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[GPS] The Unofficial GPS COMPLAINT/NAG/EVIDENCE Thread

Post all your nag/complaints/evidence of GPS problems here.
All investigation works goes here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=789383
I just finished doing a one hour GPS test drive with the new OTA JH7 and guess what!!
The GPS is still unreliable.
I did a 30 minute drive before the JH7 OTA fix and it was terrible. It would lose GPS signal easily. The GPS would rarely get a fix and when it did, it wouldn't refresh for another 20-30 seconds.
With the new JH7 OTA, positioning while stationary is quick. You can get indoor GPS (probably from AGPS). Now, I was using it and I'm starting to believe we will NEVER see a real fix.
My reasons:
The hardware GPS has an accuracy of ~10 meters (~30 feet).
The hardware GPS has slow processing speed.
I believe this "fix" is just software code trying compensate for the poor hardware. It seems to take the bearing and speed to estimate where you will be. This won't work all the time but it gives the illusion of a reliable signal. You can see the device doing this when you make a quick change in speed or direction.
For example:
If you break quickly, the GPS will tend to position you further than your actual position. You might see GPS position "travel backwards" after you do.
If you accelerate quickly, from rest/full stop, the GPS will lag completely. It might lose the signal or not update until it gets a new "position" later (probably an amalgamation of speed, bearing, and [inaccurate] position).
If you make a sharp turn, the GPS will keep traveling that path and then slowly work it's way back to where you are. For example, if you make a 90 degree right turn, you'll see the GPS plots a semi circle arc to your new position.
I currently recorded my data with a custom written application I wrote but I had the logs set to write every 30 seconds and I didn't have a reference GPS unit to compare.
The next time, I'm going to drop it 1 second frequency and run the application on my G1 and Rhodium (TouchPro/Tilt 2).
What are you experiences with this new GPS "fix"?

I completely agree.
I just came into this forum to post the same thing.
I have some terrible My Tracks screenshots to take, but now my Captivate isn't detected when I try to plug it into my computer
This is using Cognition v2.1. The GPS locked very quickly right after flashing, but just tonight, it wouldn't get a lock to save my life. After repeatedly entering the LbsTestMode and changing settings, it went to getting a lock again... but had me ~100 feet off.
I do not think the GPS will ever work as good as any other modern smartphone. The GPS in this device just sucks, and no software will save it.

I agree with pretty much all that you wrote. It is very "laggy" and I too can see it estimate your path. Re-routing also takes very long and sometimes may not be in time.
I tested it with my Garmin side-by-side and there is no doubt the Cappy is worse. I know it's a phone and not a fair comparison with a "real" GPS, but it is a letdown.
FYI, Cognition improves the GPS significantly from my stock version (JP6)

Same here. I would not consider this as a fix for GPS.

The captivate is my first android phone. Im stuck with att so i made the switch from iphone to the captivate because it was thr first phone that was not crippled. I love android. Period. Im never going back. With voodoo and oc this phone beats the crap out of an iphone.
But today is the last day i can return it to best buy. I was waiting for a gps fix/improvement. But it didnt help. So im returning it. Im going to buy my friends aria for $100. Once samsung fixes thr gps i will buy this phone again.
Ps. Android. My new best friend.

is this the first Samsung android phone? Im pretty disappointed. Their other products are top notch

I have the opportunity to swap out my cappy for an HTC Aria phone but it's my last opportunity to exchange it because they're extending my 30 day warranty. I had to talk Wirefly into letting me because of the bad GPS in the phone. They can either give me another Cappy which would be a brand new (but another defective GPS phone no doubt) or they'll just give me the Aria which has a decent working GPS but not anywhere near as nice as the Captivate in every other way.
What would some of you suggest? I'm leaning toward just getting the Aria and maybe upgrading to a better phone later on.

galaxyjeff said:
I have the opportunity to swap out my cappy for an HTC Aria phone but it's my last opportunity to exchange it because they're extending my 30 day warranty. I had to talk Wirefly into letting me because of the bad GPS in the phone. They can either give me another Cappy which would be a brand new (but another defective GPS phone no doubt) or they'll just give me the Aria which has a decent working GPS but not anywhere near as nice as the Captivate in every other way.
What would some of you suggest? I'm leaning toward just getting the Aria and maybe upgrading to a better phone later on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife has an Aria, pretty good phone, verry poor battery life. Great GPS lock in 10 sec no matter where are you. Small screen but perfect size for holding.

