Huge flaw in all newish Windows Phones - GPS

[tangledW]

I think you missed the IMO

Nah, I'm on my 4th one. It's a piece of crap.

 

[wgrs]

No problems with 730 and 640. I was driving thousands of km with Here Drive.

The 640 is particularly good. The 730 sometimes needs 30-60 seconds for a reliable GPS lock.

 

[pankaj981]

Nah, I'm on my 4th one. It's a piece of crap.

In that case it's unfortunate because my 830 (RM-985) does not have any problems.

 

[anon(9707071)]

ok people i have HUGE issues on my L640 XL !!! after one week of tests i can CONFIRM that GPS offline, only works when i AM close to HOME!!!!! WTF ??? yes first time i tested it was there...but 3km away and nothing GPS is dead !!!
harware apps did say by default gps is cellular (of couse all cellular is OFF and my sim is 2G only) and the fix is to activate airplane mode redo the test and it says source location satellite....

why does GPS only work when home? i did everything: soft reset, hard reset, uninstall etc...nothing seems to FIX this!! any ideas would be appreciated !!!

does that mean that hardware wise my gps is ok ? i would prefer that the issue is software....

the problem like someone told me is that Microsoft enables GPS by cellular by default!!! whyyyyy ?!!!! crappppppp

 

[offroadjunkie]

I'm new here and all but don't you want your GPS turned on to use navigation even with offline maps? Why wouldn't you want it using the satellite?

 

[anon(9707071)]

@offroadjunkie...i don't get you statement...as i never intended: to say i don't wanna get satellite ! i just wanna get gps to work!!! and for now it is impossible, unless i am in my neighborhood !!!...when i go a little far....3km, gps dies ! after months of reading forums...i really don't know if the issue is:
- the DENIM update
- GPS chip hardware manufacturing issue
- a bug that MS can't solve...
- a providor problem/LUMIA incompatibility
- a GSM / country problem with windows phone

just keep praying/emailing Microsoft until they fix GPS on ALL lumia models !!! this is simply unacceptable !

 

[rhapdog]

@offroadjunkie...i don't get you statement...as i never intended: to say i don't wanna get satellite ! i just wanna get gps to work!!! and for now it is impossible, unless i am in my neighborhood !!!...when i go a little far....3km, gps dies ! after months of reading forums...i really don't know if the issue is:
- the DENIM update
- GPS chip hardware manufacturing issue
- a bug that MS can't solve...
- a providor problem/LUMIA incompatibility
- a GSM / country problem with windows phone

just keep praying/emailing Microsoft until they fix GPS on ALL lumia models !!! this is simply unacceptable !

GPS receivers work with specific sets of GPS Satellites only. Certain GPS receivers will only work in certain parts of the world because of this. To assist me in troubleshooting your situation, please provide me with the country in which you reside. I don't want your address, just the country.

 

[offroadjunkie]

I guess I read it wrong last night. To me it read as though you didn't want to connect to the satellite. My bad.

 

[anon(9707071)]

thanks for the assistance..i reside in ALGERIA - north africa.
please note that i have had 3-4 android phones and ALL of them WORK flawlessly with GPS here. But this is the first microsoft.
however i tested my cousin's L1520 from NOKIA and GPS works ALL the time !

i read someone confirm that the GPS transmitter in L520/1520 is the SAME as L535 and L640....can you confirm. if yes why on earth do the 2014/2015 LUMIA range not work with GPS ?!!! also some people had this issue with HTC's on WP 8.1 too....

i did try changing country/language/hours etc...nothing ! gps via wifi works of course...no problem. but offline gps online works (and fast!) if i am close to home...i went to the barber and all was ok, i went to a nearby bank ok...even indoors at those places it works...

so is it hardware or software...? i wanna know at least that

 

[rhapdog]

If a Lumia 1520 works in your area flawless, then your Lumia 640XL should work also. It's the same GPS hardware, and they use the same software. In that regard, they are identical.

I have the Lumia 640, which also has the same GPS hardware and same software. I have never had any issues as you describe either.

What this sounds like is a hardware defect. During the manufacturing, flaws are introduced at a higher rate than we like to admit. This goes for ALL electronics, not just Lumias. Faulty chips, such as the GPS navigation hardware, are supposed to be tested. However, it does happen that one gets through once in a while, and wreaks havoc for some poor customer. Whether it be the GPS hardware, a bad display, bad CPU, bad RAM, or whatever, it all happens and it happens to all manufactures, including LG, Samsung, Apple, Intel, AMD, SanDisk, everyone.

If the phone is still under warranty, I would advise getting a warranty replacement. It's the only solution I can offer you at this point, as you should not be having the problems. When you narrow it down that you are using the same hardware and software as someone else, then you've got it down to 2 possible issues. Either the hardware is faulty, or the user isn't doing something right. However, launching a Maps app and finding location on a GPS is near impossible to do wrong, as the software does it for you. That means it's the hardware in my book.

 

[r2SN]

Experiencing a major issue - that I believe is connected with WP 8.1 and Denim. Simply stated - GPS doesn't work with any third-party applications.

Initially saw this with a Lumia 830. Here Drive, Copilot and other GPS apps keep dropping GPS during driving. I made sure all updates applied. Tried hard and soft resets. Made sure location services turned off - but still - the 830 would initially get a location - but it will freeze after a short time. The default Microsoft-made Maps app works - but that doesn't provide real-time turn-by-turn voice navigation.

