Hi people,
I have recently bought a Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, brazilian version T211M with 3G and digital TV.
The idea was to use it as an in-car multimedia and GPS device using Waze. I made some tests using my Nexus 7 2013 for this purpose, and it worked flawlessly. So I bought the GTab 3 to be a dedicated tablet for this.
The thing is: the GTab 3 GPS is nowhere near the Nexus 7 GPS performance. My N7 is able to find three or more GPS satellites and lock position in a couple minutes inside my car's garage (which, BTW, is not underground, it's the building's third floor). And without A-GPS (it doesn't have 3G connection, it's the wifi version). In the same situation, the GTab 3 keeps looking, looking... and nothing. Yesterday I went out driving, and it took 15 minutes for the GTab 3 to finally lock GPS position.
Another funny thing that happens is when I stop, for example, in a traffic signal. The GTab 3 GPS gets confused somehow, it's not sure if I'm moving or if I'm stopped. Its speedometer marks 0 km/h, then 2 km/h, sometimes even 10 km/h, then 0 km/h again, the speed keeps going a little bit up, then down. Again, different from my N7, which was very precise.
As a last test, I put both tablets in my place (I live on the 9th floor), over my sofa, right beside a window and a door to the balcony. Using GPS Status (you can get it from Google Play), I tried to find GPS satellites and lock position. The N7 could do it in a couple minutes. The GTab 3 couldn't do it. I had to go outside to the balcony, stood in its end, and then finally the GTab 3 got a GPS lock. But when I go back inside, it loses the GPS signal.
I'm very disappointed about GTab 3 GPS performance, it really ruined my car tablet experience. But before I sell it and lose some money, I have to ask: is there a way to improve it's GPS performance, so that those issues are gone? Or that's the way it is, and I can't do anything about it?
I recently bought one too, haven't tested the gps yet, but comparing with my Note 3 with AGPS, it´s surely much worse.
This post talks about a gps bug?: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=138317
Related
hey can anyone recomend a cheap GPS bluetooth unit for use with a Magician and Tomtom.
cheap and nasty will do,
Look on ebay, there are loads to choose from
Yes check eBay but try to get the TomTom one as it works out of the box. TomTom can be a real pain to get working with other receivers.
ta yeah i was watchin a few on ebay,
was hopefull someone might have suggested a place to get them from cheap or something lmao
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230047740000
ive just got one of these. if you get one go to the web site on the instructions. there is a little gps test program which when you run will find which com port the gps is on (close the prog fully).
When i tried to get it to work on tomtom i couldnt. so after a search on the tomtom site they say to set tomtom gps settings as 'another nmea wired gps with 4800 speed' use the com port found in the test prog for the gps
Works fine so far. only had it 5 days.
thanks yeah i got one last nite, similar to that (16 channels and such)
yep already seen some threads about special patches and stuff.
cant wait to try the Yoda voice that i picked up for tom tom.
"Turn left you must"
i just bought the qstars btq815 from ebay32 channel with solar panel.....got tom tom 6 on the spvm3100, only had phone a week so am real novice but i managed to get it up and running fairly easily only made a short journey to test but all seemed ok
32 Channel? Why?
There's only 24 GPS Satellites and only 12 can be visible at any one time.
Do you know if the receiver will also work with Gallileo when that comes on line? Then 32 channels might make sense....
need bluetooth GPS reciever
can anyone help to find a bluetooth gps reciever that works with XDA ATOM
thank you
well ive been playing with the qstarz bt-q800 for 3 days solid... gps on the window ledge in the house, xda 2i has run flat so many times that it on the psu now im still waiting for the gps to go flat... im really impressed with the battery usage on the gps.
I took the pair of them out for a walk round town yesterday. had tomtom running, walked down to the bus, go on into town. realised i was killing the battery on the xda so left tomtom running, turned the xda off with the pwr button on top. the gps went into standby mode. 30mins later turned on the xda, tomtom reported no gps, the gps then woke up within 20 seconds, and with in a further 40seconds had found my new location. quite impressed.
the bt-q800 also has an external aerial connector too. might think about getting one to fit on the landrover. GPS always has a bit of a problem in it because the front window is almost vertical so the roof covers the dash.
TheBrit said:
32 Channel? Why?
There's only 24 GPS Satellites and only 12 can be visible at any one time.
Do you know if the receiver will also work with Gallileo when that comes on line? Then 32 channels might make sense....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah tomtom standards are about 20, i got a 16.
even the navman will only have 3 active at any one time.
well i finaly got the qstarz to go flat... it was connected and tracking for 18hrs solid on top of being switched on for 4 days and doing several hours a day of tracking in that time,
. Im impressed just at the battery..
