GPS help needed

[xxdisciplexx]

Traded for Galaxy s3 last night and I'm loving it. I have been able to get a GPS lock but it takes a while. Navigation takes even longer to engage. I have all location services turned on as well as WiFi. Any help is appreciated it seems like another people with galaxy s three's are able to get pretty much an instant lock. Thanks in advance

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[Photo_Drew]

There's an app called GPS Status. It used to be free. Not sure anymore. It will show you how many satellites are being picked up to and how many it locks onto. Might tell you if there's a problem with reception.

 

[xxdisciplexx]

Okay. How many satellites should I be picking up? I'm sure it varies depending on where I am but I'm just trying to get an idea of what is normal. I'm in the Washington DC area

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[sfrrr]

Have you turned on your data service? I can't get a lock without it.

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[GSDer]

It should look something like this:If it doesn't, press Menu -> Settings and select the two buttons at the top:
Edit: BTW, my experience has been that it'll work just fine on only a WiFi connection, but obviously if you were driving and using it for navigation you'd be using a mobile data connection.

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[worwig]

Have you turned on your data service? I can't get a lock without it.

This is WRONG information.
Why do people think this?

 

[ehostic]

Could be the app you are using is over-filtering the signal. Try downloading the free app, Polaris Navigation System, and make sure you have a view of the sky. The app reports your position and does tracking and has a satellite report which will tell you how many satellites are available to you and and their positions relative to your location. Try running it concurrently on one of your friend's Galaxy S3 devices from the same location. The two devices should yield the same report from the satellite screens. If they don't, try waking up a "hibernating" gps chip by restarting your phone. Here's a typical satellite report and a link to the app:


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.discipleskies.android.polarisnavigation

 

[sfrrr]

This is WRONG information.
Why do people think this?

So, what is the correct info?

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[sfrrr]

Could be the app you are using is over-filtering the signal. Try downloading the free app, Polaris Navigation System, and make sure you have a view of the sky. The app reports your position and does tracking and has a satellite report which will tell you how many satellites are available to you and and their positions relative to your location. Try running it concurrently on one of your friend's Galaxy S3 devices from the same location. The two devices should yield the same report from the satellite screens. If they don't, try waking up a "hibernating" gps chip by restarting your phone. Here's a typical satellite report and a link to the app:
View attachment 42209

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.discipleskies.android.polarisnavigation

are you their marketing director or something? You've been pushing this product on several threads. Last time i looked, its ratings on the play store weren't so hot.

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[worwig]

So, what is the correct info?

I can and have been in the Smokey mountains, 20 miles from any data connection like WiFi and cell towers, and the GPS locks quickly.
The GPS will work 100% stand alone with no data. (you will need maps in memory for it to be useful of course)

But, if the GPS has been unused for a LONG time, it may take a long time to find the satellites and catalog them. If you have a data connection, it can download info on satellites online to help find them quicker. Once they are found, the data connection is not needed for days. And not really needed at all, it just make it quick if your satellite data is stale.

Then of course there is the location services that use WiFi or cell towers to help locate you. These are not GPS and have nothing to do with GPS and are not very accurate. But they are good enough for looking up your location for the weather or such, and use low power.