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Help Anyone else having difficulty with GPS?

youngdoc

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2010
113
61
At least I think it's a GPS issue. When I open the Google Maps app on my Thunderbolt, it pinpoints my location to -- at best -- 2400 meters. When I do the same thing on my Incredible side-by-side, it pinpoints me to within about 3-8 meters. In both cases the little GPS icon in the notification bar is chugging away, indicating (presumably) that GPS is working. When I click on the "My Location" balloon on the map, one of the options is "Improve My Location Accuracy," but when I click on this, it merely suggests that I turn on WiFi, which is odd and doesn't help in any event.

Likewise, when I load other GPS-dependent apps like c:geo (a geocaching program that works great on my Incredible) or My Tracks (which also works great on my Incredible), it cannot accurately pinpoint my location with GPS.

I downloaded a couple of GPS testing apps and they both seem to see plenty of satellites, although I confess I don't really know how to use GPS testing programs other than to confirm that my phone is apparently seeing multiple satellites.

And yes, as far as I know, the GPS is turned on. I use the Power Bar widget and the GPS is lit (and again, I get the little transmitting satellite dish icon in the notification bar).

Is there just some new setting that I am missing or did I get a bum GPS?

Thanks.
 
If the GPS icon is flashing, that means it's searching and hasn't locked on. Make sure you have a clear view of the sky and give it a few minutes to find a lock. Subsequent fixes should be faster after the first lock. Also, in settings>location check all the boxes under "location on settings" and see if that makes a difference.
 
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This was posted in one of the other GPS issues thread, but I think it is important to keep in mind.

GPS is not a 100% thing, there are always going to be issues with it. There are planes with thousands of dollars worth of GPS systems that have problems sometimes locking on to GPS on the ground. This is a cell phone, the GPS system is not top of the line by any means.

There are several factors that will play into GPS locking on and GPS accuracy. One of them is cloud cover. You are never going to see consistant accuracy, it is going to jump all over the place because of the factors involved with satalite signals getting to the ground.
 
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I have both the incredible and the thunderbolt, the thunderbolt only gets my location correct about 2% of the time. Very frustrating, had HTC send me another Thunderbolt, still have the problem. Rumor has it Verizon network is crewing it up so you will pay the monthly fee for their navigation.
 
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I have both the incredible and the thunderbolt, the thunderbolt only gets my location correct about 2% of the time. Very frustrating, had HTC send me another Thunderbolt, still have the problem. Rumor has it Verizon network is crewing it up so you will pay the monthly fee for their navigation.

One of the fixes for the last update was gps, so ya don't be so quick to jump on the tinfoil hattery. If it was like you suggest then every phone would do it.
 
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This was posted in one of the other GPS issues thread, but I think it is important to keep in mind.

GPS is not a 100% thing, there are always going to be issues with it. There are planes with thousands of dollars worth of GPS systems that have problems sometimes locking on to GPS on the ground. This is a cell phone, the GPS system is not top of the line by any means.

There are several factors that will play into GPS locking on and GPS accuracy. One of them is cloud cover. You are never going to see consistant accuracy, it is going to jump all over the place because of the factors involved with satalite signals getting to the ground.

This post that you refer to is misleading. Clouds have very little impact on GPS signal, about 2dB at worst in signal strength. This is not even close to being enough to impact reception. NO plane with even semi-modern equipment (last 6 years or so) should have any problem locking onto very accurate GPS lock with clear skies. Any problem with GPS reception while having a clear view of the sky would have to be due to jamming (military) or unintended jamming (other nearby equipment broadcasting signal close to that of the GPS signal) Todays cell phones use GPS receiver chips that are all of advanced design with sensitive enough receivers/software that with a properly working end to end system should have no problem locking into a good GPS fix. Given a clear view (no buildings, mountains, or heavy forest), accuracy will change as GPS satellites go in and out of view and as their signal strengths and signal to noise ratio changes, but should always be good enough for a decent fix (10m or less). Just as a quick note, the software using the GPS data has to be good as well, so if you have a bad load/version of a navigation app, then that app may not use the GPS data correctly and you may get varying results that may be extremely off.

