Why so long to find location?

[ChappellHeel]

I keep gps off until needed. But when I need it, it takes forever to find my location. At least 5 minutes or so.

 

[dhworph]

I don't think I've ever had it take that long, but definitely a couple minutes or longer a few times. It really varies for me. I think it usually takes 30 seconds to a minute, every now and then it will lock quickly... but NEVER instantly like on the droid bionic. I chock it up to a crappy gps chip/radio. I think when I was on AOKP briefly the lock was much faster, but can't remember too clearly.

It just took 45 seconds right now, and that felt pretty normal to me. I'm still on stock rooted 4.1.1 VZW GNex.

 

[chessboxxin]

I've found that leaving GPS on results in it locking faster for me, as opposed to toggling when needed. I know that isn't any definitive suggestion, but helps in my case. GPS shouldn't be active unless called upon, so leaving it enabled shouldn't drain your battery like some have you believe.

Some app like GPS Status* allows you to reset and download A -GPS data, which may help.

* https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2

 

[Demache]

I've found that leaving GPS on results in it locking faster for me, as opposed to toggling when needed. I know that isn't any definitive suggestion, but helps in my case. GPS shouldn't be active unless called upon, so leaving it enabled shouldn't drain your battery like some have you believe.

Some app like GPS Status* allows you to reset and download A -GPS data, which may help.

* https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2

Agreed. Its interesting though. My Nexus 7 gets a near instant lock WITHOUT any data connectivity (or having wifi on at all), yet the GPS on my Galaxy Nexus takes a good minute at least to boot up.

 

[chessboxxin]

Yeah, I dunno except my Galaxy Nexus has had, easily, the worst GPS I've had to deal with.

 

[Demache]

Yeah, I dunno except my Galaxy Nexus has had, easily, the worst GPS I've had to deal with.

I've had worse, my old phone would sometimes never achieve a signal lock of any kind.

 

[chessboxxin]

Hmm, was it Samsung? I feel like I have always heard about Samsung GPS problems, but also that this was a issue with older devices, but still see constant Samsung radio cursing ..

I've noticed some ROMs snag a faster lock for me, but I haven't found myself unable to get any locj. At the most, a minute or so. Which is about a minute too long, but still ...

 

[Demache]

Hmm, was it Samsung? I feel like I have always heard about Samsung GPS problems, but also that this was a issue with older devices, but still see constant Samsung radio cursing ..

I've noticed some ROMs snag a faster lock for me, but I haven't found myself unable to get any locj. At the most, a minute or so. Which is about a minute too long, but still ...

Actually, no. It was an HTC Eris (Verizon variant of the Hero).

 

[gparadox]

I found that opning the back cover and tightening all 4 screws can help with GPS. Especially the last 2.
I don't know why, but a friend told me this and once I tightened everything up the GPS took seconds to lock.

 

[humanidt]

Mine used to take a long time to lock on as well, but then I found this: Optimal GPS settings for Galaxy Nexus - Galaxy Nexus - RootzWiki
its a simple file replacement, and now my GPS locks within seconds.
PS: for the first few seconds, it uses network localization (i think) while still showing GPS's accuracy radius on Maps. but it does soon lock and is very reliable.