iPhone 3G GPS issues

amardilo · 18-07-2008, 8:08 AM

Hi does everyone's GPS work on their 3G iPhone?

I could not get GPS to work on my iPhone and I went over a load of stuff with Apple support including turning thing off and on, reseting network settings and restoring the firmware but I still can't get it to work.

When on WiFi or Edge (not got it to work on 3G yet) it does pinpoint my location but it thinks I am in the sea near Canada.

I have tried GPS in several different locations including outdoors in clear open areas with clear sight to the air.

Anyone have any idea's on getting it working?

chrism_scotland · 18-07-2008, 8:13 AM

Seems like there have been reports of faulty handsets as far as the GPS and 3G go, the issue where it thinks you halfway round the world is not isolated.
Some guy in the States had his telling him he was in Hong Kong!

amardilo · 18-07-2008, 8:31 AM

I got my iPhone replaced but I am still having the same issue with the replacement.

I was starting to fee like I am just too stupid to use the thing.

chrism_scotland · 18-07-2008, 8:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amardilo

I got my iPhone replaced but I am still having the same issue with the replacement.

I was starting to fee like I am just too stupid to use the thing.

Nah I think there are some issues with the iPhone 3G, although unlike most companies I am confident Apple will actually sort them!

oasismark · 18-07-2008, 9:04 AM

Mine seams ok, i was walking the dog last night and had the gps on just to see how good it was, and it was no more than a few metres away at all times.

I wonder if you could have other people iphone gps positions on your iphone?

hutch · 18-07-2008, 9:42 AM

Have you tried it outside or just inside?

davemulheran · 18-07-2008, 9:44 AM

how are you guys testing the GPS?

gastroboy · 18-07-2008, 9:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oasismark

Mine seams ok, i was walking the dog last night and had the gps on just to see how good it was, and it was no more than a few metres away at all times.

I wonder if you could have other people iphone gps positions on your iphone?

That would be pretty sweet, just to see other dots running around near you. Although there would be heaps of problems with it.. (like - you'll be a prime mugging target). Maybe only if you can see your friends or something. Someone should make an app for this.

sim667 · 18-07-2008, 10:02 AM

My friends wasnt working, but kicked in after a couple of days..........

Im still waiting for my iphone, let alone the GPS!

amardilo · 18-07-2008, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hutch.

Have you tried it outside or just inside?

Both. I know the GPS won't work in doors but I tried anyway to see if it would work with WiFi which it sort of did but I wasn't in the sea somewhere near Canada which it somehow thinks I am there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemulheran

how are you guys testing the GPS?

Lots of different ways.

Firstly I tried several different locations near where I live. Including vast open areas such as fields and lakes (no trees or buildings blocking any view to the sky), built up city centres (again tried to find a spot close to the sky), outside my home in my garden and in a car on an A road. I also tried these locations with a TomTom 520 and the TomTom spotted my location within a few seconds.

I also tried several different setting like having 3G on and off and WiFi on and off.
I tested with different firmware (if you do a restore in iTunes the version number goes up from 2.0 (5A345) to 2.0 (5A347)).

I tried resetting the network and carrier settings.

I made sure that the date/time and international settings were correct for the UK (according to Apple these need to be correct otherwise when it tries to compare times with the sats/servers and they are vastly off it won't work).

I have turned off all radios and tried and then just turned on location services.

I have tested the mapping service with different radio and internet technologies in different locations including 3G (didn't work), EDGE (did work however again it said I was in the sea near Canada also it was extremely slow), my home WiFi (using an AirPort Extreme Base Station and a BT HomeHub and again did work however again it said I was in the sea near Canada) and using 3G (didn't work).

I am not sure what else to try. I have had several phone calls with level 1 and 2 app reps and had an appointment with the guys at the Genius bar at the Apple Store in Milton Keynes and still have had no luck getting it working.

The only application I am using to spot my location is Google Maps and I am clicking the button on the bottom left hand corner which looks like a cross hair. Also I am not trying to get turn by turn directions (as I aware that's currently not possible) but I would like a marker to spot where I am. Most of the time when it tries to find where I am the icon in the bottom left just spins around for ages and most of the time keeps spinning well after the screen has turned itself off.