I would have to disagree. No it's definately not as good as my garmin. However compared to stock...lol.. Its no contest. The Ota update is definately an improvement. It makes it at least usable. Before it would take anywhere from 10 min or more to lock. On several occasions i got half way to home before it would lock. Tonight i tested it and got a lock within 10 secs.
Thats not to say this update is without its issues. You can definately tell there is some anticipation of where you are going by about 10 to 20 feet. However rerouting happens quicker for me than it did before.
There is also the issue of wifi and 3g being on at the same time. Of course ill have to reenable tethering too if possible. Other that that though it is more positive than negative for me. At at least i can bring up bars and restaurants without waiting 20 minutes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

kaczu said:
I would have to disagree. No it's definately not as good as my garmin. However compared to stock...lol.. Its no contest. The Ota update is definately an improvement. It makes it at least usable. Before it would take anywhere from 10 min or more to lock. On several occasions i got half way to home before it would lock. Tonight i tested it and got a lock within 10 secs.
Thats not to say this update is without its issues. You can definately tell there is some anticipation of where you are going by about 10 to 20 feet. However rerouting happens quicker for me than it did before.
There is also the issue of wifi and 3g being on at the same time. Of course ill have to reenable tethering too if possible. Other that that though it is more positive than negative for me. At at least i can bring up bars and restaurants without waiting 20 minutes.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with comparing the Captivate's GPS performance to stock is that stock was just garbage. Almost anything is an improvement from a stock Captivate's GPS.
We need to compare the Captivate's GPS performance to other phones -- the Aria, Droid, iPhone etc. The Captivate's GPS just simply sucks compared to these phones, even after Samsung's "fix".
I wish I could return it, but there are no other decent options with AT&T

I have to disagree also. I just drove from Illinois to Texas and my captivate got me to my destination with only a couple dropped GPS signals. Was a 12 hour drive and it did what it needed to. Just saying this was a "real world" test and it passes in my book.
Dropped w/ my Captivate XDA App

My captivate is every bit as good as my aria was and better than my iphone 3g was. I'll agree its not the best. But this fix is working and if that's the best it can do I'm satisfied. I took a 6 hour trip the other weekend and it did loose signal in cloudy conditions, but when the sky was clear it never steered me wrong it even redirected me quickly, my friends vibrant also got him to where we were meeting. Now with the new firmware it gets a fix in overcast conditions. It may not be perfect but its what we have to live with. And I don't think I'd give up my samoled screen and good graphics processor for a better gps.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk

johnyhoffman said:
I have to disagree also. I just drove from Illinois to Texas and my captivate got me to my destination with only a couple dropped GPS signals. Was a 12 hour drive and it did what it needed to. Just saying this was a "real world" test and it passes in my book.
Dropped w/ my Captivate XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It boils down to how much you expect the GPS to work.
If you expect it to work with a few dropped signals, a few random wanders, but still generally get you to your destination -- then it is OK.
If you expect it to work as good as other modern phones, it sucks.

phr00t said:
The problem with comparing the Captivate's GPS performance to stock is that stock was just garbage. Almost anything is an improvement from a stock Captivate's GPS.
We need to compare the Captivate's GPS performance to other phones -- the Aria, Droid, iPhone etc. The Captivate's GPS just simply sucks compared to these phones, even after Samsung's "fix".
I wish I could return it, but there are no other decent options with AT&T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try the Sony Xperia 10a. I have one and it's a nice phone. Lot's going on in that forum also. GPS works nicely and it's an 8Mb phone. Only A-droid 1.6 w/2.1 coming.

Unfortunate for me, I had a deal with AT&T to sell 50 of these devices ($15,000 down payment) with a custom app I wrote for this company. It's not going to happen now because the GPS is borked. Highway driving is one thing, but in the city, where you would be making turns left and right, it's counter productive. The GPS will be misleading you.
My project hasn't completely fallen through, but I would have to resort to the much smaller HTC Aria. I would say the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 but their OS is a joke. It runs 1.6 and has no Exchange support. SE said they'll make 2.1 (seriously!?) available end of october (meaning November). By then Gingerbread (2.5 or 3.0) will be out.
I just don't want to return this Captivate I got for free to develop the application...