Only 3? - that's not good for accuracy and calculating your heading etc - you should connect to 4 at least to get the best accuracy.
yay 2 more days and i git it,
got the phone ready to go,
TOMTOM with aussie maps
including all POI's (speed cameras etc)
6 celeb voices (go yoda and john Cleese)
First of all, my GNex gps works.
But, my experience so far were bad and got into my big frustration.
I went to France by car, about 1200 km.
During this trip I used three devices:
- HTC Desire, stock Android 2.2, no sim card
- Nexus S, stock Android 4.0.4
- Galaxy Nexus, stock Android 4.0.4
All used the same navigation software, Sygic 11.2.6.
Weather was very good, bright and clear.
The navigation performance, HTC Desire is the most solid and stable. No jumpy routing. It was almost flawless.
The Nexus S was also stable, no jumpy routing and again almost flawless. Sometimes between high buildings area, it could lost the gps signal.
The GNex was terrible! Very often the routing was jumpy, especially when my car stop. The navigation think my car was in other road! That caused the routing to spin and I must drive further to stabilize the routing. It was frustrated and I lost confidence with using it as car navigation, period.
The HTC is my main device for car navigation, because its so stable, no jumpy no spinny routing, solid performance. But one day the battery run flat for no reason. Thats why I must use my supposed to be the best device, the GNex to replace it to continue. But alas, as I explained above, it was terrible experience. I was lucky that I brought my Nexus S, to save the day.
This GNex bad car navigation is my biggest frustration.
I cannot fault the weather brcause it was clear sunny and I could get sat fix.
I cannot fault the Sygix either because the other two devices were fine, no problem.
But why is this jumpy and spinny routing on GNex?
Ok, I cannot test Google Navigation, because I cannot afford data connection during this trip, roaming.
So, my question, have you ever got the same experience? Terrible, jumpy, spinny routing with GNex car navigation?
Is there any way to improve? Or makebthe gps work much better?
Is there any ROM specialized to improve the gps for navigation?
Thanks
I believe the GPS unit in the GN is weak compared to my old iPhone 4. Though, I was able to get decent, more accurate performance by disabling "Google's location service". I use the GPS for directions in Google Maps as well as RunKeeper and it's really made a difference for me.
Side note, my iPhone locked in my GPS location while I was at work (5-story building, 3rd floor) without a hitch. The GN tries to lock, but it's 50/50...
I hope this helps... Good luck!
Doubt it'll help...
But it WILL help get a faster lock in the case of a GPS drop.
Mine locks in in like 3-5 seconds after using Faster GPS.
I, however, very rarely use GPS for actual navigation.
In fact...I haven't had to yet with my GNex. So I can't say if I do/don't have a problem.
Before Navigating, i usually open GPS test Plus to lock-in my location...then it's smooth sailing after that. Btw, i use CoPilot Live Premium.
PS. It takes the phone around 10 secs to get an accurate lock in.
babymatteo said:
Before Navigating, i usually open GPS test Plus to lock-in my location...then it's smooth sailing after that. Btw, i use CoPilot Live Premium.
PS. It takes the phone around 10 secs to get an accurate lock in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is this CoPilot?
Does it run smooth?
When the car stop at traffic light for quite long periode, does it jump or spin to other road?
PS: I turned off Google Location Service already, never used it.
My first nexus also had a very bad GPS unit.
I got new one and it was much better but after installing 4.0.4 it is worse again.
If this will not be fixed with the next update I will sell my Nexus and maybe buy a HTC one x.
By the way, this is a short video that shows the problem with my first device. If this is the problem you have you should change your device to a new one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ueTSHyZHyw
Gesendet von meinem Galaxy Nexus mit Tapatalk 2
FWIW, I've had little to no issue using the stock GPS and built-in Navigation.
I get weird GPS navigation sometime where it thinks I'm off the rode to the right and driving through houses basically. Or i get turned around for no reason. The kicker is that I check GPS test and my accuracy is spot on with a healthy number of satellites so I'm not sure just a weak signal problem.
Hello everybody,
I have a Samsung Galaxy 551 (GT-I5510) and I have severe problems with my gps.
Normally, it needs about 15 minutes for a gps fix (without agps). To make the fixing faster, I installed a gps-logger to check my position every two hours. By this, I could improve the fixing time to about 2 minutes (without agps).
As the summer gets really near, it's warm outside. Now, I have again problems with my gps. During the past days, I did not get a fix within 1 hour. Then I gave up. I checked the satellite connection with a gps-software. Mostly, I did not have any connection. Sometimes, my phone saw 2-4 satellites (although it was really brilliant weather outside --> no clouds).
I supposed, that the bad connection is influenced by the temperature.
Then I started putting my phone into the refrigerator. After about 10-15 minutes, I took it out.
