Database Info

GPS in Europe

I've searched and searched most of the Android forums along with the Eris forums as well but I can't find anyone who has gotten this to work. The best I could find was someone in Puerto Rico with a Eris that even with a 1x connection wasn't able to get a GPS sync.
Has anyone traveled to Europe with a CDMA Hero and been able to get a GPS lock?
Were you able to use co-pilot or something similar with offline maps to be able to navigate around?
I tested putting the phone in airplane mode and turning on GPS and using GPS Logger to see if I get a sync and I do here in the US. In the settings I only had "Use GPS satellites" checked and not "use wireless networks". This leads me to believe it should work but I have to wonder if the last sync was cached which allowed it to work in testing.
So if anyone has and real life experience with this please let me know, otherwise I may have to drag out the old Mogul with a BT GPS dongle.

Good question! I am going to Japan for 2 weeks and was wondering the same thing.

It should work I think, cause GPS is supposed to locate you anywhere. Its just the maps but google maps has the whole world.

zeezey said:
It should work I think, cause GPS is supposed to locate you anywhere. Its just the maps but google maps has the whole world.
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Only thing is, Maps requires a data connection to display the maps!
You'd probably have to get a europe navigation program for android (if one exists?)

lordofokra said:
Only thing is, Maps requires a data connection to display the maps!
You'd probably have to get a europe navigation program for android (if one exists?)
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Yeah, it's called CoPilet Live Navigation Europe, but its f***ing expensive lol
like $75 USD
Better pleasure me at the same time as navigating for that price

lordofokra said:
Only thing is, Maps requires a data connection to display the maps!
You'd probably have to get a europe navigation program for android (if one exists?)
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There is a hacked GMaps that works outside the USA...

I'm starting to think no one has any real world experience with this. I have a feeling my upcoming travel I will end up being a guinea pig.

gu1dry said:
There is a hacked GMaps that works outside the USA...
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Click to collapse
Wouldn't he still need data to use it? Europe doesn't use our CDMA and he wouldn't have signal.

I found a navigation app that doesn't need an interenet connection. It relies on OpenStreetMap so I am not sure how good that data is in Europe
http://www.andnav.org/
I also found this app which lets you download an area while you have an internet connection
http://bigplanetmaps.wordpress.com/
but it seems buggy.
There is also this one but it doesn't look like it has a navigation option
http://www.mapdroyd.com/
All the notable gps navigation apps that have mappacks cost $50 or more.
Another problem is that your phone uses the cell network as a "cheat" to get your initial location. So whenever you boot up a GPS nav app without cell towers it is going to take several minutes to get your location so just be aware it will take awhile to get your location. That fact is true for any GPS unit you start for the first time. This is why the newer units will ask for the city you are in so it can try to get a lock faster.

I was in Europe earlier this month and none of the pictures I took with the phone had any of the GPS data in it.
Hope your results are different.

ymsc said:
I was in Europe earlier this month and none of the pictures I took with the phone had any of the GPS data in it.
Hope your results are different.
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y doesn't someone ask someone from Europe?

regaw_leinad said:
y doesn't someone ask someone from Europe?
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They do not have the CDMA Hero in Europe

ymsc said:
They do not have the CDMA Hero in Europe
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Click to collapse
lol wow I don't even remember asking that last night ?? what a dumb question haha

I think a good way to test if it will work is to do a complete wipe and as soon as the phone boots throw it in airplane mode. Then disable the network location by celltower. Disable Mobile network. Take it out of airplane mode and activate only the GPS(not the mobile network location... make sure that is off before you come out of airplane mode)
Then put one of those program on your phone (I am liking andnav) and see if it finds your location after several minutes.
You need to wipe it so your phone never gets your current location. This will be a similar situation to when you go overseas.
The big question here is does the Hero need that initial location from the towers or will it do like other GPS units and search until it find the location(which can take many minutes!)

