GPS problems?

I've had a similar experience. I did get the GPS to work once, in Falkirk. It took a couple of minutes to get a fix. I then tried in Edinburgh, and I walked for about 15 minutes before giving up. I got the bars, but they were all empty.

pixor wrote:I've had a similar experience. I did get the GPS to work once, in Falkirk. It took a couple of minutes to get a fix. I then tried in Edinburgh, and I walked for about 15 minutes before giving up. I got the bars, but they were all empty.

Ah, the bars are meant to fill in? They've been completely empty for me too, everywhere I've tried so far today in London (including the park!)

Very disappointing!

The GPS reception is pretty weak, especially compared to a "normal" Bluetooth GPS receiver.

I've been able to get the built in GPS to work, but it is very slow to start up (about 3 - 4 minutes if it's being quick) and it does occasionally loose the signal while in the car.

Overall though, it's definitely worth having, and if Nokia can up the power of the aerial in a future firmware release, so much the better.

I've got a T-Mobile N95 and it took a while the first time to find the satellites. The bars eventually turn black when a position lock is obtained. The second time round it is quicker but it is a much weaker receiver than a normal BT one. That said, I don't often have one on me, so it's worth having. And it runs beautifully with ViewRanger, giving me full GPS tracking in OS maps for the UK.

I've got problems too. I'm on O2 and when I first started the device, it only took about a minute to lock my position. I then went and downloaded some maps on to the memory card but the application does not pick them up.

It occasionally asks to connect but I shouldn't need to when there are maps stored on the device.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Nevermind, working fine now. GPS initially picked me up in the wrong country, I would zoom straight in and was getting frustrated that I couldn't see anything lol. Satellite coverage was patchy at work - I was inside and there are a few floors above me. Went outside and pin-pointed me perfectly. I've turned network connection off just to make sure it won't connect to anything since I have all the maps I need downloaded.

It will still want to connect for some stuff (e.g. plotting routes, driving directions). If you have the maps installed it will not download them (you can check this by browsing around the maps on their own without being connected).

Bear in mind you get better GPS recpetion with the slide down because of the position of the aerial.

For the satellites the initial bars are showing signal strength. Only when they go solid black (3 of them are needed I think) do you get a GPS fix. My experience suggests the performance is just below or about the same as a SIRF III chipset.

I usually get an initial lock in about 90 seconds or so. Though this does vary.

Hi

I got my N95 yesterday and had similar problems to everyone else, i read somewhere that the first time you use the GPS it may take up to 20 mins to get a reading from the satellites.

This morning i left the phone on the window sill at work with the keypad slide out and pointing out the window. I put the satellite status window up and 3 or 4 appeared but the bars were not filled black. After 30 mins they did fill in and the GPS worked fine. I took the phone away from the window so that it couldn't find a satellite and then put it back and it picked up the position in about 30 seconds.

Also as an alternative to the mapping software that comes with the phone MGMAPS seems to work very well and has satellite imagery from Google Maps plus it works with the N95's built in GPS. You'll have to Google it as i'm not allowed to post links yet 😊

Dan

I have a T-Mobile N95 as well... I got the GPS working today, but it did take a long time.

I walked for about 25 minutes with the slide open, facing upwards, before the bars turned black and it could get my position.

I imagine that in future it would be quicker, but usually from a cold start, GPSes take longer for the first lock-on.

Hi RickL, I thought that you were supposed to remain still and the satellite should lock on in around 2 minutes and be faster after the initial lock.

I think that is what it says in the manual.

The more you use it the quicker it gets. I very much doubt it'll compete with a proper Tom Tom but then a Tom Tom isn't going to compete with an N95 :P

As the above poster did, leave it near a window for a while and it'll catch on. Do that a few times and eventually it'll pick up nigh on every time within a couple of minutes. I just need to download those maps now!

I received my N95 yesterday from O2.

It was slow to pick up a GPS signal. When I click the maps icon, it shows the earth, gives me a reading saying that I have lost my internet signal, and then the GPS will pick me up, and zoom into South London, where I'm located, and then it will just display a beige-ish screen. Is this simply because I haven't downloaded any maps yet?

What site do I go to download the maps? It looked at smart2go, but it doesn't list the N95 as one of the handsets you can use. I spend a lot of time travelling all over Europe, and want to download some maps before I leave.

What do I need to do?

thanks
Marc

Visit here

http://mobilesearch.nokia.com/index.html

I have a tmobile n95 and although at first it was a touch slow to fix, i really have no complaints now, it takes about 1 min to fix and then away you go.

I think the first fix is very important and it seems to get quicker each time I use it, it is fantastic to use and already I am finding it very useful.

Has anyone else had this problem with the GPS? Though I got to work OK the first time I used it, every time I try to use it in other locations it will not seem to work. I have tried using it in a number of different locations and the only time it has worked again was when I was close to the first location I used it.

mudstuff wrote:Hi RickL, I thought that you were supposed to remain still and the satellite should lock on in around 2 minutes and be faster after the initial lock.

I think that is what it says in the manual.

I find it's quicker to get a fix while moving, not remain still, i've tried these: n95, BT GPS, TomTom one and GPS-CS1

I've had my N95 for 4 days and have been unable to get the gps to work at all. The best I've got is 2 empty satelite bars and thats after sitting on top of a mountain for an hour 😡
It's on a T-Mobile contract purchased via Phoneboxdirect to whom I am going to have to return the phone for a replacement - that's going to cost ���'s as it has to be sent by special delivery 😡 😡 I just hope that Phoneboxdirect will be quick in sending out a new phone.
Has anyone else totally failed to get the gps working?

With so many N95's selling there will be a whole new community of people wondering around with phones held aloft and mumbling about 3 bars turning black!!😮

I am in Singapore and have the same problems. Also find that when eventually it locks into a certain location, it will do it quicker next time at that location.:redface:

Not sure about helping me find anywhere, but certainly nearly crashed lots of times looking for the three magical black bars to appear whilst driving (thankfully in areas I know well).😮

I hope this is something Nokia can fix, because it is more of a nuisance than a help the way it is now.🙄

In the meantime, be sure to wave your N95 at the next person you see looking to the skys in vain hope!😉

Seems i'm in the minority here. Got my N95 on Thursday and on Easter Saturday sat outside on the grass under a couple of trees. Within 30 seconds the software had zoomed in to my location and the map had downloaded. Now i've downloaded all UK maps for future reference.

F