My GPS Navigation has been losing signal for last several days

[Casey Cheung]

I live in a major city, so 4G LTE is normally good. I use my Note 2 for Google Navigation while driving. For the past week or so, I've been noticing that my phone loses GPS signal and searches for a signal while I'm driving. Sometimes it takes a few long minutes to lock onto a GPS signal again. Needless to say, this is frustrating. I haven't had this problem previously, this has only been happening recently. Anyone else experiencing the same?

Thanks, Casey

 

[friedtators]

There could be reasons other than the phone. Do you have a backup phone you could use for nav a time or two to exclude phone?

 

[Trees]

When I think of major city, the term "urban canyons" come to mind. Highly likely this factor has been ruled out, but its happened to me on a dedicated GPS nav device in tall and dense urban areas like San Fransisco.

An other option to consider is checking out a GPS app from the Play Store. There appear to be tons of them. One that I heard about is GPS Status https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2&hl=en&token=_-dnjp25 Haven't tried it myself, but am keeping it in mind should I have issues.

I'm on Verizon as well and used my GPS for some driving all around Southern California last month. Had a great lock each time and worked well, although were not many urban canyons in the areas we visited. More recently over the past holiday weekend used GPS on three separate times for hiking and biking. No issues with lock then, although my location could be fine for GPS while your area not so much per @friedtators thoughts.

 

[pcbtmr]

I have noticed that a simple power cycle fixes many GPS, BT... issues.

 

[snowwy66]

being a trucker. i don't have a problem with google itself.

however.

i also use an app call my dat trucker. it pulls down any truckstops, walmarts, rest areas. and what not. when you click on the route button. it automatically uses google nav. and i have the same problem. it loses gps signal. didn't have this problem with my bionic. just on the note2. to which i've only had 2 weeks now.

and recycling doesn't fix the problem. i can pull the battery. OR use the quickboot app i have installed for reboots. neither fix the issue.

i have to write down the addess. and manually enter it into google nav. WITHOUT the app. then it works just fine.

 

[Casey Cheung]

I have noticed that a simple power cycle fixes many GPS, BT... issues.

Are you referring to a simple restart of the phone? If so, I've already tried that a number of times...doesn't help. Helps for certain things, but not for my GPS issues. I don't always have this GPS problem, just lately every so often. I'm at a point now that I'm going to buy another stand-alone Garmin GPS unit. I already have a couple Garmins, which I'm used to and like a lot. I do camping sometimes in the mountains. For camping, I must use my Garmin stand-alone GPS because that relies on a satellite signal that still works in remote areas. But my Verizon cellular signal will fail in the mountains, hence forget trying to use a phone for GPS navigation. In my original post, my Verizon Note 2 was sometimes having problems simply driving on major city freeways. Weird.

By the way, just an aside, I literally drive with 3 GPS units going at all times. My Note 2 GPS is usually on, plus I have an older compact Garmin GPS on too, plus I have a special Rydeen GPS backup camera mirror that also has driving navigation. Is having 3 GPS units running simultaneously overkill? Probably. But there are pros and cons of each GPS device, and when I want to make sure I arrive at a certain location on time without running around in circles, I have multiple GPS devices running simultaneously.

Casey

 

[Trees]

Are you referring to a simple restart of the phone? If so, I've already tried that a number of times...doesn't help. Helps for certain things, but not for my GPS issues. I don't always have this GPS problem, just lately every so often. I'm at a point now that I'm going to buy another stand-alone Garmin GPS unit. I already have a couple Garmins, which I'm used to and like a lot. I do camping sometimes in the mountains. For camping, I must use my Garmin stand-alone GPS because that relies on a satellite signal that still works in remote areas. But my Verizon cellular signal will fail in the mountains, hence forget trying to use a phone for GPS navigation. In my original post, my Verizon Note 2 was sometimes having problems simply driving on major city freeways. Weird.