I just tried that andnav2 and it properly won't work for you.
Even if you download the mappacks you will still need to cache and area you are visiting while you have a data connection. Then you can't plan routes there unless you have a data connection. You can however pre-load routes and then don't need a data connection but you have to pre-plan stuff.
I am sorry to say but I think your best bet is to get a dedicated unit. The paid apps for the android might do the job for you if you want to save on how many electronics you carry around but they are so expensive that I say by then just buy a separate unit.
If you have or want to buy a TomTom then I can tell you how to get maps for your areas you are visiting but you will need to PM me. Not only am I not allowed to post but that would be way off topic since it has nothing to do with the Hero. I took a TomTom One when I went to Germany a couple months ago and it worked like a charm.

Just bumping this in case anyone has any further insight or has tried this.
I still planning on trying it myself. I'll have the old mogul with a bluetooth gps dongle as a backup.
Actually here is a question. Has anyone gotten a bluetooth gps dongle to work with their phones. I know the last time I was in europe my mogul would not pick up a gps signal with the internal chip but as soon as I fired up the bluetooth everything was good.

watzone69 said:
Good question! I am going to Japan for 2 weeks and was wondering the same thing.
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japan uses cdma. you'll probably have a nice strong roaming signal over there

feld said:
japan uses cdma. you'll probably have a nice strong roaming signal over there
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Click to collapse
Yep, I'm in Japan right now. As soon as I took my phone out of airplane mode I got a roaming notification for $1.99/minute. No thanks! I disabled mobile network and have just been using the camera and music functions.
I'm posting this from my father-in-law's computer. He lives in a small town outside of Tokyo and I haven't found a wifi hotspot yet. I'm going in to Tokyo tomorrow so I will try to find a free one somewhere and maybe download some maps.
Earlier today I tried getting a GPS lock w/google maps and it seems like it found my location (no map, of course) but now it says "your location is temporarily unavailable". Maybe the initial lock was cached data? I may try the wipe/airplane mode method that centron posted.
BTW, I have seen ads for WIMAX here. Hopefully next time I'm here I'll have the EVO.

Based on my experience traveling around Europe with my Sprint Mogul you will need to have a CDMA signal even if your phone has a dedicated GPS chip. Even TomTom wouldn't work without it. Granted this is a different phone running WM6, but I believe the result will be the same.
Please write us back when you test it out across the pond and let us know.

I'll try to remember in the am. I'm in the UK right now. I tried the other day, but was having issues getting a dhcp addresses from the wifi ....

[Q] NS4G GPS issues in Germany

Last week I flew from the U.S. to Germany for a month-long business visit. I brought my Nexus S 4G (Bugless Pete's ICS ROM/kernal) knowing that I wouldn't be able to use the phone, but figured I'd still be able to get wireless and GPS.
The GPS worked fine in the U.S. but has been terrible here. I was able to get a single lock on my location the first day, but ever since have been unable to get anything. I also have an HTC Flyer which doesn't have any problems with GPS, so it's not the signal.
Is there any reason why the NS4G specifically would have poor GPS in Europe? Any tweaks that can be made?

I wonder if Hitler had something to do with it

I found some stuff that might help. One app is FasterGPS. It works by changing your region for a faster lock, so it should help...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ult#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsIm9yZy5mYXN0ZXJncHMiXQ
Another app I use is QBANIN GPSfix, which I activate after turning GPS location on but before actually using the Navigation or Maps app.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=12406555&postcount=11
Someone said this worked too:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22088356&postcount=1534

fwald said:
Last week I flew from the U.S. to Germany for a month-long business visit. I brought my Nexus S 4G (Bugless Pete's ICS ROM/kernal) knowing that I wouldn't be able to use the phone, but figured I'd still be able to get wireless and GPS.
The GPS worked fine in the U.S. but has been terrible here. I was able to get a single lock on my location the first day, but ever since have been unable to get anything. I also have an HTC Flyer which doesn't have any problems with GPS, so it's not the signal.
Is there any reason why the NS4G specifically would have poor GPS in Europe? Any tweaks that can be made?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the US it's able to use wifi and cell tower A-GPS triangulation data to help get the initial location determined. When that data is factored in, the lock is a lot easier to get.
If you can happen to hop on a wifi network out there, I bet you'll be able to get a lock pretty quickly too.

