Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Gps problem

[Kelly Kearns]

I have an AT&T Note 4 and have never had a GPS signal drop.

 

[Alethia Arroyo]

MIne is acting up too! It keeps saying connection is lost and not only that but it just dosent work well.

 

[meaposte]

Hi guys,
I had been using the GPS on Note 3 for about 1 year, took me everywhere in miami without issues, now I´m using a Note 4, nice but the GPS, the same signal GPS lost you´re dealing with. I use GPS a lot, Please let me know a good fix for this. pantlesspenguin if you can help me, we are in the same team.
Don't let me get lost
Kind regards

Sorry one more thing, my carrier with my note note 3 was t-mobile, the same with my note 4 now

 

[eshropshire]

I just finished a 6,000 mile road trip. Used my Verizon Note 4 as the GPS. Bought a good phone mount. The Note 4 worked great. I also have a 64 GB SD card in my phone.

Only issue is Google maps Android interface really stinks for building a multi stop road trip. Mapquest was easier to use for a long journey with extra stops.



Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Coolhands17382]

I'm on my 3rd note 4 and all have had the issue. I kept taking them to the ATT service center and having them replaced, eventually they told me to get lost.

It's infuriating and Samsung just ignores the issue.

 

[linzgeneral]

I see you are in Jacksonville too...lol

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[L-J-C]

I'm on my 3rd note 4 and all have had the issue. I kept taking them to the ATT service center and having them replaced, eventually they told me to get lost.

It's infuriating and Samsung just ignores the issue.

I had the same problem. GPS used to work just fine when the phone was new. Got so bad the GPS was unusable. Tried everything, just like many of you.

Based on what I read here, I decided to remove the memory card. It's a 16gb card with about 8gb used. No card, GPS now works like a charm.

I'm going to try using a a larger memoir card like the 64gb. Could very well be that GPS tries to use removable memory, like RAM or something. Not sure. Definitely hope it's not simply the presence of the card that's causing the conflict. We'll see, but for now, the problem definitely had something to do with the removable memory.

Hope this helps others.

 

[hopefulfarm]

I'm sad to hear it may be linked to the micro sd card. I have all my music on my SD card. And i listen to I while I run. I guess I should try removing the card and see if the gps issue resolves.

Rocking the Note 4

 

[toenail_flicker]

Now I'm curious. Do you guys know (if you're rooted) if you have your app and maps on your app on the extSD? Also, which map app are you using?

 

[Alexander Andreev]

I started to have this issue after about six months of flawless GPS operation. All of sudden it became almost unusable - kept losing satellites under clear sky, couldn't get a fix even while stationary, GPS Test app shown only 3-4 satellites with extremely low signal and no fix at all. Restarts, case removal didn't help. So I did full factory reset and didn't restore from backup but made completely fresh setup.

Now it kind of works but still is unstable and the symptoms are consistent with what most are describing: it does lock while stationary but tends to lose fix sometimes, especially when in pocket or moving. When I compare fix accuracy with other phones it is roughly worse twice or more (i.e. other phone locks with 30 ft accuracy and mine with 57-100 ft accuracy). I tried most suggestions - no SD card, clearing cache, removing case (very thin rubber bumper) - no noticeable effect.

I am really puzzled but suspect it has something to do with hardware (probably antenna) as it didn't happen to me for quite some time and then started.

 

[natehoy]

Mine has continued to get worse, to the point where I went out with the family to play Ingress and I was the only one who could not get anywhere. This morning on my bicycle ride in it made tracking my ride almost useless.

There are 9 metal spring pins in the phone that connect it to the back cover. I took a small screwdriver and gently slid it under each of the pins in turn, deflecting each of them slightly upward. They are delicate, so be really careful. My LG Optimus G Pro suffered a similar problem with the LTE radio, and has spring pins almost identical to these, and one broke when I went to add a little tension to them. I was much, much more gentle this time.

It is my (possibly vain) hope that this is a simple hardware connection problem. Though, to be honest, the back cover doesn't actually show any connection points, so it has to be inductive through whatever paint or coating is on the inside of the back cover. That seems somewhat less than ideal for antenna connections, but I don't know a whole lot about radios and antennas.



(attached picture is not of my phone, I took it from Ubergizmo)

 

[Alexander Andreev]

There are 9 metal spring pins in the phone that connect it to the back cover.

These are contacts for wireless charging Qi Receiver.

This is a third party cover I have. It doesn't seem to affect GPS performance as it was stellar at first with it and without it, then it became horrible and after factory reset it works better but still very unsatisfactory.

However I agree it looks like antenna is coming loose somewhere inside or something.