Yea here's mine... Thx samsung, GREAT FIX!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

CLShortFuse said:
The GPS is still unreliable.
...
What are you experiences with this new GPS "fix"?
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Click to collapse
I've gotten what I would call good performance from the GPS today, but I only use it for driving and I probably don't need better than 10m precision. Prior to updating today to JH7, my phone would take 3-5 minutes for an initial lock (which usually required prepping with the Ulysse Gizmos' GPS app), after which it would stay relatively on-point. Today, post-JH7, my phone gets a spot-on lock with 5+ satellites within 10-15 seconds.
Pre-JH7, Google Navigation would trail my actual position slightly, as determined by the very unscientific method of glancing over at the phone while driving and noting that I would be passing a street intersection and Google Nav would still have that street roughly 10-20 feet forward of my position.
Post-JH7, again very unscientifically, the map would have me passing intersections at the exact moment I was actually passing through those intersections. Your comment about it estimating your next position rings a bell, but I could just be "remembering" a non-existent hiccup during one of my rides. Of course, I could also have missed a few dozen hiccups, because I was keeping my eyes on the road. =)
I live in the 'burbs north of NYC and, although I have no immediate plans to head into Manhattan, I will install MyTracks tomorrow and do some more testing along curvy suburban roads with and without extensive tree cover (I'd also be happy to use your custom application, if those logs would be more helpful to you).
Can you give me some specific ideas of what scenarios would help you get more useful test data? Things like:
1) Proceed straight at 30mph. Take 90 degree right turn at 20mph. Expectation would be that MyTracks would continue straight for at least a few feet before correcting itself.
2) Proceed straight at 30mph. Come to abrupt and complete stop. Expectation would match above.

I have a GPS in my car and use it for road trips. The Captivate GPS works well NOW for what I want to use it for, location based services like gowalla and such. It also works well for me using Google Nav's Walking feature.
The update is definitely an improvement for me. Before the update, unless I had wireless network assist turned on, my GPS would NOT get a lock. Now it does in under 20 seconds.

I too just joined the android community after having an iphone for 3+ years now... captivate being the first powerful hardware based phone that i saw (and that ATT had).I'm probably never going back to the iphone even if i never get gps working cause it is still so much better imho.
But the only thing that makes this so dang frustrating is the fact that... was there ANY product testing!?. I mean i can understand if it was a bad "batch" of phones that made it out. Or even if gps was "subpar", and had an OCCASIONAL incident of what we are experiencing (Like once every 15-20 min, then would reset and work fine). But the fact that it has not worked since product launch on EVERY phone (captivate, fascinate, vibrant, epic 4g, i9000) Even the ones that claim to unaffected still have accuracy/lag issues. I mean how did this get past field testing? I just hate the negligence .
I mean atleast the iphone 4 reception issue was only conditional to how you were holding the device. But no one GPS has correctly worked -_- just frustrating

I agree with this thread so far. It's insanely frustrating.

[Q] How is the GPS with Froyo so far?

Is the GPS working now that Froyo is on your Captivate? I have a brand new one on the way to me via FedEx right now so I can't flash it till I get it and wonder if anyone can tell me if GPS is fixed since Froyo is now available to the phone.

It's a lot better. But its not perfect. I'm still in the 3 day "GPS is guaranteed to work better" window so time will tell

Mine doesn't work at all. With all kinds of combinations of GPS setting tweaks.

Thanks. I hope it works better. The phone is still nice so I guess I'll be happy with it even if it's not perfect.

I hope Samsung has another fix for it since it's not working for everybody

I'm doing better but it still sucks.

GPS, using GPS Satellites only with default GPS settings will not lock onto ANYTHING AT ALL for me.
With cell towers, it's 1400m accurate.
Not sure what changed between 2.2 and 2.1 but with 2.1 GPS worked great for me.
Very strange that GPS functionality is different from phone to phone, software to software.....

I do hope they release an actual total GPS fix someday.
Edit: I still like the Galaxy S phones. I know Samsung is still very high tech. It may take them awhile to catch up with what people really want with an Android phone but other than that they have have put together some very nice phones with the Galaxy S line.

mine will pull me down to 10-20 meters. and according to lbstest, it shows it as 15m accurate, full stand alone, lock in between 15s-90s.

Driving around, it was the worst it has ever been. I then used GPS Status and left it up on my dash. I generally could see 2 or 3 satellites. Once, it got up to 4. This is during a sunny day with full view of the sky.
People still seem to think they have something great if it locks in their house, but the real test is driving around and seeing if you can KEEP that lock.

I noticed using ANY of the "GPS fixes" destroyed my GPS performance. I need it set to Standalone, Cold Start, AUTO SUPL config (no supl.google.com) and none of the Jupiter XML "fixes". Stock froyo GPS seems to work OK for me -- I get locks in a reasonable amount of time, although accuracy still isn't great. I still have yet to test Google Navigation / My Tracks, however.