gullu101 said:
I found some stuff that might help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll give those a shot.
superm1 said:
In the US it's able to use wifi and cell tower A-GPS triangulation data to help get the initial location determined. When that data is factored in, the lock is a lot easier to get.
If you can happen to hop on a wifi network out there, I bet you'll be able to get a lock pretty quickly too.
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Click to collapse
I think you're absolutely right. When I did get the lock, I was on wifi.
And now that I think about it some more, Google Maps and Navigation must need an active data link to work, right? The map info isn't stored locally.

fwald said:
Thanks, I'll give those a shot.
I think you're absolutely right. When I did get the lock, I was on wifi.
And now that I think about it some more, Google Maps and Navigation must need an active data link to work, right? The map info isn't stored locally.
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Click to collapse
There is a lab setting that lets you cache map tiles for like 10 mi square areas I think. I've never actually tried it. I expect it will just get you map information but not actually get you directions and navigation working though. Those I think will require an active data link.

superm1 said:
There is a lab setting that lets you cache map tiles for like 10 mi square areas I think. I've never actually tried it. I expect it will just get you map information but not actually get you directions and navigation working though. Those I think will require an active data link.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I've tried it, it's pretty useful. You can download the maps via WiFi and it'll save them to your phone

[Q] Signal drop/No service

Just wondering if any one else gets this, sometimes my signal just drops out and I get no service.
Then it comes back it does not happen all the time, I live in a big city Leeds infact so signal is quite strong.
Just wondering if it could be a fault with the phone?
Thanks

I've noticed it happens to me too.

Tony_YYZ said:
I've noticed it happens to me too.
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I was wondering if its my device because I live in the city and the signal is excellent around here, my other phone HTC sensation never had this problem. Was concerned it could be software/hardware problem possibly.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

bassist9 said:
I was wondering if its my device because I live in the city and the signal is excellent around here, my other phone HTC sensation never had this problem. Was concerned it could be software/hardware problem possibly.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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It's likely the radio software.

Tony_YYZ said:
It's likely the radio software.
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Right I see could this possibly be fixed in next update you think?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

bassist9 said:
Right I see could this possibly be fixed in next update you think?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is definitely possible.

I'm on AT&T and have the correct APN settings and have called AT&T with my IMEI. I have significantly worse signal than with my HTC One X. I am not comparing bars to bars, but rather where the signal drops completely. In places where I had low signal but still connected I now have nothing.

Straight talk using at&t Sim and notice radio drops..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

T-Mobile on stock ROM i had my first signal drops.
I was fine (or at least never noticed them) from the time i got my phone (day one) without any drops here in orlando.
Drove over to Tampa/Venice Beach area this past weekend and noticed some drops. Had about 6 drops according to my battery stats in 2 days. i had good to excellent coverage the entire time except when it would drop comlpetely (outline of signal bars)
would connect in a couple seconds, but i noticed over night, it would drop for a pretty large amount of time (like 10-15 minutes at a time.)

Mmm defo seems like were all having the same issues, wonder what it could be
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I had this issue too, and here's how I fixed it:
By default LTE is enabled, meaning the phone will periodically scan for a LTE network. If you're in a big city, you're likely to find one. Your phone will attempt to connect. However, it fails, meaning it will have to rescan the HSPA bands to connect back. That results in a few seconds of no service. Why can't it connect to LTE? Because by default, the APN is not the LTE APN, for Rogers at least. I'd assume AT&T would be the same. You can test this by dialing *#*#4636#*#*, selecting phone info, and selecting LTE only. You'll see that there is no service. I tested this in an area I knew had great LTE coverage, and that led me to the conclusion that it's LTE causing the signal drops.
So how to fix? Simple, just change your APN to the LTE APN for your carried. To do that go to Settings -> More -> Mobile Networks -> Access Point Names. If you're experiencing this issue on Rogers, change the APN field to ltemobile.apn. If you're on another carrier, you'll have to search for their LTE APN configuration.
After doing this your phone should start connecting to LTE again, and you won't get those annoying signal drops.