By the way, just an aside, I literally drive with 3 GPS units going at all times. My Note 2 GPS is usually on, plus I have an older compact Garmin GPS on too, plus I have a special Rydeen GPS backup camera mirror that also has driving navigation. Is having 3 GPS units running simultaneously overkill? Probably. But there are pros and cons of each GPS device, and when I want to make sure I arrive at a certain location on time without running around in circles, I have multiple GPS devices running simultaneously.

Casey

Wow, now that's a NeverLost setup

I have to say that GPS is one of the best things ever. I don't even have to ask for directions anymore, but perhaps nostalgically find the art of navigating by paper map fading away.

 

[Casey Cheung]

Wow, now that's a NeverLost setup

I have to say that GPS is one of the best things ever. I don't even have to ask for directions anymore, but perhaps nostalgically find the art of navigating by paper map fading away.

In the stone ages (ie: before GPS navigation), I used to print out Mapquest directions every week because I had to travel to various assignment gigs. Over the years, I must have printed literally reams and reams of paper. Worse, I used to print out maps from different websites because I was paranoid of the accuracy of directions. Sometimes different sources would give different routes, and I would have 2 or 3 different printouts showing different route alternatives. It was very important I got to the location on time and not be late for the type of assignments I did. Nowadays with GPS, I still use up to 3 different electronic nagivation devices simultaneously because each one has different pros/cons. For example, I like to use my smartphone to do searches for a type of business or restaurant, and then go straight to Navigation for directions. Because my smartphone has internet capability for doing Google searches, it's very convenient. However, a smartphone will fail to work when driving in remote locations such as mountain roads for campsites. Or almost as bad, a smartphone will suddenly lose signal and I get that stupid message of "searching for signal...". My previous smartphone was the Verizon Thunderbolt which had an extremely bad problem of doing constant and random resets especially when using GPS Navigation. I missed many exits as a result of that! That's why I don't fully trust a smartphone as my only navigation guide. My 5 year old Garmin stand-alone GPS unit is very compact and pocketable, and I have that sucker velcro taped to my dashboard. The useful thing about the Garmin is that it keeps its navigation signal even in remote locations when the smartphone signal will fail. However, because my Garmin unit is 5 years old, I've noticed that its built in traffic function is not accurate. My smartphone Google Navigation usually has more accurate traffic conditions. Another weird thing about the Garmin is that it will randomly do "re-routing" to strange routes while I'm driving to my destination, and then re-route again back to its original course. I've noticed that even my smartphone does this strange re-routing behavior for no good reason. I've also noticed that many times both my Garmin unit and my smartphone will give me different exits or different freeways junctures to use. Whenever a discrepancy like this happens, which is often, I simply choose the route I know is better or more convenient. I've been looking at the high-end Garmin GPS units on Amazon which costs something like $350. Yes, it's pricey, but I highly value a d@mn good GPS unit, so hopefully a new high-end Garmin will serve my purpose for many years. I've noticed that GPS technology always improves with many new features every few years, so I'm looking forward to all the cool new features. As for my 3rd GPS unit, I have a special mirror by Rydeen that doubles as a GPS navigation, plus has an automatic backup camera view whenever I go in reverse. I like the Rydeen GPS backup camera mirror, and it replaced my stock mirror on the windshield. What's convenient about the Rydeen unit is that it's a permanent solution that is affixed to the windshield so I never have to take the unit off the windshield or put back on. By contrast, if you forget to hide away your Garmin or Tom-Tom GPS from your windshield or dashboard, you will probably come back to your car to have the unexpected surprise of a smashed window and the theft of your GPS unit. My 2nd vehicle is a conversion van, so it's hard to see behind me when backing up or parking. Hence the Rydeen unit comes in handy with its backup camera installed at the rear license plate of the vehicle. Only inconvenience is that the GUI interface and menu selection of the Rydeen mirror is not very user friendly in my opinion, hence I don't usually enter directions on that device, other than my home address. Other strange differences of each of my GPS unit include: showing different or wrong maximum speed limit of whatever street or freeway I'm travelling on, showing different or wrong traffic conditions, showing different exits or freeway junctures to use, showing or not showing lane change assistance, not finding a particular entered address, ability or non-ability to enter coordinates of latitude and longitude. This last part of entering "Coordinates" was something that affected me on a recent camping trip. I've noticed that some campsites in remote locations will have an address listed, but one or more GPS units will fall short of finding it. A particular GPS unit will tell me I've arrived at the campsite when in fact I'm either a mile short of it or passed it. Frustrating! On a recent camping trip the previous Memorial Day weekend, I visited a campsite called Fallen Leaf Campsite in South Lake Tahoe in California. I entered the address listed on the website on 2 different GPS units, both on my Garmin unit and my Note 2 smartphone. Both of these devices failed to get me to the campsite based on the address entered. However, fortunately, I took a screenshot picture of both the campsite address and the latitutude/longitude coordinates given on the website. So I entered the coordinates onto my Garmin stand-alone GPS alone, and sure enough, the d@mn thing found the campsite! I was both surprised and pleased. That was actually the first time I ever entered "Coordinates" for a destination, and it turned out the right thing to do to get me to my destination. Unfortunately, there is no way to enter coordinates onto the Google Navigation app on my smartphone that I know of. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. So my next upgraded Garmin unit needs to positively have the ability to enter "Coordinates". Sorry for the long rambling, I was simply pointing out things I've noticed over the years.