Anyone have any ideas for things I could try?

llol_slim · 18-07-2008, 10:43 AM

out of interest .. can someone explain how you make the map zoom in close on your specfic location? I did it last night, but now when I try to update it, it's still hovering over my home as apposed to my work. When i click the "locate me" button, it zooms right out over the entire town.. If I double tap within the blue target circle, then it zooms in over my house.. (I'm not there!!)
I have done it before as we tested it when we drove down to cornwall, but Icant remember how to do it ...

EDIT: I was inside

coops233 · 18-07-2008, 10:49 AM

Had the same problem now its working.

Go outside (only works upstairs in my house) and go to -

Settings
General
Turn Auto-Lock Off

Try your GPS and it should now work. You can now put Auto-Lock back on and it will still work.

I think it is a bug.

Apple told me to take it back but a guy on this forum helped me.

amardilo · 18-07-2008, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coops233

Had the same problem now its working.

Go outside (only works upstairs in my house) and go to -

Settings
General
Turn Auto-Lock Off

Try your GPS and it should now work. You can now put Auto-Lock back on and it will still work.

I think it is a bug.

Apple told me to take it back but a guy on this forum helped me.

Thanks for that I'll give it a go. I'll set Auto-Lock to "Never" and test it out in an open area.

Do you need to do anything else (like turn location services on and off)?

coops233 · 18-07-2008, 10:59 AM

just turn auto lock off - that's it.

oasismark · 18-07-2008, 11:00 AM

All i do to test is go to maps and tap the circle, bottom left,

davemulheran · 18-07-2008, 11:04 AM

what is auto lock for?

Is it better just turned off? no adverse issues?

amardilo · 18-07-2008, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coops233

just turn auto lock off - that's it.

Thanks so much for your help dude.

It seems to work!

I tried it with Auto-Lock off and

it pinpointed me exactly.

I turned Auto-Lock back on (set it to 2 minutes) and it still worked. I have tried turning it on and off and it's still working.

Dude your a legend. Now all I need to do is get iTunes to register that I have played a podcast on my iPhone and not to keep syncing it to the iPhone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemulheran

what is auto lock for?

Is it better just turned off? no adverse issues?

From what I was aware I think auto-lock is just a timer to set when to lock the handset (to unlock it you have to "slide to unlock") i.e. After x minutes lock the phone. I have no idea how it's linked to GPS but it seems to have worked for me to get GPS working.

seerm77 · 19-07-2008, 12:18 AM

For some reason i can't get to my location on the map... or anywhere to be honest.

All i get is a light blue screen... its trying to search but gets nothing.

I've gone outside and nothing.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so... how can i resolve it?

seerm77 · 19-07-2008, 12:34 AM

Ok... i can see maps, but it won't pick up my current location (GPS). Anyone have any ideas? It just thinks about it but doesn't do anything. It just says (when i try and get directions from my current location, to see if it will kick it in) "current location can not be determined".

seerm77 · 19-07-2008, 9:07 AM

Right... put auto lock to never and still nothing. Doesn't want to pick me up (altthough the first time i tried this i did get the red circle but a light blue background - this was yesterday when i got the phone).

Can someone put me through the paces making sure i've done everything correctly?

Do i leave 3G on or off?

Wifi... on or off?

Location services... on or off?

Auto Lock i have put to "never" as recommended on here.

KeanosMagicHat · 19-07-2008, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seerm77

Ok... i can see maps, but it won't pick up my current location (GPS). Anyone have any ideas? It just thinks about it but doesn't do anything. It just says (when i try and get directions from my current location, to see if it will kick it in) "current location can not be determined".

I picked up my phone yesterday afternoon and I'm having the same issue.

As for the other connections, Wi-Fi is working fine at home with a decent signal strength throughout the house, but I can't even get an EDGE signal, never mind 3G, so that's something else I'll need to look into.

Will test it more thoroughly later today.

I'm struggling to see why the previously mentioned Auto-Lock would have anything to do with it, as that is just the timer / on / off for locking the phone when not in use.

fraggenstein · 19-07-2008, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

I'm struggling to see why the previously mentioned Auto-Lock would have anything to do with it, as that is just the timer / on / off for locking the phone when not in use.

You're right - it shouldn't but it worked for me when I was having similar issues. I have a theory that the phone was locking itself before the gps could establish an initial lock and turning auto-lock off gave it the time it needed - took about 8 minutes if I remember correctly and that was with the iphone outside with clear line of sight to the sky. Once that happened I turned auto-lock back on and now getting a location in google maps takes 20 seconds max - sometimes 2-3 seconds. It might all be coincidence but it does seem to have worked for some people.