PaulGoogle Employee
Nov 20
A few days ago I let you know that we'd be reaching out on email to some of you for some additional bug report data. I'd like to thank everyone who responded to our email -- the bug data you sent in has been helpful to us in tracking this down.
This is looking like a software issue on our side, and we're investigating a fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So yeah the next update will probably fix the issue. It's not so bad in the meantime, Lightflow sill notify you that your nexus has lost signal, and you still get the internet and incoming calls.

We're not alone. Supposedly Google is "aware" of the issue.

i've hcanged my setting from '4g' to '3g' to see if i notice a difference (hopefully will) then when 4g is released or i get a 4g sim, can move it back up

Yes, I'm having issues too. The real problem is the fact that I have a Wilson cell booster in my home (supposed to have up to 5000 square foot range) and my n4 had full bars most everywhere inside. With my n5 It shows 1 to 2 bars if I'm lucky and quite often drops to none! The only way to get full bars Is to stand right under the indoor antenna. Not impressed, and I sure hope this is fixable!
sent from my next gen N7

I hate to revive a dead thread, but I was wondering if people were still having problems. Once or twice during the day that I can see I will lose signal for a few seconds only to have it reconnect. Running 4.4.2 so the latest update did nothing to help the problem as far as I can see and I have messed with my APN settings. On AT&T. The Google thread seems to have a lot of different problems on the same thread, and it is a bit unclear if people are still having this problem. This is very annoying for such an otherwise spectacular phone. Thanks and sorry again for reviving the thread... :fingers-crossed:

gidgiddonihah said:
I hate to revive a dead thread, but I was wondering if people were still having problems. Once or twice during the day that I can see I will lose signal for a few seconds only to have it reconnect. Running 4.4.2 so the latest update did nothing to help the problem as far as I can see and I have messed with my APN settings. On AT&T. The Google thread seems to have a lot of different problems on the same thread, and it is a bit unclear if people are still having this problem. This is very annoying for such an otherwise spectacular phone. Thanks and sorry again for reviving the thread... :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, there have been several threads on the issues associated with this (emergency calls only, missed calls, no signal,etc.). Ongoing and unresolved for some.

wideasleep1 said:
Actually, there have been several threads on the issues associated with this (emergency calls only, missed calls, no signal,etc.). Ongoing and unresolved for some.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the speedy reply. Hope Google gets on this fast. I also have LTE connection issues which has plagued both this and my original device so I am pretty sure its a radio issue. The phone loves to stay on HSPA+ even when there is a decent LTE connection: it's last in the pack to connect to LTE and first to disconnect when compared to others on AT&T.

gidgiddonihah said:
Appreciate the speedy reply. Hope Google gets on this fast. I also have LTE connection issues which has plagued both this and my original device so I am pretty sure its a radio issue. The phone loves to stay on HSPA+ even when there is a decent LTE connection: it's last in the pack to connect to LTE and first to disconnect when compared to others on AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N4 with a combo radio sticks to LTE a tad better than my N5 with stock radio. Sadly, morrislee hasn't fiddled and combo'd N5 radios, and I'm not sure they've been tested and sussed out like the N4 radios. Citing the fact some with issues have flashed all the radios so far with minimal success means we wait for Qualcomm, after Google kicks them in the you know where.

wideasleep1 said:
My N4 with a combo radio sticks to LTE a tad better than my N5 with stock radio. Sadly, morrislee hasn't fiddled and combo'd N5 radios, and I'm not sure they've been tested and sussed out like the N4 radios. Citing the fact some with issues have flashed all the radios so far with minimal success means we wait for Qualcomm, after Google kicks them in the you know where.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully Google kicks hard and fast . Multiple times if needed. Thanks again for the speedy and enlightening replies. Much obliged.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Q] No signal strength all of a sudden