A lot better for me......Many sats in view. Quick locks. Google maps tracked my car pretty quickly on 2.1. I would say this is as good as can be expected from a cell phone GPS device. I have Gamins for the cars so I really won't use this as such. but on my motorcycle it works very well.
It will not be perfect and I accept that. It is A lot better though than 2.1 IMO.

It is marginally better than JH7. Still broken for sure.

Stationary it's fine and gets a pretty fast lock.
Car navigation is poor. I was getting better results in Cognition 2.1.5. Positioning is jumping around, putting me a block away about 25% of the time, getting various sizes of the blue "circle of trust" about 50% of the time. It freezes occaisonally but maybe less than in some of my previously used ROMs. I've tried all the usual setting adjustments and they haven't helped.
The GPS nav capability on the Captivate in prior ROMs has been good enough for me to declare it satisfactory. I'd say this version isn't- yet. I'm confident we'll get it back to at least what it was, but it will take some more tweaking.

Just wondering if anyone is able to get reliable GPS locks in airplane mode. I am beginning to question whether I should switch to Xperia X10. I use GPS quite a bit and don't see why I need to get another GPS when the Cappy should have a working one.
I do love everything else about the Cappy. Hate to go to an outdated system but having everything working as described is kind of nice.

In my testing and experience it is much better, but still not as it ideally should be. I get nice, fast locks in Maps, but GPS test apps are still confused. Perhaps the whole benchmark vs practice concept, but this case seems to a little outside of that realm.

I was able to get GPS lock to around 10 sats only after deactivating the "Use wireless network" option.
However, I had no nav app so i cant say how it tracks.. I am back to 2.1 now, waiting until 2.2 wont be so laggy

gordec said:
Just wondering if anyone is able to get reliable GPS locks in airplane mode. I am beginning to question whether I should switch to Xperia X10. I use GPS quite a bit and don't see why I need to get another GPS when the Cappy should have a working one.
I do love everything else about the Cappy. Hate to go to an outdated system but having everything working as described is kind of nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is interesting, as I keep thinking of switching to a Galaxy S because SE's so slow about updating to 2.1 (Maybe November?) and 2.2 which is a requirement for the latest Gmail and GDocs may not come until Spring 2011 if ever.
However, GPS is extraordinary on the X10. I live on the side of a hill and I can get a lock in 3 seconds,starting with 7/7 and then 8/8 sats by 30 seconds (every option turned on). Lattitude, Navigation, Maps, etc all work wonderfully.
WiFi and GPS are the two most 'additional' features for me on a phone. I have a bit of an issue with SE's Wifi as it's only working when the phone's awake and if the screen blanks, it switches to 3G. Leaves you tethered to a plug so you can set the screen to stay on when plugged in.

stan.s said:
This is interesting, as I keep thinking of switching to a Galaxy S because SE's so slow about updating to 2.1 (Maybe November?) and 2.2 which is a requirement for the latest Gmail and GDocs may not come until Spring 2011 if ever.
However, GPS is extraordinary on the X10. I live on the side of a hill and I can get a lock in 3 seconds,starting with 7/7 and then 8/8 sats by 30 seconds (every option turned on). Lattitude, Navigation, Maps, etc all work wonderfully.
WiFi and GPS are the two most 'additional' features for me on a phone. I have a bit of an issue with SE's Wifi as it's only working when the phone's awake and if the screen blanks, it switches to 3G. Leaves you tethered to a plug so you can set the screen to stay on when plugged in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just realized that I use GPS more than I expected. I think 2.1 without multitouch is ok for me. I am still having daily random shutdowns though mine is limited to unplugging from AC only. I am still waiting for something to happen to Cappy cause I still like it.

I have an RMA phone that I updated OTA to JH7 and yesterday i had to drive out of state and about 20 minutes before I left I updated to Froyo 2.2 stock and my GPS worked perfectly the whole way there and back. Granted it was only about two hours of total drive time ( I am really close to the state border), but it never showed me off the path it set for me and when I passed the spot I was suppsed to go to, it showed me drive past it. So I have as stock a setup as possible and my GPS worked perfectly for me. I cant tell you how many sattelites I have or how many seconds it took to lock etc., but real world road test was great. i will use it tonight on my way to and from work and maybe repost now that I have had it loaded for a day.