KeanosMagicHat · 19-07-2008, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraggenstein

You're right - it shouldn't but it worked for me when I was having similar issues. I have a theory that the phone was locking itself before the gps could establish an initial lock and turning auto-lock off gave it the time it needed - took about 8 minutes if I remember correctly and that was with the iphone outside with clear line of sight to the sky. Once that happened I turned auto-lock back on and now getting a location in google maps takes 20 seconds max - sometimes 2-3 seconds. It might all be coincidence but it does seem to have worked for some people.

Ok 8 minutes for an initial lock !!!!

I've never left it that long, perhaps that's my issue.

Will give it a go then.

Cheers.

fraggenstein · 19-07-2008, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

Ok 8 minutes for an initial lock !!!!

I've never left it that long, perhaps that's my issue.

Will give it a go then.

Cheers.

I know! Its never taken that long since though and I've restored the phone once and turned it off and on a few times since then too. Its almost liked it needed a kick up the backside to get it going!

KeanosMagicHat · 19-07-2008, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraggenstein

I know! Its never taken that long since though and I've restored the phone once and turned it off and on a few times since then too. Its almost liked it needed a kick up the backside to get it going!

THANK YOU !!!

That's amazing. It worked and thinking about it your theory on it auto-locking the phone before it had a chance to establish the initial GPS location seems sound.

It took around 6 minutes.

This is my first iPhone, am I right in thinking when it has a pulsing blue dot that is the most accurate sensing mode you can achieve?

The dot appears differently when only using cell tower triangulation (as backup) does it not?

Going forward, hopefully I'll now achieve the much quicker lock times you are experiencing.

EDIT: 42 seconds when I tried it after the initial lock, much better, I can live with that or less for an average time.

fraggenstein · 19-07-2008, 1:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

THANK YOU !!!

That's amazing. It worked and thinking about it your theory on it auto-locking the phone before it had a chance to establish the initial GPS location seems sound.

It took around 6 minutes.

This is my first iPhone, am I right in thinking when it has a pulsing blue dot that is the most accurate sensing mode you can achieve?

The dot appears differently when only using cell tower triangulation (as backup) does it not?

Going forward, hopefully I'll now achieve the much quicker lock times you are experiencing.

Awesome!

What I notice is that when it gets the first lock I get a large shaded circle around the blue dot that gradually shrinks over the next 30 seconds - minute until I (usually) end up with just a blue dot. Its quite accurate too - pinpoints me to the right corner of the garden if I zoom right in and then move around!

Andrew Mogford · 19-07-2008, 1:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KeanosMagicHat

THANK YOU !!!

That's amazing. It worked and thinking about it your theory on it auto-locking the phone before it had a chance to establish the initial GPS location seems sound.

It took around 6 minutes.

This is my first iPhone, am I right in thinking when it has a pulsing blue dot that is the most accurate sensing mode you can achieve?

The dot appears differently when only using cell tower triangulation (as backup) does it not?

Going forward, hopefully I'll now achieve the much quicker lock times you are experiencing.

EDIT: 42 seconds when I tried it after the initial lock, much better, I can live with that or less for an average time.

42 seconds????? That's not good.

KeanosMagicHat · 19-07-2008, 1:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gibb

42 seconds????? That's not good.

It's better than 6 minutes

I hope to improve on that over the next few days too, will monitor it. As I say, this is my first iPhone so I had no experience with the original models and cell tower triangulation etc.

EDIT - 25 seconds at the third time of asking. It's getting quicker .....

roaster · 19-07-2008, 2:34 PM

I think there may be some issues with the database that provides the assistance data to speed GPS, possibly making the task harder rather than simpler if the data for your nearest cell tower is wrong. (Incidentally, it appears this database is being updated using data from 3G iPhone GPS units).

GPS seems to be faster and more accurate when there are clear views not too far above the horizon. I have found supermarket car parks to be particularly quick and accurate!

I think the blue dot pulses to indicate tracking (it will follow as you walk/drive).

KeanosMagicHat · 19-07-2008, 3:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roaster

... I think the blue dot pulses to indicate tracking (it will follow as you walk/drive).

Indeed, if I manage to get out of the house today, I'll be testing that feature.

In the meantime, does anyone know how the positioning dot differs on the iPhone 3G when it's having to use the less accurate backup tirangulation method please?

I might have read previously that it loses the "pulse" effect (then again, I might have just made that up).