Is anyone else having GPS problems?

[Basiluzzo]

I bought my L830 on Nov. 7, the day they were released in the US on AT&T. I've had a few minor problems/bugs with it but overall I love the phone and don't miss my iPhone 5 one little bit. But one consistent problem I have had since the first day is that the GPS is inconsistent. Sometimes it works great, other times it does not work AT ALL. I have patiently pointed the phone at the sky, done the figure 8's, closed all apps and restarted, nothing works. This was the case yesterday - and today it's working fine. Now yesterday I was out in the country and today I'm in the city, but sometimes the GPS doesn't work in the city, so I don't think that's the issue.

Does anyone else have this problem? I will consider returning the phone if it's not a problem for other people, but won't bother if it's an issue for others - so please let me know! Thanks!

 

[stocktiki]

Same issue here. Sometimes GPS drops and cannot get a fix. Seems to be related with the Wifi/Bluetooth connection issue...

 

[mddeckie]

IV found on my 830 that I have to have phone out and not obstructed by anything for the gps to work accurately. If I have my phone on mg lap in the truck it loses its position while I'm using here drive, but as soon as I move it to the center console its all good again. Im not sure if the 830 has a separate gps antennae or if it works off cell service.

 

[Basiluzzo]

Well here's an interesting development - I think I have determined that I only have problem when the phone is not plugged in. The GPS works GREAT when the phone is plugged in, but not when it's running off battery. This is no big deal in the car, but last month I visited a friend in Mexico and was walking around with the phone and the GPS was misbehaving. I was thrilled that HERE Maps are downloadable, meaning I could use the GPS without needing access to wireless data outside the US. But it's all kind of pointless if the GPS doesn't work!

IV found on my 830 that I have to have phone out and not obstructed by anything for the gps to work accurately. If I have my phone on mg lap in the truck it loses its position while I'm using here drive, but as soon as I move it to the center console its all good again. Im not sure if the 830 has a separate gps antennae or if it works off cell service.

I do have this problem, too - my husband's iPhone 6 seems to have much better GPS - it doesn't matter where in the car he holds the phone, whereas I have to hold my phone near the window. I bought one of those cheap clips that holds the phone to an airvent so that seems to do the trick.

 

[Miguel Agrela]

Hi there! Same issue here and is the second lumia 830 that i have. Did you find any solution?

 

[Alexandre Mass]

Same here, i tried everything. Thinking if its better sell the phone.

 

[Gaming Life]

Same, my Lumia 720 has better Offline GPS support in detecting my location

 

[TexasLabRat]

If the issue is indeed linked to the bluetooth/wireless issue that seems to be present in "out of the box" 830's, a likely fix is to 1) wait for full Denim update to hit your phone either OTA or by manual flashing or 2) enroll your phone in Preview for Developers and update the OS to latest. I had the bluetooth/wireless issue (perhaps gps too though I didn't leave it in the broken state long enough to really test that part out) and it was solved completely by updating to PFD software.

 

[Miguel Agrela]

If the issue is indeed linked to the bluetooth/wireless issue that seems to be present in "out of the box" 830's, a likely fix is to 1) wait for full Denim update to hit your phone either OTA or by manual flashing or 2) enroll your phone in Preview for Developers and update the OS to latest. I had the bluetooth/wireless issue (perhaps gps too though I didn't leave it in the broken state long enough to really test that part out) and it was solved completely by updating to PFD software.

So you solved the problem with PFD update? I did the same and can't solve this GPS and position problem. My phone has 2 days and I'm just starting to regret the buy. What's your OS version and firmware?

 

[Miguel Agrela]

I Will try to hard reset and didn't backup this week, just in case that's something to do with this!

 

[Gaming Life]

I did the hard reset but same issue. I might take this phone for warranty repair.

 

[TexasLabRat]

So you solved the problem with PFD update? I did the same and can't solve this GPS and position problem. My phone has 2 days and I'm just starting to regret the buy. What's your OS version and firmware?

Yep PFD solved all the issues I had on the phone besides the ones that clearly needed full Denim (working Lumia Camera 5, Netflix). Not sure what the versions were then as now I have full Denim.

If you've got PFD on there and still have gps issue, I think you have to start thinking possible hardware issue IMHO. You could also try waiting for full Denim to roll out..it shouldn't be long before all the 830's have it.

