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Wrong Location Showing in multiple apps

N

nicknack

Lurker
I've been using google maps on my Droid X without a hitch. When I purchased a 7" acer iconia tablet this morning and hooked it up to my Droid using wi-fi tether, I was expecting the same. However, it keeps showing me in Las Vegas. I was there a year ago on vacation and remember using google maps at that time to get around. However, I live in Florida!

I thought the issue might be just with google maps so I downloaded mapquest. The same issue comes up; it has me in Vegas! I don't get it, particularly when my Droid shows the correct location. Since my tablet relies 100% on wi-fi (it doesn't have gps), I don't understand.

I've tried resetting the table twice and even did a hard reset. I don't know what else to try. This is quite frustrating so any help that can be offered would be greatly appreciated!
 
So your location is accurate on the phone, but skewed on the tablet?
 
Have you checked the tablet's location services? Even if it has no GPS chip, I think it can use A-GPS for positioning. Try turning that on.
 
Yes, my phone is perfect. It tracks my position without any problems for weather, navigation, golf and other apps that rely on location. However, if I'm not mistaken, it uses GPS whereas my tablet is relying on the wi-fi connection from the phone which is somehow causing issues.

The tablet (Asus Iconia A100) definitely does NOT have GPS. I'll have to look around in the menu to see if I can find something about A-GPS. I spent a lot of time on this yesterday and turned off and on many options in an effort to get it to work properly but nothing I tried solved the issue. I don't remember seeing anything about A-GPS, but again, I'll look.
 
Your phone will have a couple of options. It can use.GPS, a-gps, and a couple of different options that rely on network towers. If you're motivated, you can try getting a fix using each one independently, and maybe one of them is malfunctioning....
 
Another very strange development...

This morning I tried connecting my tablet to my home wi-fi, and the location was fine - no more Las Vegas! I then disconnected it and reconnected my phone's hotspot wi-fi connection; it too was showing the right location. I then got into my car to go to work, tethered the tablet to my phone and again, it was showing the right location. However, about five minutes into my commute, google maps forced down 2-3 times, which it never has before. Therefore, I figured I would re-boot my tablet and start the google maps app again. When I did so, guess what... Vegas location! :(

I haven't been able to get back to Florida since. I don't get it!
 
Yes, I have rebooted my phone probably a hundred times or so since being in Vegas (which was a good year or so ago).

I highly doubt anyone installed something on my phone - I live with my wife and never leave my phone out when I am in public away from home.

The VERY strange thing about this, in my thinking, is why my location would switch back to Florida for a little while this morning and then go back to Vegas.
 
Try changing your SSID on the phone.

What likely happened is you were tethering while the Google StreetView van drove by. It logged your SSID as being in LV.

WiFi location data is really just a big database of the locations of SSIDs being broadcast by the WiFi access points

This means you will always be in LV. Also, you will always have trouble using WiFi as a location tech if you are tethering. Since you are moving the very thing they use to pin your location.
 
The problem is that it isn't just google, it is mapquest, weather and any other app that uses my location. They ALL show me in Las Vegas.

I changed my SSID and that caused issues. I could no longer gain access to the internet with my tablet. Because I'm using a tether app on my DroidX, I believe it is sensitive to certain things and when I changed it, for whatever reason, it could not restore my connection, even after I renamed it back to the original SSID.

I decided to uninstall the tether program and then reinstalled it. After doing so, it seemed to work okay and then after about 5 minutes, I'm back in Vegas.

I did realize one thing yesterday and that is, my tablet does in fact have GPS. That being the case, I can in fact use the GPS from the tablet without the internet connection and it seems to always be spot on. The problem though is that this is not the way I intend to use the tablet or why I bought it. I want to be able to have internet connection to show traffic, get on the internet and use other such features. The issue though is that once I connect my tablet to my phone, I'm back in Vegas. The only way I can seem to stay in Florida is when not connected to my phone and just using GPS from my tablet.

I'm really confused!!
 
GPS is much more accurate than using WiFi networks as location, though I'm not sure how to get WiFi internet, and not use it as a location provider. Sorry :(

Edit: maybe check the settings in Google maps and on the tablet for location. See if you can find a "use wifi to help improve my location" setting, and switch it off.
 
If you go to menu>settings>location & privacy on the tablet you can disable Wifi for location and keep GPS enabled. It might update a little more slowly if you have a weak signal, but it will be more accurate in the long run.
 
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