[Q] Why does GPS need internet connection? - Windows Phone 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi thank you for everyone who will reply to this thread.
I use Turn by Turn Navigation which has a feature to allow me to download maps for offline use. I downloaded a whole area around me and decided to test it out.
For some reason it can't locate my location without an internet connection, Why is that? Does GPS need an internet connection?

thekiller99 said:
Hi thank you for everyone who will reply to this thread.
I use Turn by Turn Navigation which has a feature to allow me to download maps for offline use. I downloaded a whole area around me and decided to test it out.
For some reason it can't locate my location without an internet connection, Why is that? Does GPS need an internet connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, it's only 1215640 times faster with an internet connection, because it uses base-cell, wifis, ephemerids (oh I hope I wrote it right) downloaded from positioning servers etc...

What is your model telephone?
I have HTC Mozart and when i disable Data Transfer my GPS get fix 5sec.
A-GSP + GPS is better i now but in my model gps i very faster.
In my old Nokia n95 8gb gps get fix slowly. Only in car my gps get fix in car holder.

Mine is HTC HD7

Depends on a region where you are, I mean how many satelites are above you and etc.

Argh i guess not a lot. I live in New Zealand and its a pretty **** country

Related

GPS on AT&T Fuze with ROGERS?

Hey ive unlocked and flashed to a sweet NRG rom and love it. I just want to use google Maps (or something similar) to find my position on a map (turn by turn maybe?). I remember with my iPhone when I first had it the GPS worked great then one day I was never able to get my actual position (just within a certain amount of meters).
Did rogers shut down GPS?
Now on my new phone when I goto "GPS location" in google maps it searches for a satellite but doesnt seem to get my position (0)... Is there a setting I can turn on to allow GPS or do I need to cal rogers and rip on someone? LOL
keep up the great work guys!!!
- Eddy
I just turned 3g on and did the HTC GPS tool. I opened the port and started the test and then menu-Information and I dont seem to have a position.
any ideas guys? seems like rogers problem.
eddyg519 said:
I just turned 3g on and did the HTC GPS tool. I opened the port and started the test and then menu-Information and I dont seem to have a position.
any ideas guys? seems like rogers problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS on the HTC is using the basic GPS Signal coming from satellites. Are u outside or near a window to a fix ?
Look http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
What u used was A-GPS what is assisted GPS with help from Cell Phone provider. It gives faster fix and a pseude gps in buildings.
Go outside with ur cellphone with clear sky view, start the htc gps tool and u should get position fix within some minutes or even seconds. There is no need for 3g because the gps itself does not need any cellphone connection. It takes satellite signals to calculate the position.
When u update quick gps it is faster in the position fix because it already knows some basic sat data. But still no phone connection necessary for using GPS.
The google map u then only see with data (3g or wlan) not because of the GPS but because of the drawed map graphics wich have to be loaded.
ok i will try the outside thing although I have the phone pointed to the window pretty much. Checking rogers website both phones only have a-GPS but I still cant get an actual location on either. Only about a 4 block square or circle.
EDIT: ok i enabled A-GPS on the touch pro and still no luck with google maps. It still seems to be looking for actual GPS
OK im managed to get it working. I changed the port to com5 and scanned found some sat's I had to change the bit thing to 56700 on com5 within google maps. Seems to be working like a charm!

