Problems obtaining your initial GPS lock? Read here!

[johnny]

Originally Posted by N95user

Well, if you turn GPS off and move a good few miles away it takes a little longer to get another fix from cold, longest mine has ever taken was around 3 min (first use), if it's in the same place it locks very quickly.
Mine locks on to a signal even when I'm in my lounge with the blinds closed! Keypad should be open to get quickest fix but not essential.

The N95 uses a technology known as Assisted GPS. The reason a fix is performed quickly is directly related to the phone being registered on the network. The network (or carrier for our US friends) cell has been registered with the GPS data to the location where the N95 was last on. In the case above, turning the phone on in a new location to where it was last registered provides a miss-match to the received GPS signal and where the network believes you to be. It therefore takes a short while to re-synch.
The good news for A-GPS is that if you leave your phone on all the time, the time taken for a GPS fix is very quick.
Cheers!

[bagamyan]

Hello guys,

( Sorry for my English first ) Its annoying but works for me :) If you put your phone, just in your eyes direction with 45 degree it take so quick connections, today I try this a lot and I get my connections fast, I guess the idea is how tall you hold your phone It gets better connections.

Regards and hope you will have same experiance. ( People aroud you can smile but just for connections. :) )

good days,

[piloteer]

Hi all. My first post! Yay!

I had problems like most of us with the initial GPS lock although the instructions didn't help either. What I would add is that you MUST be outside for this GPS Data>Position>satellite info "trick" to work reliably. The receiver is clearly either underpowered/poorly located or buggy and must have a decent clear line of sight with plenty of visible sky, so outside but in between buildings is often not good enough for a quick lock. Saying this it did work from my windowsill at home and once connected seems fine for a sat nav assisted journey in the car. Also after a factory reset/changing lots of settings it's important to do the trick again.

I've used the sat nav successfully on a 100mile car journey and I'd give it a rating of 75-80%. Great for small roads but motorway driving can be frustrating as it's not quite quick/specific enough and you'll quite easily end up on the wrong road when navigating complicated junctions/exits especially in heavy traffic. It lost connection once but regained in a few seconds and the speed was spot on throughout the 70 minute journey.

Advice for using it in the car is to plan ahead - don't assume you'll get a position the instant you want to leave. Do the old "satellite status/info" trick 15 mins before you leave then start (or plan then start) your route. Otherwise you could be stuck waiting for it to get a lock again.

Reports that the GPS does not work at all are innaccurate. The latest revison of the phone (if there is one) can and does work, although it's not 100% hassle free.

[gadgetman]

Originally Posted by johnny

The N95 uses a technology known as Assisted GPS. The reason a fix is performed quickly is directly related to the phone being registered on the network. The network (or carrier for our US friends) cell has been registered with the GPS data to the location where the N95 was last on. In the case above, turning the phone on in a new location to where it was last registered provides a miss-match to the received GPS signal and where the network believes you to be. It therefore takes a short while to re-synch.
The good news for A-GPS is that if you leave your phone on all the time, the time taken for a GPS fix is very quick.
Cheers!

GPS is kinda my relm, so here goes.

The assisted bit simply downloads the known GPS data for your approx position the network sees you in, which is what happens when waiting for a lock. each sat is pumping out a signal of time date etc. Once you have enough for a lock, part of the signal actually tells you what sats to expect and where. Some GPS devices store this, hence the quick lock if you're in the same location as when last used. Many can deal with a certain distance, but then 'see' different sats than expected, so dump the data and have to get a cold update.

PocketGPSWorld (PGPSW) have loads of guides on this for anyone who's interested - plus IIRC a N95 v's GPS evaluation for TT6 (not sure what they'll test the N95 against)

[daddymac]

Hi all

I do this every time I wanna use gps find it helps loads I can even get a signal sat in my house with this detects even when I move from room to room (how cool)

best upgrade I every got

Hope y'all love yours to

PS: my house is quite small

[geoffbaker]

Originally Posted by pseudofinn

This is certainly good news. I was very concerned about this. A 10-20 second cold start is actually pretty decent. I had feared that we what was experienced before was the standard deal after a restart of the device. Feeling better about the internal GPS all the time.

Yes, it is odd, but the more I use the GPS, the better it behaves... when i started I had the same problems everyone else reports - 10 - 20 minute cold start...

Now, mostly, its up and running in 15-20 seconds and performs well.

But this morning, I used SportsTracker for the first time on my bike ride and it didn't track the first 5 miles at all... :(

I'll have to work on it..

[gavinguinness]

Out and about yesterday, I noticed that the GPS found a Sat really fast if I switched on the GPS in the same place I switched it off.

EG. I wanted to pop to a shop, but didn't know the way to the area it was in. Took about 5 mins to grab a signal (normal, I've observed). Then when I got to where I was going, I switched off GPS, did the shopping, then went back to the car. When I enabled GPS for the return journey, it locked immediately. When I went home from the office, I flicked GPS on again and it connected instantly...

This morning, I checked the signla when I got to work and it took 5 mins or so.

It seems to be faster if the last position is the current position...

[Odd]

There is a difference between showing your location and the connection to the satalietes. The GPS allways shows your latest possition if it is not connected.

I have been travelling a bit in Europe lately and my experience is that if you are within a few kilometers of your last possition the connection is quite fast (5-10 s), but if you go futher away it gets slower.

When arriving in a new country I have noticed that the GPS is as slow as my first cold start.

[pseudofinn]

Yes, when traveling far from your last known location, the GPS needs to download a bit of information and calculate the data to display your new location. That is why a cold start takes so long, and why that initial lock after unboxing is such a pain.

[eyobsonjoseph]

hai folks i am new in here tring to find a soultion to get ma GPS started in N95.