I figured it was just a conflict with AirWatch or other software my company required.

But then - my wife just got a Lumia 640 (Cricket) and is having the exact same issue. Here, Copilot and other third party apps cannot find and reliably hold a GPS signal good enough for driving directions.

Intrigued, I downloaded the highly recommended (on this forum) "Hardware Tests" app - to test the GPS. On both the 830 and the 640 the GPS test says "Position source: WiFi" - accuracy 115m - NOT satellite.

Ironically - our daughter's Lumia 520 works great for driving navigation an in hardware tests shows satellite.

Thinking this affects newer handsets on "denim." Could someone else test their 640 or 830s or recent Verizon 7 series to see if this issue is widespread. I think it is.

Thanks!

Man I don't have this issue on my 730, but surely it takes long to get correct position via satellite. Yep the gps in 520 is seriously spot on and fast. And about your "positioning source is wifi " is that it will show your location using wifi when "you are connected to wifi".
But if you turn mobile data on, it will change source to cellular (nearest mobile tower hence the name A-GPS) then you will have satellite as your positioning source.

 

[r2SN]

When using maps in bad cell coverage areas, it does not get my location, or is very slow. This is even before the 8.1 update. If I get around to it i'll test it.

Bad cell coverage area is the reason for slow gps,not the phone. The gps in mobile phones is A-GPS which utilises the initial location info from nearest cell towers. Weaker cell coverage weaker/slower gps

 

[r2SN]

The gps lock time on 730 is very slow compared to 520

 

[SteveNoza]

I installed Maaloo Outdoor 8 GPS mapping app that uses the GPS satellites only, and the Icon works great! I'm convinced now that when using HERE maps in poor reception areas, it tries too hard to rely on cell tower info.

 

[VacBrew]

I believe that some of the issues regarding how aGPS works, and how it is implemented might help to explain the various user experiences being reported in this thread. If you search WindowsCentral for "GPS vs. aGPS: A Quick Tutorial" and give this article a good read, perhaps some of the variables will make more sense.

 

[anon(9707071)]

If a Lumia 1520 works in your area flawless, then your Lumia 640XL should work also. It's the same GPS hardware, and they use the same software. In that regard, they are identical.

I have the Lumia 640, which also has the same GPS hardware and same software. I have never had any issues as you describe either.

What this sounds like is a hardware defect. During the manufacturing, flaws are introduced at a higher rate than we like to admit. This goes for ALL electronics, not just Lumias. Faulty chips, such as the GPS navigation hardware, are supposed to be tested. However, it does happen that one gets through once in a while, and wreaks havoc for some poor customer. Whether it be the GPS hardware, a bad display, bad CPU, bad RAM, or whatever, it all happens and it happens to all manufactures, including LG, Samsung, Apple, Intel, AMD, SanDisk, everyone.

If the phone is still under warranty, I would advise getting a warranty replacement. It's the only solution I can offer you at this point, as you should not be having the problems. When you narrow it down that you are using the same hardware and software as someone else, then you've got it down to 2 possible issues. Either the hardware is faulty, or the user isn't doing something right. However, launching a Maps app and finding location on a GPS is near impossible to do wrong, as the software does it for you. That means it's the hardware in my book.

thanx for your time man...

however there is one tiny difference between the L1520 and 640 i tested. the 1520 was on not the exact same software as 640.
640 was 8.10.15xxxx and the 1520 was 8.10.14xxxxx
many people sent their 535,630,830 and 640xl under warranty to local MS....however from what i read 90% of those returned with either new FW update that did nothing...or "gps works status"...
don't wanna bother....for now, will wait for Wp 10 final version and see if that changes anything

 

[anon(9707071)]

I installed Maaloo Outdoor 8 GPS mapping app that uses the GPS satellites only, and the Icon works great! I'm convinced now that when using HERE maps in poor reception areas, it tries too hard to rely on cell tower info.

humm will try, bust dud it is not just HERE that does not work, its bing maps, synagic, hardware tests and gpsinfo....they all indicate weak gps or no gps at all stating "initializing forever"....

 

[anon(9707071)]

I believe that some of the issues regarding how aGPS works, and how it is implemented might help to explain the various user experiences being reported in this thread. If you search WindowsCentral for "GPS vs. aGPS: A Quick Tutorial" and give this article a good read, perhaps some of the variables will make more sense.

not really convinced....ALL phones use A-gps....but only LUMIA have serious issues. never have i read that androids have those issues. I, myself have had...4 devices they all WORK 100% 24/7 !

 

[SteveNoza]

humm will try, bust dud it is not just HERE that does not work, its bing maps, synagic, hardware tests and gpsinfo....they all indicate weak gps or no gps at all stating "initializing forever"....

Could it be OS that determines what location info is used, and Maaloo just pulls info from the GPS satellite system?

 

[anon(9707071)]

i just installed maaloo..trial version. but i could not daownload map from OSM...it recognized...that my country was already installed on "HERE", anyway i did not move away from home today so could not test. will report in 24h when i visit my mom...
for now maaloo did work and fixed quickly....but like i said all software i tried WORKS when i am home...or near my home....
also i did not see anything indicating maaloo using satellite gps instead of a-gps...where did you see that?