Anyone else experiencing Sprint Nexus S GPS Issues?

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
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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...
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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
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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.
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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?

Infuse's GPS issue?

Anyone who is using GPS on Infuse, please let me know how GPS performance is. I used to own the Samsung Vibrant and had horrible GPS performance. Thinking about buying the Infuse but afraid that it would have the same GPS performance as the Vibrant. Thanks!

I had a captivate and had HORRIBLE GPS performance, unusable. I tried about 10 different ROMS in an effort to improve GPS performance. It was only fixed by getting a hardware replacement (refurb).
I have had my Infuse for about a day now. And GPS performance is on par with my refurb captivate. Meaning it locks fast (within 10 seconds) and it tracks well while driving. I am satisfied with the Infuse's GPS performance, it seems they have resolved the GPS hardware problem.
That being said, i did some serious research regarding the captivate's GPS problems, and it seems certain batches from Samsung worked well and some didn't. Hopefully that is not the case with the Infuse.

So far, so good. Locks within a couple of seconds. I'll post again if I find otherwise.

Werent those GPS issues due to Skyhook being yanked right before distribution? I wouldnt expect GPS issues on future models.

the gps has been fixed on the infuse and sgsII
the phonedog review says it and so does engadget i believe

GPS locks quickly even in my house. A lot better than the Captivate. Although a little slower than my Atrix. Just a few seconds though
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

bigballa said:
the gps has been fixed on the infuse and sgsII
the phonedog review says it and so does engadget i believe
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Click to collapse
yes, the gps has been fixed!
i used to have galaxy s2, gps locks in quick and never lose gps signals!
just got my infuse yesterday, gps locks in quick too! need to do some driving to test if it loses gps signals or not.

just wanted to say, my captivate never had any trouble locking. it was the tracking that was horrible. anyway, infuse works fine. Larger screen is nice for navigation too.

I went to check out the infuse yesterday at AT&T ...
Really liked the screen and overall feel of the phone..
I went to the maps to see of I could get a lock on my location...
It would only triangulate my location.
I thought since I was indoors it may be a fluke so tried the atrix that was on display right beside it...
The atrix locked on my location instantly...tried the inspire on display...it also locked my location..,
Just for kicks I went over to the captivate..."unable to determine your location"....
I tried over and over on the infuse to get a lock...but it was a no go..,,
I hope it was an isolated incident...
Would be a shame if samsung didn't learn from the captivate....

Mine locked in a matter of seconds in my house. It basically pointed directly at the window I was sitting near.
My captivate want too bad either once I started flashing roms with it. It was a 1007 model. Never had an issue with it that wasn't my own fault.
Sent from my huge infuse (ladies does size matter)

Great GPS
I can honestly say Samsung has fixed the GPS issue with the Infuse. I have been using the phone for almost a week now and I have had 0 issues with GPS are far as locking or jumping around Google Maps. It's right up to par with the Atrix which in my opinion has a great GPS as well.

AllTheWay said:
It's right up to par with the Atrix which in my opinion has a great GPS as well.
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Wow, that's saying a lot. The Atrix's gps was the best I've ever used. Simply phenomenal.
Sent from my HTC Inspire

I hate to say it but I've had mixed results with the GPS performance on the Infuse. I've run into an issue with it not being able to find a satellite signal, and it doesn't track 100% accurately (shows me as being ~15 feet off the road, albeit in the right direction). It's leaps and bounds better than the Captivate - at least it doesn't randomly think I'm going the opposite way - but, in my experience, the GPS performance in the Infuse is not up to par with the Atrix or iPhone.

good static locks, very precise, under 10meter accuracy, bad tracking, not great under cover either. the secgps.conf file is still not written to correctly from the lbs test mode. it was showing msbased while the lbs screen was never changed from standalone.
even a captivate can track adequetly if setup right, the comunity is still convicend that is not true but i can post my tracts from my captivate, you wouldnt believe how good it does.
i havent gone as far as replacing jupiter.xml yet. i have turned off dynamic accuracy, it didnt do anything for the captivate so i started there. i turned it off in both lbs and secgps.conf set it to controlplane supl and turned off secure socket and fixed mismatches in secgps.conf to lbs screen and got rock solid locks after it eventually got the data it needed. before the edits it would be all over the place when i was indoors. will try tracking tomorrow, but this made a world of difference on the captivate.
this does have better hardware and drivers than the sgs though. the accuracy in lbs test mode is repoted to 2 digits after the decimal. the captivate seems to work in multiples of 5 meters. it also seems to do better with the altitude.