 

[natehoy]

These are contacts for wireless charging Qi Receiver.

This is a third party cover I have. It doesn't seem to affect GPS performance as it was stellar at first with it and without it, then it became horrible and after factory reset it works better but still very unsatisfactory.

However I agree it looks like antenna is coming loose somewhere inside or something.

Huh, so none of the contacts I just bent upward have anything to do with the antennas? Bummer. Well, at least I didn't damage anything. Guess I'll find out on the ride home if I did any good, but it looks like I did not based on the picture of your wireless back cover.

 

[Alexander Andreev]

Guess I'll find out on the ride home if I did any good

Please share if you notice anything but I highly doubt anything can be related to these contacts. I have the same GPS performance with the stock cover, with this QI cover or without cover at all - yes, if you take the cover off completely GPS still works without any change or interruption. Just be careful not to drop the battery from the phone.

 

[natehoy]

Please share if you notice anything but I highly doubt anything can be related to these contacts. I have the same GPS performance with the stock cover, with this QI cover or without cover at all - yes, if you take the cover off completely GPS still works without any change or interruption. Just be careful not to drop the battery from the phone.

Will do. Also (in the interest of only changing one thing at a time) if the GPS gives me any trouble I will stop halfway and remove my Spigen case and put it back in my handlebar bag without a case. I have had trouble long before adding the Spigen, but...

 

[eslimm]

I've been having the same problems with my note 4 and the only thing that works for me is taking off my case on the phone and also sliding back the cover to my sun roof in my car and holding my phone towards it.. After it establishes a GPS connection it works like a charm. Try those methods and see if you get better results.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[toenail_flicker]

Quick questions, please.
1. What OS are you on that you have this issue?
2. When you were on KitKat did you have the problem or only after going to Lollipop?
3. How thick is your case, what brand?

Sounds like a very weak antenna and that just sucks if that's the case. Had that issue on another device and mfg replaced it free of charge. Since I only want a Note 4 replacement is not enticing.

 

[hopefulfarm]

I've tried at least 3-4 GPS tracking apps (for exercise) and they all have sucked for a while. sometimes there's NO issue, but 95% of the time the GPS drops off immediately. Ridiculous. Found this thread, and yesterday before my cycling ride, I tried the SD card thing.

With my phone one, went in settings, unmounted the SD card. Then mounted it back and headed for the ride. GPS was fine, never dropped. So - related or just a lucky day?? I'll keep trying that I guess. All my music is on my SD card and I really don't care to spend the time moving it to the phone.

 

[Maurdrax]

I have the note 3, some days i never gps lock and some days are fine. Seems to be random. Even had my phone replaced with no change in behavior. It's the one thing that makes me want to go to moto x style in hopes of having 100% functional gps

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[natehoy]

I have the note 3, some days i never gps lock and some days are fine. Seems to be random. Even had my phone replaced with no change in behavior. It's the one thing that makes me want to go to moto x style in hopes of having 100% functional gps

Posted via the Android Central App

I've had both of the previous Moto X phones and the radios are IMPRESSIVE on both. IF the X 2014 had a swappable battery, I'd still be carrying it today.

WiFi, Cell, and GPS - both phones were serious "signal whisperers".

OK, so I think something similar was posted a few pages ago, but I found an XDA thread that had instructions for a Galaxy S5 that developed serious GPS problems after flashing a ROM. I fumbled through the menus and adapted the instructions for the Note 4 (AT&T 5.0.1, other devices may vary).

I did this yesterday, and while the GPS is still one of the weaker ones out there, it's behaved a lot better in the last 24 hours than it has in quite some time.

USSD (enter this in the phone dialer like it was a phone number - when you press the last digit a menu will come up): *#0011#

Menu/Back (do not use the BACK button, press the "three-dot" menu on the upper right and select "Back")
Menu/Key input, enter Q (make sure this is uppercase)
Menu/Key input, enter 0000 (four zeros)

The SERVICE MODE menu will come up.

From SERVICE MODE menu
[2] UE SETTING & INFO
[1] SETTING
[2] SYSTEM
[3] NV REBUILD
[1] PROTOCOL, GPS, IMS NV

Restart your phone. First GPS lock may take some extra time.

Time will tell if this actually does any real good, but the locations where I usually lose GPS, the loss was either a lot shorter or nonexistent. Drifting is greatly reduced.

EDIT: Now 48 hours after making this change, and I've also noticed that a few spots where data became PAINFULLY slow are now quite a lot better. Plus, the GPS failures are much fewer and farther between. Time will tell, but so far it's telling a good story.