Apparent GPS Failure

[azosmith]

Here's some info based on my own observations (for what its worth). Sounds like some people are having a little bit different experience than I was, but here goes:

At home, my phone kept saying my location was either Los Angeles, or Irvine. I'm in Redondo Beach so one was off by 20 miles, and the other was off by 40 miles. That's annoying. I discovered that in my settings, under "locations and security" that i had both the 1st and 2nd checkboxes checked. I unchecked the first box called "use wireless network"...and that seems to have fixed it. I've been Redondo Beach ever since.

Secondly, before that issue I was enjoying my turn-by-turn gps all over town until after having the phone for about 36 hours, the maps program just died. It would not launch, it just said, "sorry! the maps program...blah blah...please try again". I found other forums on google and motorola sites and a ton of people had that problem. The concensus was that people who had downloaded gps toggle switch widgets soon had problems. I did the factory reset, stayed away from the gps toggle switches...no problems since (yet).

Moral of the story, I'd stay away from GPS toggle switches, and turn off "use wireless network" if you are able to get a GPS signal.

That's all I got.

 

[JerrytheGreat]

OK, same here, I'm an hour south of Tampa, and former Alltel subscriber. They told me today after the second phone that the issue would be reslved by moving to a Verizon plan. That was 5 hours ago, 2 factory resets, 4 reprogrammings, and still no GPS lock. To get a little techie, I suspect this has to do with the aGPS (assist) server settings in the phone's firmware.
This is frustrating..

 

[jaymeangreen]

Try one thing, turn off the GPS function on the phone. Turn it off, then back on, then put the GPS back on and see what happens.

Thank you for the suggestion, unfortunately it didn't work.
I did the factory reset, it worked... for about 5 seconds, and I was quickly returned to the small Indian village I apparently inhabit.
Phone was connected via wifi at the time, I feel like this is important.

There are a few variables in my situation, and otherwise the phone is quickly becoming my bff, so I am doing to try not get ocd over it and see what happens. :wink:

I have the same problem and have been through 2 droids so far. Finally got a straight answer from a tech support connection my sales rep had. If you are a former Alltel customer who is now verizon (even if you switch to a verizon plan), you will NOT be able to connect with the GPS. They do not have an estimated fix date yet but are opening support tickets for all who call in.

lamar you stated this before about the alltel connection with the gps not working and i believe you were right from the get go. theres still two things bugging me though. 1) my phone has connected to gps twice.if i was blocked why did that happen. 2) seems like alot of the people (in this forum) with trouble are in FL. are we just not hearing from others from other states as much ?

 

[JerrytheGreat]

I can answer that question. I'm pretty familiar with cell phone gps systems. The key with low-power gps chip performance in mobile devices is something called "aGPS" or "GPS-assist". The cell carrier manages a server (via the data plan) that monitors the locations of the GPS satellites, and gives the phone a "heads-up" on where to look. In some areas, this is completely unnecessary, in others (like SW Florida) it is absolutely required. If the aGPS settings are wrong, or the server cannot be reached, the GPS chip must try to seek its own satellites.

 

[ly92078]

I am in Winter Haven/ Lakeland Fl area. Same problem with very intermittant GPS as described above. So frustrating...I guess a trip to the Verizon store is on the Horizon!

 

[mike1655]

Ok I finally have the answer to the GPS problems. The answer is that anyone with an old alltel number will continue to have no, or spotty service in certain areas like ft myers until verizon gets the known issue fixed. Apparently the software patch/switch will be implemented in the next couple of weeks. So be of good cheer and talk to the people at verizon.

 

[JerrytheGreat]

I called Verizon tech support--they are "working on it" switching plans WILL NOT WORK!!! it seems to have something to do with the number...

 

[ly92078]

Thanks for the update...sounds like changing phones is not the answer. And I HATE waiting and waiting and then no success at the Verizon store! And yes I was Altel.

 

[MarkB]

I was never with Alltel. Just got my droid on Friday and still evaluating whether I have adequate Verizon reception in my home, I'm contemplating the switch from AT&T. Everything is fine on the phone except the GPS. I got a satellite lock last night for about 20 minutes, and that's about it. Nothing all day yesterday and nothing today, and I've been out and about with the phone. I've tried everything else suggested here. Shutting off the network location feature, etc.

Interestingly enough, I'm in Florida too - about halfway between Tampa and Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast. I'll exchange the phone if I need to, once I decide to keep it at all, but I'm leaning towards thinking that it's a network problem. That gpsAssist thing makes sense, but I don't think that it's limited to former Alltel customers.

 

[Narsil]

Is there anything we can do on our end to rectify this GPS assist issue? I had a program on my Touch Pro which updated the GPS software on the phone with more precise satellite locations to speed the locking process.

It sounds like something like that might help but I've never had a single locking problem with my TomTom or my work partner's Garmin locking on within a minute.

 

[mike1655]

I also have a tom tom and have never had the problem. The GPS issue is not limited to previous All Tel customers as I had stated earlier. Went the store today and talked with the rep agian. He is not a previous all tel customer and is having the same problem. They are desperately trying to fix the problem that is a system wide prob. It is not the phone's. Keep your phone for a couple of weeks. it will get fixed.

 

[mike1655]

Sorry bout the horrible grammar on the previous post.

 

[summerfieldjason]

Thank you all for the info. I just spoke with Verizon today and they said they still had no known issues yet regarding the GPS. They individual who had his rep tell him that it is a Alltel issue, do they give a time frame. And if it isn't a Alltel issue then what??

 

[jaymeangreen]

Thanks for the updates Mike1655, i really hope they fix this soon.

 

[azosmith]

There's also this problem....
GPS satellite system 'close to breakdown' and could fail by 2010 - leading motorists straight into trouble | Mail Online