For those who dont know already-
when trying to lock onto gps signal, best thing to do is simply turm your handset over to the the back of the handset (camera lense) is facing the sky.
wait about 5 to 10 seconds and flip it back over again so you can see screen. you shoudl see 3 green lights!
Every time i load maps and do this i get a lock within 8 seconds maximum in normal conditions. Where as before id have to wait about 30s to 5 mins.
Try it and please leave a message here to confirm it works for you so others remember too.
Hope this helps as much as it has helped me.
I can get a network lock in around 3 seconds and a gps lock in around 8 seconds, indoors with the phone in my hand, this is with v21 f/w and maps 2, the older f/w and maps was much worse
hippyguyman wrote:I can get a network lock in around 3 seconds and a gps lock in around 8 seconds, indoors with the phone in my hand, this is with v21 f/w and maps 2, the older f/w and maps was much worse
Your 8 second GPS lock (no network, no A-GPS?) is suspiciously quick.
I usually experience 30 seconds to 2 minutes for a non assisted GPS lock.
dez_borders wrote:Your 8 second GPS lock (no network, no A-GPS?) is suspiciously quick.I usually experience 30 seconds to 2 minutes for a non assisted GPS lock.
I use A-gps and Network, and it really is quick, just tried it without A-gps and Network, still getting GPS fix in under 8 seconds
i get 10 second locks too with agps. Its normal.
hippyguyman wrote:I use A-gps and Network, and it really is quick, just tried it without A-gps and Network, still getting GPS fix in under 8 seconds
Surely below 10 secs but only when you first got a-gps fix and then switch off and off without network coz your gos already know where it is so it can easily filter out noise form satellite signal. Try to get gps fix without network after few hours without using a-gps. You will notice then what about all ppl are talking of.
So, basicly, there's no way in some circumstances to get fix quicker, its normal, every gps will in the same conditions be as slow as yours. Nokia gets fix quite fast in comparison to for example Garmins devices (tested at the same moment in the same place and direction and even angle - Nokia is just faster, so be happy, dont complain ;P
K.
I tried it this morning, some 12 hours later and 40 miles away from my test yesterday, and on a very overcast morning, still using network and agps, and got a fix in seconds, more than happy with the performance
hippyguyman wrote:I tried it this morning, some 12 hours later and 40 miles away from my test yesterday, and on a very overcast morning, still using network and agps, and got a fix in seconds, more than happy with the performance
I said WITHOUT internet connection. After a long period of time and without. Only GPS. Cellular network allowed too, but test without first (sometimes even cell network can be quite a clue for GPS).
K.
BTW. Read about GPS on wikipedia, you will see what i mean.
krzych wrote: Try to get gps fix without network after few hours without using a-gps. You will notice then what about all ppl are talking of.
.
Even a new N95 (or immediately after a FW upgrade), which has never had a GPS Lock before, should get a lock in a maximum of 30 minutes (without network and without A-GPS).
One of the issues that makes an 'unassisted' lock more difficult and therefore take longer is when you are in a fast moving car. Try launching the GPS app 2 or 3 minutes before you set off, and you should get a lock even in very overcast weather and when there are tall buildings or trees around.
A-GPS and Network all speed up the GPS lock process, but cost the user money each time a GPS app is launched. That's why I don't bother using those functions.
as a test, i am turning off A-GPS and see how it performs today. i'll report back later. i have unlimited data, but i just wanna see the difference.
dez_borders wrote:Even a new N95 (or immediately after a FW upgrade), which has never had a GPS Lock before, should get a lock in a maximum of 30 minutes (without network and without A-GPS). One of the issues that makes an 'unassisted' lock more difficult and therefore take longer is when you are in a fast moving car. Try launching the GPS app 2 or 3 minutes before you set off, and you should get a lock even in very overcast weather and when there are tall buildings or trees around.
A-GPS and Network all speed up the GPS lock process, but cost the user money each time a GPS app is launched. That's why I don't bother using those functions.
Huh, i disagree.
GPS is just a electromagnetic receiver with digital signal filtering, nothing more. Moving (in car - assumed as constant, one-direction move) is NOT (in my opionion) weakening the signal so i disagree.
If you will move with direction changing, i agree. But if you will turning around indefinitely it will have the same effect as your "driving". Just try to stand still or drive still and you will get the signal as fast as usual. Check it.
And about those 30 minutes (i assume you meant seconds not minutes) - maybe you have better quality model or better visibility in country or better weather most of the times or something (cant guess), but i think an average in Poland in big city while standing still is one minute at least. Sometimes its faster, but sometimes i have to change directions to catch exact sats until at least three of them are at max level in sat status - when it occurs, in few seconds there is a fix too.
Garmin also shows some sat map which should theoretically show where and how high are those sats, but i dont know its true or not - my theory of catching fix is true for garmin too and watching if that map is good or not is always funny (and Im never sure of is it or not ;P ).
K.
It *does* take longer to get a fix while driving. This is not because it weakens signal, but because it makes it more difficult to locate your position.
I have expirenced this many times, with many different programs.
And it was 30 minutes, dez meant a first time lock which can take a very long time, due to it not knowing which part of the world your on.
bartmanekul wrote:It *does* take longer to get a fix while driving. This is not because it weakens signal, but because it makes it more difficult to locate your position. I have expirenced this many times, with many different programs.