Hello,
I bought my Nexus 5 on the 11th of December 2013 and it had been working flawlessly ever since. Since last week, I started noticing the occasional signal drop and I'd be out of cell reception but would usually be back up within no time. However, yesterday, out of the blue I'm travelling on the highway and my signal strength disappears never to come back again. I've tried the following:
- Restore old backup (including EFS)
- Went back to stock from PA
- Upgraded to the latest radio
- Took back cover off to see if anything was wrong but found nothing.
- Tried another SIM card
Nothing worked. My SIM card works fine in another phone. Everything else such as WiFi and Bluetooth works flawlessly but I just don't get any reception.
This is very disappointing and I have my fingers crossed hoping someone can help me with this since I didn't plan on getting a new device for at least another year especially after paying $520 USD for my phone here in my country.
Thank you for looking.

im having a similar problem with the radio after the last few otas. im getting a lot of dropped calls on 3g aws...
im going to try to revert to an old radio as i don't think this is a hardware failing issue..
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Flash stock firmware with fast boot. If its the same, its a carrier issue....call them to see. Or its hardware failure.

just wanted to post my fix for this issue - very disappointed with Google that i had to do this...my provider is mobilicity canada (3g aws band fyi)
flash krt01b radio from this thread...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2514095
this is *not* a carrier or hardware issue (at least in my case)
seems others are having same issue
https://code.google.com/p/android/i...s Owner Summary Stars&groupby=&sort=&id=70878

Then it is a carrier issue....cause on Telus in Canada....never had an issue with any radio version. ?

telus would have a stronger overall signal but uses AWS band for lte which is different than mobilicitiy 3g aws...

I'm not disagreeing.... Just saying its the carrier....not Google.
See my point?

KJ said:
I'm not disagreeing.... Just saying its the carrier....not Google.
See my point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you saying mobilicitiy is purposely weakening their cell signal cause they are almost bankrupt ?
i still blame google i had no issues with the radio before they borked it...

nolook said:
are you saying mobilicitiy is purposely weakening their cell signal cause they are almost bankrupt ?
i still blame google i had no issues with the radio before they borked it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just saying that unless many have the issue with the phone or radio, then its an issue.....if not, it isnt .
So in this case, it leaves hardware or carrier....assuming a stock flash didn't help.
If flashing another radio helps the OP...awesome!! But the new radio does work fine for the mass majority.
Hope it does work for him tho!

Question GSM issues, sudden disconnection?

Hey guys,
So I've received my P7P a couple days ago. Ordered in Romania from the official Amazon Store. 5G, VoLTE, and VoWiFi don't work, as you all know.
But the biggest problem I have is that the network just completely disconnects if I leave the phone on the desk for a couple minutes. I have people messaging me and asking why they can't call me. When I look at the phone, there's no GSM signal of any kind. This is in a location where I have full 5G coverage otherwise.
I had to go into airplane mode 2 times before I was able to receive a call. The first time it connected to LTE for a couple seconds and then it completely dropped again.
Not to mention it takes forever to connect again after going in an area with weak signal.
I've updated to the Beta and the issue persists.
Great software, great camera, whatever, all useless when you can't fulfill your main purpose of being A PHONE.
Anyone else with issues like this? This is all I've found: https://piunikaweb.com/2022/10/20/pixel-7-7-pro-no-network-or-no-service-connectivity-issue/

Does the phone have the LTE bands it needs to even work where you live? If not, then I doubt there will be anything you can do but return it and look to another OEM.

jaseman said:
Does the phone have the LTE bands it needs to even work where you live? If not, then I doubt there will be anything you can do but return it and look to another OEM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh LTE works well. 5G doesn't work.
It just gets disconnected from any kind of cellular network and gets no signal after a while.

Have you taken the day one OTA? That fixed the problem for most of us. I haven't seen any X or ! since the first day. Before that update I was having my connection drop every 10 minutes or so.
If you already have taken this update, you may have a defective model.

Try force stopping Carrier Services and Google Play Services and deleting the storage for both. That help me tremendously with connectivity issues with Pixel 6 Pro.
Might want to try Carrier Services beta as well.
Another thing to check is your APN settings. Make sure they're what your service provider recommends

I immediately updated before unlocking the bootloader and rooting, I don't have network outage or anything. 5G seems to be working as well, at least available in settings, I'm yet to test it in 5G area but where I live, there's no 5G actually so it would not bother me much anyways. I'm so far very happy with it