Help GPS is constantly inaccurate

[wadergirl]

So, I've got a Samsung Mesmerize, and the GPS is really starting to get on my nerves. Especially for use with things like Foursquare. I am NEVER where I'm supposed to be. For example, when I'm at home (2600 blk of my street), it thinks I'm way north in the 2900 blk of my street. When I'm at work, the building next door is 776 meters away, but the building I'm sitting in is 5443 meters away.

Now, that being said, its not just a Foursquare problem. I have an app called GPS Status that gives me a compass, pitch, roll, etc, but most handily shows me how many satellites it can see. My boyfriend it pops up right away seeing anywhere between 5-9 satellites. On mine, it just "thinks" for forever and never sees any satellites. It had found a workaround that if I used the app option to "Calibrate compass" by spinning my device on all 3 axis, it would immediately find my correct GPS location (work would return to being about 34 meters away in Foursquare) and North would point North again on the compass. I would have to do that at LEAST once a day. Now not even that is working. I'm at a loss for what else to do, and I was hoping to start using my phone as a navigation system in my car, but lord only knows where I'd end up now.

 

[dylo22]

Do you have all your gps options checked under settings>locations? If you want faster lock times you have to enable agps (mobile network location services).

 

[mrsbelpit]

Galaxy S phones GPS is notoriously bad. You should return to your carrier or Samsung for a warranty replacement, but first:

reboot your phone, then open maps. Do you get a better lock? There are apps in the market published by Samsung that will reset the GPS settings, and get you an immediate lock (I'm not sure if the Mesmerize is one of those- is that like a Fascinate?)
I'm not sure if you will have to run the settings app every time you need to use the GPS - I don't now that I'm on Froyo (Vibrant) - But if you do, that would be a huge pain and a warraty replacement is the way to go.

 

[takeshi]

So, I've got a Samsung Mesmerize, and the GPS is really starting to get on my nerves. Especially for use with things like Foursquare. I am NEVER where I'm supposed to be. For example, when I'm at home (2600 blk of my street), it thinks I'm way north in the 2900 blk of my street. When I'm at work, the building next door is 776 meters away, but the building I'm sitting in is 5443 meters away.

You're not using GPS then. GPS will fix to typically within 3 meters or so. If GPS cannot get a fix then your device will fall back on other, less accurate methods of determining your location such as tower triangulation, WiFi, etc.

You can tell if you have a GPS fix by looking at your notification bar. When the GPS receiver is actually in use the GPS icon will appear on the notification bar. If the icon is blinking then your GPS receiver is trying to get a fix. If the icon is solid then the receiver has obtained a fix.

Now, that being said, its not just a Foursquare problem.

Right. It's your GPS receiver -- an entirely separate entity from your GPS-enabled apps.

I have an app called GPS Status that gives me a compass, pitch, roll, etc, but most handily shows me how many satellites it can see. My boyfriend it pops up right away seeing anywhere between 5-9 satellites. On mine, it just "thinks" for forever and never sees any satellites. It had found a workaround that if I used the app option to "Calibrate compass" by spinning my device on all 3 axis, it would immediately find my correct GPS location (work would return to being about 34 meters away in Foursquare) and North would point North again on the compass. I would have to do that at LEAST once a day. Now not even that is working. I'm at a loss for what else to do, and I was hoping to start using my phone as a navigation system in my car, but lord only knows where I'd end up now.

If you have GPS Status then use its tools to clear your aGPS data. That always resolves any problem my GPS receiver is having with getting a fix.

Again, a 34 meter margin of error indicates that you're not using GPS.

Do you have all your gps options checked under settings>locations? If you want faster lock times you have to enable agps (mobile network location services).

aGPS can cause its own issues with getting a fix though. My custom ROM allows me to disable aGPS which has actually improved reliability. "Faster fixes" aren't faster if they're never obtained. I never have issues with aGPS disabled (neither did my former GPS-equipped devices that were not aGPS capable).