And it was 30 minutes, dez meant a first time lock which can take a very long time, due to it not knowing which part of the world your on.
Hmm, ok, I believe, but it seems that you have to drive very fast comparing to me if so, coz i never had such a problem... By the way, if you think its a changing position problem, i assume that if u had a faster CPU it would not matter, right?
K.
I dont drive very fast at all, not possible where I live.
Many people wont see a difference, or possibly think the time is different due to other circumstances. Weather, buildings nearby, and also many forget that it locks much much quicker if you turn it on in the same place you turned it off.
Often, you wont notice it taking longer. Certainly with AGPS, this often reduces the time to unnoticable.
However when I didnt have a data plan, I turned off AGPS and it was very noticable for some programs (not all) to take longer to get a fix while driving.
Im pretty sure its nothing to do with CPU.
bartmanekul wrote:I dont drive very fast at all, not possible where I live.
So maybe you should, here its normal and i have fixes without problem 😉
bartmanekul wrote:Many people wont see a difference, or possibly think the time is different due to other circumstances. Weather, buildings nearby, and also many forget that it locks much much quicker if you turn it on in the same place you turned it off.
I know it, im even telling garmin my approx position sometimes to get a quicker fix, but im saying not about this case. Its the case of not using GPS for very long time, switching it on at completely different position of where it was last on, and without any network usage (my Garmin never uses it).
bartmanekul wrote:Often, you wont notice it taking longer. Certainly with AGPS, this often reduces the time to unnoticable.However when I didnt have a data plan, I turned off AGPS and it was very noticable for some programs (not all) to take longer to get a fix while driving.
Im pretty sure its nothing to do with CPU.
As I said, no network, any, no gprs/umts/edge/3g nor cellular. I have too expensive dataplans here.
And if we talk about moving, so we talk about changing coordinates while processing them which could confuse slow CPU but having faster should cause no difference between moving and standing still coz getting a signal by electronics hardware is way faster from few satellites than calculating results by any GPS driver software i think.
Am I right? Someone creates drivers for such things here?
K.
Ahh but you havent tested all the programs I have. Your using Garmin, and possibly Maps which get fixes very fast.
Copilot, Navigon and some others are not so fast.
Maybe you should test a bit more? 😉
bartmanekul wrote:Ahh but you havent tested all the programs I have. Your using Garmin, and possibly Maps which get fixes very fast.Copilot, Navigon and some others are not so fast.
Maybe you should test a bit more? 😉
I have no access to "a bit more" 😊
K.
krzych wrote:GPS is just a electromagnetic receiver with digital signal filtering, nothing more. Moving (in car - assumed as constant, one-direction move) is NOT (in my opionion) weakening the signal so i disagree.
Being in a car will though.
Unless you're planning on holding the phone out the window. 😊
Wombler
Wombler wrote:Being in a car will though.Unless you're planning on holding the phone out the window. 😊
Wombler
Erm, uhh... what? :O 😃
Mine works cool in a car 😊
krzych wrote:Erm, uhh... what? :O 😃Mine works cool in a car 😊
Mine works fine in the car too.
You'd said that the signal isn't weakened in a car but that's impossible as the metal body of the car has to screen at least some of the signal out and potentially makes it more prone to cutting out.
Hence the holding it out the window joke. 😊
Wombler
Its a well established fact that -
Car metal body CAN affect the signal coming to the phone/gps reciever - hence why gps is always stuct next to front of window.
moving while reciving gps signal actually helps obtian more accurate gps possitioning. (and thats a fact also)
i simply hold handset in hand, frontside down next to side window to get a lock, then leave on phone cradle to use, and works fine.
(well except since i upgraded firmware and now it runs sluggish and slightly lagging :0(
Wombler wrote:Being in a car will though.
Unless you're planning on holding the phone out the window. 😊
Wombler
That's only true if your windscreen is treated in some way (tinted, contains heating element etc). Otherwise a windscreen will make no detectable difference to the signal quality.
Wombler wrote:Mine works fine in the car too.You'd said that the signal isn't weakened in a car but that's impossible as the metal body of the car has to screen at least some of the signal out and potentially makes it more prone to cutting out.
Hence the holding it out the window joke. 😊
Wombler
Yeah, right, but we've been talkin bout movement ;-P 😊
dez_borders wrote:That's only true if your windscreen is treated in some way (tinted, contains heating element etc). Otherwise a windscreen will make no detectable difference to the signal quality.
Disagree. Try to catch a difference with signal strength (best to do it with garmin - shows this more precise) in the middle of a car and at the front window. I bet you will notice a difference (and my roof/windscreen or anyhow you call it in english has no electric/electromagnetic/thermal/any circuits in it - nor even antenna).
[QUOTE=krzych;380011]Disagree. Try to catch a difference with signal strength QUOTE]
OK let me change my statement slightly...
a car winscreen will make such a small difference to the signal streng it's negligible and will not affect GPS performance.
dez_borders wrote:[QUOTE=krzych;380011]Disagree. Try to catch a difference with signal strength QUOTE]OK let me change my statement slightly...
a car winscreen will make such a small difference to the signal streng it's negligible and will not affect GPS performance.
LOL, lets not argue, its not so important 😊
K.