GPS signal - source

Hello All,
OK, This will show you how out of the loop I am.
Purchased an HTC Touch Pro (via CL), phone to see how it would work as simply an GPS while riding the motorcycle all over creation this summer.
I was able to download Google maps(4.0) here at home & installed via WIFI. After installing I could not get any satellites to 'come in'. I enabled the phone part on the Touch,then the satellites (5) became available and did in fact show my location! I am not going to get an actual data plan for this phone FYI. My question is,were does the GPS satellites "come from"? I assume the only way this will function properly is to have an WIFI connection? That being said, how does the regular 'car gps's' get their signal driving down the road?
Is the gps radio signal independent of both the wifi & data signals, I guess is what I am asking? Why would I have had to enable the phone/ON for the satellites to show up,when I do not have a data plan? Maybe just an inherit setup for the gps radio,config?
Thanks,
Barry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
you can use GPS for free, you don't need to have a wifi connection or any other data connection
accountabc,
Thanks for the link! I was 'hoping' this is how the gps thing shook down. I figured there would have to be a catch to were I would have to have a data plan on the U S Cellular enabled HTC Touch Pro. This is going to work out just as I had hoped! No GPS hanging off of the handlebars,being a target for thieves every time i get away from the bike!!!.
Suweeeet!!!
Now if I can read it while tooling around the switchbacks???,,,Yikes...
take Care,
Barry
accountabc,
I had a brilliant idea,to test the viability of my Google Maps working without an Data or WIFI connection. I unplugged my Access point here. Tried opening Google Maps on the HTC Touch Pro, and get the 'connecting' dialouge at the top right of GM's. It finally times out with saying" A data connection is required for this app". I tried going into the setting of the "external gps" and took off the 'automatically configure' and set the com ports several different ways to no avail.
This phone does have the latest ROM that U S Cellular provides. I may have to try and start hacking with some other ROM's to see if an 'unlocked' ROM may circumvent this problem? Although I have had this phone for almost two months I have just started getting acclimated with it ,the last 2 days.
I'll do some more searching here to see if someone does in fact have a workaround for this? It does seem the GPS radio should do the grunt work. I am just not sure about the Google Maps needed to be updated dynamically with a net connection?
Thanks again,
Barry
why not use something like garmin xt which doesn't require a data conenction since all the maps are on a sd card

Standalone GPS on xv6700; Solved?

I want to say I love this site and have learned alot. I have tried for quite a time to get GPS to work on the xv6700, tho it seems much disinformation has been spread as far as a GPS being within. I have torn down this phone to see for myself if the MSM6500 was in this, which it is. Therefore I believe it does have this ability. I recently installed a program called WPS by Skyhook, which is a Wireless Positioning System. Now just a footnote; my phone has no carrier, I only use it for surfing the internet with wifi. To utilize WPS the site tells me I would need an active internet connection, however it stills works with no connection!!! It seems as if I have gotten the internal gps to wake up. I use Open Mobile Maps and it works excellent. I pickup satellites with Google Maps just to test at home (so far as many as 10 satellites). Can somebody else please duplicate this to verify exactly what is going on here? I just want to emphasize that this is with NO CONNECTION to ANYTHING!!!

[Q] AGPS over WIFI on Android?

Hi all,
I'm going on holiday and would like to use my Android (Galaxy Tab) for offline navigation. I'd like to keep my GSM module switched off all the time to avoid data roaming charges. I'll do my surfing etc over WIFI where available.
I'd like to use AGPS for a quick satellite fix.
Can I download AGPS satellite data over WIFI, or does this require a GSM (GPRS/UMTS) connection?
How do I manually trigger AGPS download on Android?*
Help is much appreciated!
N.
* On the Windows Mobile devices of old there used to be a program calles "QuickGPS" or similar that would download AGPS satellite data, but I don't see any such option on Android - - ?
Android GPS requires a LIVE data connection to function with realtime navigation, if u are just using Wi-Fi this won't work.
On the other hand, assuming u have a hefty sdcard in your tablet, u could use "sygic GPS" from market, that WILL allow offline GPS.
icenight89,
I'm using Navigon, which keeps map data on board, no data connection required there. Sygic is another option. Google Navigation does require a live connection, but Navigon, Sygic and others do not. Storage required for on-board map data is not all that massive btw, my Navigon maps of Europe require ~ 2 GB.
My question was more on the point of assisted-GPS satellite data. How do I download current satellite data so that my GPS knows where to look (thus getting a quicker satellite fix) if I want to avoid a mobile data connection via GSM?
Once I have a GPS fix, offline satnav is no problem.
Any ideas there?
N.
Android downloads agps data automatically, there is no way to "force" an update. U could try connecting to wifi and then running android nav (google maps/navigation) with GPS enabled, that would cache the new data I presume. That's your only option really
On a side note, I consider 2gb for one sole app a lot, whether its maps or not lol
Um, GPS Test software lets you do this.
syl0n said:
Um, GPS Test software lets you do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Five years later, google lands me on this thread because I too was asking "can I update AGPS over wifi?". (Empirical evidence: I can, because at the trail-head I get a lock in about 10 seconds. On the other hand, maybe it didn't update, and the GPS hardware/antenna is just that good. )
And since answers were given without answering the question, I will keep looking.
But as for GPS Test, it is essential. Prior to using any nav app, I open GPS Test and watch it get a lock, or not, because the satellite display shows me exactly what is going on, as opposed to the nav apps, which just sit there maybe getting a lock maybe not and you have no effing idea why.