 

[poit57]

This is disheartening. My Lumia 830 I ordered from Microsoft will be delivered tomorrow. I've had 4 different 920's over the last two years and I've had GPS issues with all of them, most noticeable when I'm tracking my runs and my app keeps telling me to speed up or slow down when I'm running at a constant pace.

I was hoping a new phone would resolve this annoying issue. I used my brother's old Lumia 820 with a broken SIM reader to track my run last Saturday, and its GPS didn't lose my location or pace one time.

 

[Basiluzzo]

This is disheartening. My Lumia 830 I ordered from Microsoft will be delivered tomorrow. I've had 4 different 920's over the last two years and I've had GPS issues with all of them, most noticeable when I'm tracking my runs and my app keeps telling me to speed up or slow down when I'm running at a constant pace.

I was hoping a new phone would resolve this annoying issue. I used my brother's old Lumia 820 with a broken SIM reader to track my run last Saturday, and its GPS didn't lose my location or pace one time.

I use my old iPhone 5 for that! It doesn't have phone service but the GPS still works great ... !

 

[Basiluzzo]

If the issue is indeed linked to the bluetooth/wireless issue that seems to be present in "out of the box" 830's, a likely fix is to 1) wait for full Denim update to hit your phone either OTA or by manual flashing or 2) enroll your phone in Preview for Developers and update the OS to latest. I had the bluetooth/wireless issue (perhaps gps too though I didn't leave it in the broken state long enough to really test that part out) and it was solved completely by updating to PFD software.

I'm not enough of a techie to want to go the PFD route, if it creates new frustrations I won't know how to address them. I'm beginning to think AT&T plans to just skip Denim and will go straight to Win10. But my cynical side thinks that AT&T will just skip updates all together. Their installed base of Windows users isn't big enough for them to make it a priority or risk much by pissing us off - there isn't a better provider in the US for Windows, unfortunately.

 

[Miguel Agrela]

Yep PFD solved all the issues I had on the phone besides the ones that clearly needed full Denim (working Lumia Camera 5, Netflix). Not sure what the versions were then as now I have full Denim.

If you've got PFD on there and still have gps issue, I think you have to start thinking possible hardware issue IMHO. You could also try waiting for full Denim to roll out..it shouldn't be long before all the 830's have it.

Is your phone lumia 830? Can you tell me The OS version you have!

 

[TexasLabRat]

Is your phone lumia 830? Can you tell me The OS version you have!

--Per Lumia Software Recovery Tool --

Name: Lumia 830
Type: RM-985
IMEI: <redacted>
Product Code: 059W5M3
Software Version: 02040.00021.15063.02002
OS: 9651.14234

 

[touchpad4760]

My wife and I both have ATT 830s bought and activated at the same time (last Nov). Lately I've been having GPS problems, and she hasn't. Perfect side-by-side testing on our drive from SoCal -> NorCal yesterday. Using HERE+ Drive, my phone will NOT show instantaneous speed, nor ETA when I enter a destination. Hers will. However, without a destination set, mine does show the map scrolling by, and instantaneous speed.

Basically, using Maps or HERE+ Drive and a destination, my phone won't give me ETA and "live" information. Even just using the Maps app, and having it find my current location, it always shows a pulsing location that is "close" but not exact - not like my wife's phone.

Awhile back I got the Runtastic PRO free upgrade - had been using regular Runtastic for a long time. The PRO is REALLY flakey on the GPS, much squigglier route tracing, and often losing GPS signal. NO such problems w/ the non-PRO app. Couldn't figure out why.

Is there a good empirical way to test my phone's GPS (vs. the side-by-side relative compare w/ my wife's?)

-C

 

[Miguel Agrela]

I though this gps problem was for all L830. This is my second Lumia 830!! I'm becoming a little sad with Microsoft, my old l620 has 0 problem.

 

[poit57]

I've had my Lumia 830 less than a week, but I'm already having a much better experience with the GPS than my Lumia 920. I don't use it much for driving, but I use it to track my running. With my 920, the run training app that I was using would often show me zig-zagging, or it would have trouble telling what pace I was running at and tell me to speed up or slow down when I was going a constant pace.

With the 830, I went on a 3 mile run Saturday, and a 9 mile run Sunday, but it followed my pacing just fine. The only times it told me to speed up were when I actually slowed down to catch my breath.