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GPS issues or Fixed with american release?

J

Jreitnauer7

Member
Has anyone tested the GPS yet? It appears that a lot of people have complained about the GPS on the SGS. How is the GPS working on the captivate?
 
Sounds like GPS stuff is still an issue, but someone said they found a hidden menu on the phone that lets you set the GPS to cold boot or something, and that helps a lot. Basically, it sounds like a software issue, that could be fixed in the near future. Maybe this'll also help you out in the short run.

possible gps fix - Android @ MoDaCo
 
I didn't get a chance to really play with it ... it doesn't work inside though. I'm home right now and I just get no GPS signal.
 
Regalicious said:
I didn't get a chance to really play with it ... it doesn't work inside though. I'm home right now and I just get no GPS signal.
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I must not be understanding what you're talking about here. GPS won't work inside your house, it's a line-of-sight system. Without a clear view of the sky, you can't track the satellites. A-GPS will work inside, but it's not as nearly accurate as it isn't "true" GPS.
 
MrTony said:
I must not be understanding what you're talking about here. GPS won't work inside your house, it's a line-of-sight system. Without a clear view of the sky, you can't track the satellites. A-GPS will work inside, but it's not as nearly accurate as it isn't "true" GPS.
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No, GPS can work fine in buildings. Not in a basement or anything, buy one wooden roof is fine.

I think you are confusing agps with SkyHook. Agps just uses cell towers to download satellite position data quickly. It makes getting locks quicker and has nothing to do with accuracy.
 
You're right, I was confusing A-GPS with the triangulation method cellular providers use to determine your location, which is wildly different from GPS fixes. I've never been very successfull in getting fixes inside buildings, although I admit I was always using older gear such as the Touch Pro.

So the Captivate is giving trouble obtaining satellite position quickly or is it having a problem receiving the actual signal?
 
Grr mine is still finicky. I tried several times outside of my apartment today to get a location lock and it just kept saying "your location is temporarily available". Yesterday while I was out and about, though, it was working fine. Hrmph. (It was never instant as radi0chik's was though)
 
Regalicious said:
Grr mine is still finicky. I tried several times outside of my apartment today to get a location lock and it just kept saying "your location is temporarily available". Yesterday while I was out and about, though, it was working fine. Hrmph. (It was never instant as radi0chik's was though)
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I sure do hope Samsung is working feverishly on a fix. Just from the randomness of the issues, my gut wants to say it's a firmware configuration issue that could be fixed with an OTA or wired update. Had issues similar to this in the past on some of my HTC equipment that was quickly rooted out and fixed with custom ROMs also.
 
I found out that by turning both wireless towers (cell tower) triangulation and the GPS radio on, all my problems go away. If I have only the GPS on half the time it takes forever to find me or fails to find me. With both on it's almost instant. This makes sense to me because (I'm guessing) the cell towers can locate you approximately and greatly narrow the area the GPS has to search to find you.
 
My cousin bought a Captivate. GPS is flaky. His friend bought a Vibrant which is also flaky. It seems this thing is for real. Hope for a fix soon. Can't wait to buy this phone.
 
Regalicious said:
I found out that by turning both wireless towers (cell tower) triangulation and the GPS radio on, all my problems go away. If I have only the GPS on half the time it takes forever to find me or fails to find me. With both on it's almost instant. This makes sense to me because (I'm guessing) the cell towers can locate you approximately and greatly narrow the area the GPS has to search to find you.
Click to expand...

yeah, same deal with me. first time I tried to use GPS it flaked out and couldn't get a fix. I then enabled the cell tower bit and it picked my location up fairly quickly. now every time I've tried since, it's instant.
 
Regalicious said:
I found out that by turning both wireless towers (cell tower) triangulation and the GPS radio on, all my problems go away. If I have only the GPS on half the time it takes forever to find me or fails to find me. With both on it's almost instant. This makes sense to me because (I'm guessing) the cell towers can locate you approximately and greatly narrow the area the GPS has to search to find you.
Click to expand...

If it's anything like the iPhone, you are exactly right. It gets close with triangulation through cell towers, so the gps doesn't have to narrow it down itself. Drastically speeds up the process. On another note, I am curious about the speed at which it picks up the signal after being in a pocket. This is important for golf gps apps and one of the HUGE benefits of moving to the iphone 4 from iphone 3gs. The iphone 4 picks it up more than twice as fast. Around 2-3 seconds compared to the 10 seconds or so on the 3gs.

Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
It works great for me. Just as good as my Nexus One. I get accuracy within 5 meters in my house after sitting for 10 seconds, and near instant locks. It actually seems a bit better than my Nexus One.
 
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