How GPS works

I was wondering if we needed a wifi connection when using GPS or if the satellite connections are all that are required. Also does the GPS functionality cost money to use?
Technically, it works without Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi adds accuracy. The problem is, you'll find that you can't really search for places to navigate. For example, Google Maps finds my location just fine, but if I search for a store or something, it hangs looking for a data connection. Google Navigate can't find the address that I type in. So, to sum it up, GPS and some sort of data connection go hand-in-hand. When I'm out, I share my 3G Connection from my phone via wireless tethering to supply the tablet with a connection.
There is no cost to use the GPS functionality.
Hope this helps!
Alitheia said:
Technically, it works without Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi adds accuracy. The problem is, you'll find that you can't really search for places to navigate. For example, Google Maps finds my location just fine, but if I search for a store or something, it hangs looking for a data connection. Google Navigate can't find the address that I type in. So, to sum it up, GPS and some sort of data connection go hand-in-hand. When I'm out, I share my 3G Connection from my phone via wireless tethering to supply the tablet with a connection.
There is no cost to use the GPS functionality.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you. that did answer my question(s).
JMH-ESH said:
I was wondering if we needed a wifi connection when using GPS or if the satellite connections are all that are required. Also does the GPS functionality cost money to use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might be of use to read http://en.wikipedia.org/GPS because this is a general question as to the underlying mechanism of global positioning, triangulation and so on, and has nothing to do with the specifics of our device.
Alitheia said:
Technically, it works without Wi-Fi, but Wi-Fi adds accuracy. The problem is, you'll find that you can't really search for places to navigate. For example, Google Maps finds my location just fine, but if I search for a store or something, it hangs looking for a data connection. Google Navigate can't find the address that I type in. So, to sum it up, GPS and some sort of data connection go hand-in-hand. When I'm out, I share my 3G Connection from my phone via wireless tethering to supply the tablet with a connection.
There is no cost to use the GPS functionality.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't answer the question. GPS does not require a data connection. Some navigation apps require it, but there are also applications that provide full offline GPS-assisted navigation with no need for an internet connection at all.
ZankerH said:
That doesn't answer the question. GPS does not require a data connection. Some navigation apps require it, but there are also applications that provide full offline GPS-assisted navigation with no need for an internet connection at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I think it does, at least partly -- since his second question was if GPS functionality costs money (answer: no, it is kindly provided by the United States Department of Defense for you perusal). Furthermore, in the article is referenced the answer to the ame question above: GPS functionality requires only the GPS antenn itself, although the position acquisition (not to be confused with signal acquisition, since that is reception-dependent only) may be faster when a data connection is available to downoad the ephemeris, for example.
It'd be nicer if you fully read and ditto understood both questionand answer before correction a non-mistake. Again, there was no device-specific question asked, so, essentially, it doesn't belong in here.
Thanks for the clarifications to my answer. My first sentence did say that technically GPS works without Wi-Fi. It was important to state that many of the typical uses for GPS however do require a data connection, so it is very important not to leave that out because the OP didn't state what they planned to use GPS for. I summed it up by saying that data and GPS are great compliments to each other for a device, which is also true.

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