 

[Trees]

Nice . No need in my view for apologies. I learned a few things, and can see how your backup plan pays off in more remote or less accurately addressed locations. Agree that Garmin makes some good stuff. Have a four year old Nuvvi 250T that's served us well.

 

[Casey Cheung]

Nice . No need in my view for apologies. I learned a few things, and can see how your backup plan pays off in more remote or less accurately addressed locations. Agree that Garmin makes some good stuff. Have a four year old Nuvvi 250T that's served us well.

Here's an update if interested. I went to Best Buy and bought the "Garmin n?vi 2597LMT 5-Inch Bluetooth Portable Vehicle GPS with Lifetime Maps and Traffic" for $219.

Here's the one thing that impressed the heck out of me, and I mean super impressed! I use my Note 2 phone routinely for doing searches, such as finding an address for a store, finding a restaurant, etc. I like to use an app called "Local" whereby I have saved selections for such places as 'Starbucks", "McDonalds", "restaurants", etc.

When I tap on an item, my phone will find a particular place nearby me and give me multiple choices based on how many miles away for each. I then click on the nearest place, which will pull up the address and phone number information. I then click on "Directions", click on "Navigation", and then a new choice comes up which is "Garmin Smartphone Link" or "Navigation" by Google. The Garmin Smartphone Link is a free app from the Google Play Store which I downloaded. I then paired my Note 2 phone to my new Garmin GPS device via Bluetooth.

So now when I tap on the Garmin Smartphone Link choice on my Note 2 phone, the Garmin GPS will immediately flash a message on the screen saying "Receiving directions for McDonalds, accept?" (rough paraphrase). When I click on the accept/yes button, the Garmin GPS unit will then navigate to that location. Fantastic!!

In the past, before this new Garmin Smartphone Link Bluetooth pairing ability, I used to manually enter the address into my old Garmin GPS unit, which was laborious and a pain in the wazoo! Now, the address is sent wirelessly by Bluetooth signal from my phone to Garmin standalone GPS device. Out of sight!!

The one thing I did not do was to allow my new Garmin GPS to download all my contacts and addresses. This is because I'm paranoid, and fear the worst in case of possible theft of Garmin device. That explains why when I try to click on an address from my Note 2 phone, the address doesn't get wirelessly sent to my Garmin GPS. Oh well, a small inconvenience, as I'd rather not have my contact stored in my Garmin device for security reason.

I had read about this new Garmin Smartphone Link feature, and saw YouTube videos on it, but now I can assure anyone this new technology really works! Dang, I was blown away!

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