From what I've read and personally witnessed (my TB), any issues users have with the Thunderbolt's GPS are 1) Settings not correct --> Settings --> Location --> check Standalone GPS Services (this is what the GPS widget toggles) and Google Location Services (VZW Location Services is not required unless you are using VZ Navigator) 2) Battery door not fully pressed in which leads the GPS antenna contacts to not touch, 3) Software needs a hard reset (not factory reset) (aka battery pull with 30 second wait before putting the battery back), 4) The GPS ephemeris data is so old that the software can't make heads or tails of the data that it is seeing until a long time has passed to get the full updates needed to lock (use GPS Status app --> Tools --> Manage A-GPS state --> Reset,,, ... then use the download if needed.), 5) Software update to the phone, 6) In very rare circumstances, the phone may have a hardware defect from the GPS chip, Antenna, even the CPU could be a cause, etc etc, in which the phone needs to be replaced.
 
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Or the GPS antenna on the standard battery cover may not be large enough to obtain an adequate signal? My GPS locks quickly and accurately only when I use an extended battery cover, with either the standard or the extended battery.

The standard door GPS antenna is more than adequate. If anything the antenna on the battery door isn't making contact. It may also be that the door you have will not make contact regardless of how tightly it's closed which would mean it is defective (in this case I would call HTC or Verizon and see if I could get a new one instead of replacing the whole phone). I as well as most people with the standard door do not have an issue with it; however, there have been some that have.
 
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From what I've read and personally witnessed (my TB), any issues users have with the Thunderbolt's GPS are 1) Settings not correct --> Settings --> Location --> check Standalone GPS Services (this is what the GPS widget toggles) and Google Location Services (VZW Location Services is not required unless you are using VZ Navigator) 2) Battery door not fully pressed in which leads the GPS antenna contacts to not touch, 3) Software needs a hard reset (not factory reset) (aka battery pull with 30 second wait before putting the battery back), 4) The GPS ephemeris data is so old that the software can't make heads or tails of the data that it is seeing until a long time has passed to get the full updates needed to lock (use GPS Status app --> Tools --> Manage A-GPS state --> Reset,,, ... then use the download if needed.), 5) Software update to the phone, 6) In very rare circumstances, the phone may have a hardware defect from the GPS chip, Antenna, even the CPU could be a cause, etc etc, in which the phone needs to be replaced.

When I had issues with the Tbolt I tried all of those fixes and none of them worked. The first time I had an issue it was a combo of my internet boing down & having a Network Extender in the house. The second time there was no fix. Instead of showing me the next state over (like the first time I had the issue) it showed me on the west coast (I live in SD & it showed me in WA). Add to that random reboots (I didn't even download the update that caused this in other Tbolts) and battery lasting 2 days one charge & 5 hours the next with the same use & signal reception.

Got them to switch me to a Incredible 2 & have had no problems since (not going to be under LTE coverage until 2012/ 2013).

I'm starting to think there is a compatability issue in some areas with Verizon's network & the Tbolts. I think the issue is the areas with LTE or ehrpd is causing the problem. From what I understand of the component placement on the Tbolt's board Qualcomm has all of the radios on one chip (3G, LTE, wi-fi, & GPS). If that is the case, an issue in one of the radios could possibly be causing problems for the other ones.
 
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The standard door GPS antenna is more than adequate. If anything the antenna on the battery door isn't making contact. It may also be that the door you have will not make contact regardless of how tightly it's closed which would mean it is defective (in this case I would call HTC or Verizon and see if I could get a new one instead of replacing the whole phone). I as well as most people with the standard door do not have an issue with it; however, there have been some that have.

My standard battery door seems to close very snugly. It may, as you suggest, be defective. And if so, I really do have a hardware problem, which wouldn't be expected to be helped with the upcoming Gingerbread update. I think I'll ask for a replacement standard battery door. Thanks.
 
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