I am coming from my Samsung epic (sprint) and the GPS was terrible. I am now on the Infuse, the gps is perfectly fine. The speaker could be louder though.

I've had mostly good locks...today though, it has been bad...just not locking in.

Tried it out today at ATT store. The screen was bright and beautiful. Camera is better than the Streak but GPS still not working properly. Inside ATT store, the Infuse got a lock for a few seconds, lost the lock, and not able to re-gained the lock again. Doesn't looks like Samsung knows how to implement GPS function correctly. My Dell Streak, the Atrix and the HTC Inspire next to the Infuse were all able to get GPS lock.

briansj said:
Tried it out today at ATT store. The screen was bright and beautiful. Camera is better than the Streak but GPS still not working properly. Inside ATT store, the Infuse got a lock for a few seconds, lost the lock, and not able to re-gained the lock again. Doesn't looks like Samsung knows how to implement GPS function correctly. My Dell Streak, the Atrix and the HTC Inspire next to the Infuse were all able to get GPS lock.
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Click to collapse
yeah samsung has some funky settings but this hardware is very acurate. just needs some tweekage.

The GPS works like a dream. Usually it takes no more than 15-30 seconds to get a lock.
When I was at the launch i was able to lock in on my location in 30 seconds, INSIDE.
The GPS is good now.
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bragOS said:
Werent those GPS issues due to Skyhook being yanked right before distribution? I wouldnt expect GPS issues on future models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No - It was a hardware issue.

GPS Testing Thread

I wanted to see if you guys could report how accurate your GPS is. It seems as though my phone will NEVER get a lock below 5 meters. My Thunderbolt on the other hand will get a lock of around 1-2 meters in the same exact position.
Some of you might think it's not a big of a deal, but for me it's the difference between my Google Maps telling me I'm at my neighbors house VS it knowing I'm at mine.
I went into the GPS configuration file under data/gps and changed my server address to supl.google.com, changed to port 7276, and I also switched mode to MSBASED. Now my GPS picks up a lock really quickly but I still can't get it lower than 5 . I noticed when I was originally on ED1, it wouldn't go past 10 for me , EE4 got it lower to 5. Does anyone have any tips?
I'm using GPS Status and Toolbox .
I've tested this and get same results on Gummy, Humble, and Eclipse 1.2
I'm currently on Humble 1.3 with PBJ nonOC kernel

Unfortunately. I think it comes down to the aGPS antenna in the handset. Not sure i've ever known a smartphone gps to be more accurate then 3-5 meters if it gets that close. Try using Angrygps to test and see how close you can get it.

HTC Phones seems to be really good on GPS or something because both my HTC Aria and Thunderbolt lock on at 1-2 meters outside of my home. I used to have a Samsung Epic a while back and that thing never got a lock below 30 meters until it got Froyo

Yeah im an avid HTC lover myself as you can tell. But Verizon unfortunately is sucking on the LTE Department when it comes to HTC Smartphones. I wasn't going to put up with the 1300mah battery in the Thunderbolt just to keep up with HTC.

dragonstalker said:
Yeah im an avid HTC lover myself as you can tell. But Verizon unfortunately is sucking on the LTE Department when it comes to HTC Smartphones. I wasn't going to put up with the 1300mah battery in the Thunderbolt just to keep up with HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me it was a combination of battery life and the screen. When I owned an Epic I told myself I would never buy a samsung again due to its GPS woes, lack of timely updates ,etc, but those LCD screens on HTC are GARBAGE. You can't see a damn thing in the Texas sun with that. However, I am more comfortable with RUU's and stuff like that on HTC.
Anways, would it be possible for someone to go outside and see what's the best GPS lock you can get. It'd be even great if people who also own Thunderbolts can test both devices like I did

My old Droid X was the best device I've ever used for GPS or navigation purposes. It would lock on to my position in less than 10 seconds and have a triangulation of about 3 meters.

Anyone? I still can't get it past 5, now I'm on Humble 1.33

I don't have a Charge(yet) but when my Fascinate's GPS wants to work, it locks onto me within 6 meters.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

I had an LG Revolution. the GPS on that was amazing. It locked on immediately and was accurate to about 3 - 6 feet. It could place me inside my house and watch move as I moved from room to room.
My Charge on the other hand sucks at GPS. It takes quite a while to lock on and i never get better than 15ft accuracy. Plus it does not update all that frequently. Like once every 10 seconds or so.