Result:
Even inside my house, I have connection to 6 satellites. But after about 10 minutes. I lose any connection.
I don't know, how the gps antenna is installed inside the phone. But I suppose, that due to heat expension, I have problems with the connection between gps antenna and the gps chipset.
Could you help me please, to fix this problem? Where is the gps antenna located? How can I improve the connection between gps antenna and gps chipset? Can I install a better gps antenna?
Thank you very much.
Best regards
Hi all,
I got an used Galaxy Nexus (unrooted, stock everything) a few months ago, with plans to use it as an outdoor gps for hiking, biking and maybe paragliding (so I wanted a barometer in it).
I live in Florida (that as you may know is all very flat... maximum altitude is about 100 meters above sea level), and I was very pleased with it (the phone, not the flatness of Florida!) until I took a trip to Colombia in December. There, I had two "bad" experiences with the Google Nexus GPS:
- I took a hike that brought me to an altitude of about 4800 m. Around an altitude of 4000 m (the last recorded point is 3992 m), the GPS lost fix and would not get it again, although GPS Status would show plenty of satellites (9 or 10) all green (that according to GPS Status help means "satellite is used while determining the location"). After rebooting and starting GPS status (but I've tried other programs too, in case you wonder) the GPS will display that it had a fix for just a second or less (coordinates would appear in the GPS Status screen, and one single point woudl be recorded, with aan altitude of 4400 m although I was probably at 4800 m) and then loose it again, never to be reacquired.
- On my flight back, I tried to record the flight. I got a fix while just before takeoff and maintained it until... 3995 m! Then, fix was lost, again never to be reacquired again (actually, I did try again when the plane was at about 1000 m, and I was able to get a fix and record the landing with no problems)
Now, for someone that likes mountaineering, 4000m is a pretty low limit! I really don't care about recording commercial flights, it's just for fun, but a GPS that stops working above 4000m while you are hiking in the mountains could mean trouble.
I've searched around the internet (including this post on XDA), but I haven't find anyone complaining about this issue at this level. Many people complain/discuss about ITAR limits, but those are much higher than what I experienced.
So, I'm wondering if is it a problem with my unit, a problem with the Galaxy Nexus, or just a coincidence? Anyone had a similar experience?
BTW, I had an T-Mobile G-2 (HTC) that worked very well both for flights and mountaineering.
Giacomo
That would explain why the gnex won't get a fix while at cruising altitude..
Beamed from my iPad Mini
Hi,
I had the same issue with my galaxy SII i9100g.
I had a mountain climbing with a summit of 4500 meters, in the beginning we really didn't need gps tracking because there was signs showing the track in the mountain. I checked the device and everything was fine the first day the signals were ok and I had my position on the phone. but in the second day when it got foggy we were in trouble as I wanted to know our altitude. and gps signals wouldn't fix. I had ten or so satellites in view but the message said "waiting for gps fix" and it didn't fix at all. I also restarted the device but it wouldn't help.
in another trip on a plane I started recording the route with gps, and I noticed last recorded point was at an altitude of 3985 meters. and when the plane reached higher altitudes i lost the fix.
I think they should give us warning about using such devices in hiking trips. it could make real trouble for me.
It might be a problem specific to the GPS receiver used in Google Nexus. Giving that I've noticed GPS late fix problems with my Nexus (compared to a Galaxy S3), I'll try checking out the internet myself too.
Have a good day!
I find it remarkable that high-tech companies such as Google or Samsung keep managing to put in design flaws or outright defects that can easily kill people. The one described here is an outstanding example. If using the GPS with good success while hiking, nobody in his right mind would ever get the idea that the GPS would suddenly stop working above a certain altitude. So some programmer has intentionally put in a deadly trap (unless you want to believe that a command like "if (altitude >= 4000) return null;" can be written inadvertently). This is sabotage of a very dangerous kind.
Another less obvious example is the design of the power button, which can easily be activated inadvertently. If somebody needs the phone to navigate and survive in the wilderness and decides to power the device down until the next critical point to keep the battery charged for a long time, the device can easily lose all power just because of an inadvertent power push in a bag or pocket. The obvious solution here is a recessed power button or, in a cinch, that the device automatically powers down again if no user action happens within reasonable time after power-up.
The rule is generally that the design is stupid, the defect is obvious, at least one solution is also obvious, and even when the flaw or defect is brought to their attention, it is not fixed. Dangerous idiots at work. Perhaps they reckon if somebody actually dies, it will be impossible to prove that the smartphone design defect was a contributing factor. It is the responsibility level of a school child.
I am sure there are more examples for this behavior.
