peejay1977
Well-known member
- Mar 26, 2010
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Samsung phones no longer has issues with GPS ever since S3 and Note 2 came out. My note 2 locks the satellites within split seconds (I mean short time) as soon as I turn on GPS
You can clear and update the AGPS cache in GPS Test by going into the Settings menu; it's a pair of buttons right up top.Not sure about GPS Test, but MobiWIA's free GPS Status app has a "Reset" function which clears the GPS cache and a "Download" function which downloads "GPS assistance data from the internet
Thanks, N4Newbie, I had already tried the Reset and Download functions of GPS Status with no luck. I just called Google (they're there 24/7!). The guy talked to developers, and they said there will be a fix coming. I wasn't happy with that answer since there was no timeframe given, so I decided to send it back. But before that could happen, he had me do a factory reset. I had only installed about 5 or 6 apps, and I had just been playing around a little, so I had little faith that would help. But it did! I haven't had time yet to test it well, but both gps apps seemed to show the satellites fairly quickly.
I wondered if the 4.2.1 update that I let install right after I got it had something to do with the problem. But even with factory reset, I'm still at 4.2.1, so that isn't it. So I'm kind of baffled about what state my phone could have been in when I got it. I'd swear that none of the apps I installed could have caused any problems (calendar, weather, launcher, etc).
Now I'm very curious about the fix that he said would be coming for this issue, but I won't worry about it now.
Taj7575, I hope you talked to someone and got a good result also!
I just got my Nexus 4 tonight. I'm having similar GPS problems. GPS Status always says "Looking for GPS location". GPS test does nothing...yours at least shows 20 satellites, mine shows none. I've tried it with wi-fi, without wi-fi, airplane mode, etc., no change at all. Like you, I can't believe I could get a "bad" one after waiting 2 weeks for it (some people are waiting much longer than that). I guess I'll try again tomorrow morning (actually it's 2:53 am already!), and if no luck, I'll have to talk to Google.
Taj7575, has yours improved at all? Or have you gone ahead and sent it back?
EDIT: A few minutes later, I did see 21 satellites. (Strange, because I had been trying these two apps for about an hour, and no satellites showed). But there weren't fixes on any of them. And a minute after that, they are completely gone again. So either we are the unlucky ones, or we just haven't set something correctly? I doubt it. I have 2 Samsung devices, and I've gotten those to work just fine.
Mine's improved just a bit with a few apps, but still not that great. Honestly though, I don't want to send it back just so I don't have to deal with the hassle. You mentioned that a rep told you they're coming in with a fix soon, so I'm going to believe that for now. I hope it truly does happen though!
Mine continued to do poorly, so I called Wed. night (12/12/12) and asked to get another. I didn't want to wait on any "fix"....and the rep that I got this time did not have any knowledge about a "fix". I got email this morning (1 1/2 days later) telling me to re-order (some kind of "advanced replacement"), and they also sent an electronic label for returning the original one. I don't have to do that until I've received the new one. I haven't received any email about the replacement being shipped yet.
Taj7575, did yours continue to improve?
Thanks for the information. Could you share how the RMA process worked with google? I've been spoiled by apple, and the fact that google does not even have any physical store makes me nervous...
I am a person who travels quite a bit. Sadly though, with my most recent phone being a Samsung, that travelling aspect was a headache most of the time. It has the worst GPS pickup every.
Before I ramble on, let me get to the point - one of the reasons I went for this phone and not another samsung was because I perceived this to be a phone with not only good hardware, but reliable hardware.
Today though, I ran into some problems. On 3G/HSPA+ (and I was getting good coverage), I was trying to lock onto my location, but my phone just continued saying searching for GPS. This was indoors though, so I thought it wasn't a big deal. But I entered my car, and it still couldn't lock onto my location.
Is this a problem with anyone else? Could it just be that I may have some faulty hardware? Just curious guys, thanks.
i'm thinking of sending back mine but google's service sucks and i dont' want them to take month to process my refund. i also see on their policies that they would charge you a 15% restocking fee. 15% of 395$ total for the device is not good...damn googleA bit, but it is still inconsistent. I think I'll wait until next month or so to get my replacement. I don't want to deal with the shipping woes/having a $350 charge on my bank account without even shipping, yet again.
i'm thinking of sending back mine but google's service sucks and i dont' want them to take month to process my refund. i also see on their policies that they would charge you a 15% restocking fee. 15% of 395$ total for the device is not good...damn google
did they say they would charge you the restocking fee yet? did they even receive your item et?
The RMA process seems lots of work;-(
Funny thing is that mine now suddenly started working and fairly fast. The only change I made was that I turned off data service (setting -> more --> mobile network --> uncheck 'data enabled'). I am currently on prepaid and only have voice/text and no data (with tmobile). I'll test more once I start with the $30 4G monthly tmobile plan (and enable data network again). In the mean time, this phone is staying!
The other thing I noticed is that previously when the GPS does not work, I did not even have that cross-hair thing on the notification bar. The only way I could get it to show up is disable location access and re-enable. Not that it works, it jumps out right away on the bar as soon as I open up navigation app (or GPS test app) and another few seconds to lock. The cross-hair thing disappears as soon as I exit GPS apps...
The RMA process seems lots of work;-(
Funny thing is that mine now suddenly started working and fairly fast. The only change I made was that I turned off data service (setting -> more --> mobile network --> uncheck 'data enabled'). I am currently on prepaid and only have voice/text and no data (with tmobile). I'll test more once I start with the $30 4G monthly tmobile plan (and enable data network again). In the mean time, this phone is staying!
The other thing I noticed is that previously when the GPS does not work, I did not even have that cross-hair thing on the notification bar. The only way I could get it to show up is disable location access and re-enable. Not that it works, it jumps out right away on the bar as soon as I open up navigation app (or GPS test app) and another few seconds to lock. The cross-hair thing disappears as soon as I exit GPS apps...