GPS Location Errors

[ValleyForge]

Hi, Gang, and Happy New Year.

Has anyone else experienced some strange results from the GPS? -- mine has taken to locating me about 3 mIiles north of where I actually am. Eventually it seems to correct itself, but it takes a few minutes.

This seems to be fairly recent - don't know if it's associated with the 2.01 release. I don't get it in my built-in car GPS.

Thanks,
VF

 

[Tennessee]

It may be using cell towers to get your approximate position until it gets a full gps lock. You can tell by looking at your location. If there is a large greyed out area around you it is probably connected to cell towers until it gets a good fix.

 

[ValleyForge]

Interesting....I'll have to check that out when I get home. Thanks, Bkutester!

 

[STC09]

No problems with 2.01, but prior the navigation feature showed me three states away from my actual location. When I closed it and opened the Maps app, it showed me driving south through a forest in Luxembourg.

Uh, yeah.

 

[baycruisers]

GPS is usually exceptionally accurate, but from time to time on any unit you'll get weird results. There have been times that my car's GPS has me going the wrong direction on a street that's not even close by. It usually corrects itself quickly. The GPS on our sailboat regularly fails to work in a couple of "dead zones" on the Chesapeake Bay.

 

[ValleyForge]

LOL - I hope you enjoyed the scenery....I hear it's beautiful in Luxembourg this time of year.....

 

[Cory Streater]

Has anyone else experienced some strange results from the GPS? -- mine has taken to locating me about 3 mIiles north of where I actually am. Eventually it seems to correct itself, but it takes a few minutes.

If you go to settings>location & security> are both wireless networks & use GPS satellites checked? I think what you're experiencing is that the initial lock is happening with A-GPS (using triangulation to determine your position), and eventually you are getting a more accurate position based off of satellites. The latter takes longer than the former.

 

[baycruisers]

I live in a house and neighborhood surrounded by very tall (70-80') trees that block GPS signals quite nicely. In the summer, when they are fully leafed, I may have to literally drive 10 minutes, until I'm out in the open, to get a solid GPS satellite lock. Cell lock ons are immediate, but not accurate enough for real navigation.

 

[dtrust]

Every once in a while my Droid will have trouble locking onto GPS, but eventually it does. Usually, it happens in a few seconds.

With one weird exception, when it does lock, it's accurate to about 20 feet.

Once, driving along an interstate in PA, it locked on and told me I was somewhere in Georgia. LOL. I don't remember the town, but I'm sure I wasn't that sleepy I drove around 700 miles south without realizing it.

 

[Bako]

I've had some bad experiences with GPS, on several occasions. Basically, it just wouldn't lock on, no matter how many times I turned it on and off, waited... half an hour went by once and I had to do a full restart. Luckily then it worked, but too late to show off my droid's bar-locating skills to a group of friends, one of whom pulled out a Pre and shamed me. Since then it has happened 3 or 4 times, and it's very frustrating.

Anyone else have long periods where the GPS won't lock on, and it's feeding you crappy cell tower location data?

 

[Tennessee]

Anyone else have long periods where the GPS won't lock on, and it's feeding you crappy cell tower location data?

Only indoors and if southern sky line is blocked by tall buildings or the occasional moutain. Just the same as my Garmin.