I am not saying that people should hang their lives on their smartphones. If the smartphone is the only thing that keeps you alive, then you have already made a planning mistake. But we all know that one can get into situations inadvertently where several things go wrong in unlikely ways. In such a case you can get into a situation where your life depends on the GPS in your smartphone, and then either of the defects described above could conceivably seal your death.
My screenshot from the plain
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
giacomociani said:
Hi all,
I got an used Galaxy Nexus (unrooted, stock everything) a few months ago, with plans to use it as an outdoor gps for hiking, biking and maybe paragliding (so I wanted a barometer in it).
I live in Florida (that as you may know is all very flat... maximum altitude is about 100 meters above sea level), and I was very pleased with it (the phone, not the flatness of Florida!) until I took a trip to Colombia in December. There, I had two "bad" experiences with the Google Nexus GPS:
- I took a hike that brought me to an altitude of about 4800 m. Around an altitude of 4000 m (the last recorded point is 3992 m), the GPS lost fix and would not get it again, although GPS Status would show plenty of satellites (9 or 10) all green (that according to GPS Status help means "satellite is used while determining the location"). After rebooting and starting GPS status (but I've tried other programs too, in case you wonder) the GPS will display that it had a fix for just a second or less (coordinates would appear in the GPS Status screen, and one single point woudl be recorded, with aan altitude of 4400 m although I was probably at 4800 m) and then loose it again, never to be reacquired.
- On my flight back, I tried to record the flight. I got a fix while just before takeoff and maintained it until... 3995 m! Then, fix was lost, again never to be reacquired again (actually, I did try again when the plane was at about 1000 m, and I was able to get a fix and record the landing with no problems)
Now, for someone that likes mountaineering, 4000m is a pretty low limit! I really don't care about recording commercial flights, it's just for fun, but a GPS that stops working above 4000m while you are hiking in the mountains could mean trouble.
I've searched around the internet (including this post on XDA), but I haven't find anyone complaining about this issue at this level. Many people complain/discuss about ITAR limits, but those are much higher than what I experienced.
So, I'm wondering if is it a problem with my unit, a problem with the Galaxy Nexus, or just a coincidence? Anyone had a similar experience?
BTW, I had an T-Mobile G-2 (HTC) that worked very well both for flights and mountaineering.
Giacomo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which model is you GN?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Jar3112 said:
Which model is you GN?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a Samsung Galaxy Nexus I9250.
I should also mentioned that in the meanwhile I have found on various forums a (very limited) number of users reporting the same problem with the same phone, but no one reporting that it works for him. So I start to be confident that it is a problem of this particular model...
I just did my first long drive after the Lolipop update, and while using the navigation I noticed that every few minutes the voice keeps saying "GPS signal lost" and the navigation loses its way for a few seconds.
This is happening on a road where I never had any issues while using navigation on Kitkat. Is this happening to anyone else?
I've checked my location settings and everything seems on, with high accuracy, so I'm not sure what else I can look for...
I have the same issue. I drive 5 hours a day and the GPS signal seems to get lost a few times an hour for a few seconds at a time. I did not have the problem with Kit Kat.
Happens a ton here. I went through 7 Note 4's trying to resolve it, they all did the same thing. I finally just accepted it and live with it. Some days it's perfect and no dropouts, other days it will drop out every couple of minutes and stay dropped out for a minute or longer, I've gotten lost/taken the wrong turn, etc. a lot when it drops during navigation.
Do you have a metallic coated windshield? I have an Audi with a metallic coated windshield and came to the conclusion that the Note 4's GPS is weaker than the Note 3's and that weakness coupled with my windshield is why I have issues. I haven't really had the chance to test it in another car with a regular windshield. I just ordered a GPS repeater for my car and will report if this helps when I get it next week.
spinedoc said:
Happens a ton here. I went through 7 Note 4's trying to resolve it, they all did the same thing. I finally just accepted it and live with it. Some days it's perfect and no dropouts, other days it will drop out every couple of minutes and stay dropped out for a minute or longer, I've gotten lost/taken the wrong turn, etc. a lot when it drops during navigation.
Do you have a metallic coated windshield? I have an Audi with a metallic coated windshield and came to the conclusion that the Note 4's GPS is weaker than the Note 3's and that weakness coupled with my windshield is why I have issues. I haven't really had the chance to test it in another car with a regular windshield. I just ordered a GPS repeater for my car and will report if this helps when I get it next week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a regular windshield, but this is happening with the same exact car as when I was on kitkat, so I don't think it's car related but Lollipop related. I hope we get some sort of OS update soon!
Could it be the battery saving mode that's causing this? I have the same issue on my S7 and it started happening after the OS upgrade. However, it gave me a notification about saving battery and I was messing around with it. Also I read on another forum that when the screen is off, people are noticing this? Anyone experiencing same thing? I am going leave the screen on tomorrow to see if it still occurs.