 0, 2 and 7, and is constantly varying.
At this point I am not sure if in my case it is some sort of hardware issue, or if there is something going on in software.
These symptoms initially showed up while still on stock GB 2.3.5. I made the plunge, wiped everything x3, and tried one of the JB ROMs. GPS seemed to lock on immediately, but would intermittently drop off. I've tried numerous of the GPS fixes out there, but same problem.
I've read elsewhere to wipe even the external SD card, so I am in the process of trying this as a last ditch effort.
If you found any answers or solutions, would very much appreciate what worked for you.
Thanks!
Hi guys. I've been using Sensation 4G for well over a year and modded roms for almost as long. I use GPS functions extensively and have always had good results but in the past week and a half my GPS is having trouble getting a lock or even keeping a lock once it has enough satellites to position within 10 feet or less. I'm in NYC area and I don't know if it's related to the UN summit and the military is scrambling GPS signals to keep us "safe" or is it another solar flare that's messing things up? One thing that I did do, is to reformat the external SD card because I was getting some weird errors when apps tried to access the card to store data.
Is anyone else experiencing anything similar?
I'm on insertcoin 2.4 currently.
Going to try to re-apply GPS fix to see if it fixes the issue.
Thanks!
amelnik said:
Hi guys. I've been using Sensation 4G for well over a year and modded roms for almost as long. I use GPS functions extensively and have always had good results but in the past week and a half my GPS is having trouble getting a lock or even keeping a lock once it has enough satellites to position within 10 feet or less. I'm in NYC area and I don't know if it's related to the UN summit and the military is scrambling GPS signals to keep us "safe" or is it another solar flare that's messing things up? One thing that I did do, is to reformat the external SD card because I was getting some weird errors when apps tried to access the card to store data.
Is anyone else experiencing anything similar?
I'm on insertcoin 2.4 currently.
Going to try to re-apply GPS fix to see if it fixes the issue.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a military issue every GPS device would be effected. You can rule that out by grabbing any other phone or Garmin device and testing it.
Alternatively, go elsewhere if you can and see if the problem fixes. There are weird dead spots in the GPS network. I get one on the way to work every day. GPS drops out in the exact same spot for about 2000 feet of highway.
Skipjacks said:
If it's a military issue every GPS device would be effected. You can rule that out by grabbing any other phone or Garmin device and testing it.
Alternatively, go elsewhere if you can and see if the problem fixes. There are weird dead spots in the GPS network. I get one on the way to work every day. GPS drops out in the exact same spot for about 2000 feet of highway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, after applying agps fix v3.1 it's much better now.
It still looses signal while in Manhattan sometimes but most gps' do, other than that, gps fix is usually done in under 10 seconds.
Glad you got it worked out. When I first started flashing the Sensation, from ICS to MIUI stuff, along with random kernels, I had all types of GPS issues. Because of that, I was involved with a few betas for gps 'fix' testing by another member here and a small group of people with different phones/devices.
What I found out is that in ICS anyway, that the kernels play a big part in the functionality of gps. Next is the gps.conf file. Depending on how many servers on that file, will depend on how many servers you can connect to depending on your local.
When I was living in NY, I had decent coverage as well. GPS like you worked for the most part in NYC.
What I do whenever I see that my gps is not connecting within a minute, I check to see if there is any supl.cert in your system/etc. That file is not needed really (Im on tmo).
Then check to see which kernel you are using. Are you using a custom kernel? Or a stock one? Rule of thumb is to revert back to the bundled kernel/stock kernel if I have any GPS problems.
Friend of mine recently told me her GPS on her verizon S3 stopped working. she brought it by, i flashed the newest build of cleanrom on it today and sure enough the GPS still doesnt work. everything needed is turned on but it doesnt get a lock. i checked it with the GPS Status app and it shows like 0/20 satellites and doesnt lock to any. only way i was able to actually get somewhat of a lock on google maps was to hook it up to WiFi and let it gather from that.
any suggestions?
Somewhat common problem. I haven't found a fix as of yet. There is a gps fix somewhere in these forums though that sort of helps. my phone had the same problem. Going back to stock or to any custom rom, nothing worked, the gps was just dead. After flashing one of the fixes I finally managed to get it to get locks, but it needs like 7-8 satellites to get a fix, is highly inaccurate, and loses gps lock a few times on every trip.
Here's the gps fix page
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1880411
I use Galaxy s3 test 3 alt, it's the only one that gets any lock for me. The first time and other intermittent times can take up to 10 minutes or more though, and rebooting the phone or trying again another day does sometimes help.
I know it is definitely the phone, as my pantech marauder which has the same SoC which should be very similar for gps location, finds and locks on to 6-8 towers in like 10 seconds or less all the time, even indoors, and gets location accurate to less than 100ft with 4 satellites while the gs3 needs 7-8 satellites to get a lock to 300-600ft
If none of the software fixes work. And the stock unrooted software does not receive GPS lock.
I would highly recommend replacing the GPS antenna just in case.
I'm 90% sure the headphone jack. External speaker. WiFi antenna and GPS antenna are all in one unit.
This piece is sold for cheap on Amazon. Or eBay or whatever.
Replacing is simply a removing a couple screws and popping the old one out.
Here is a link to eBay
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=160890063224
Possibly you could find one cheaper.
Hopefully this is it for you.
Let me know how it goes.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
I too have this problem: the GPS no longer gets a fix w/o a data connection
the phone recently did an update to jb 411 and now no gps fix w/o data.
I do NOT believe its the antenna.
does anyone else with the os in sight have any info?
palm2droid said:
I too have this problem: the GPS no longer gets a fix w/o a data connection
the phone recently did an update to jb 411 and now no gps fix w/o data.
I do NOT believe its the antenna.
does anyone else with the os in sight have any info?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too have the same problems on this rom