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GPS does not work well at all on 3.0 - iPhone 3G

A

acribb

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 30, 2007
148
3
I have the original 3G, and it seems that the GPS is not working very well AT ALL with the 3.0 software.

The best accuracy I can get is anywhere from 500 feet to 2 miles away! The blue dot always has some size of halo around it, indicating it is not locked in, and when driving, with the phone in perfect site of a cloudless sky, the blue dot lags behind where you actually are by a 1/4 mile or so. So when driving, you'll pass a stop sign, and then 15 seconds later, the blue dot (with a halo around it), will catch up to the stop sign.

It's been a while since i've used GPS, but I don't think it was like this on the previous software versions - from what I can recall, the blue dot would actually follow along with you on the highway fairly smoothly while driving. And the halo around the blue dot, indicating it is not locked, would not always be there like it is now.

Figured i'd ask around before getting a replacement from the tools at the Apple store.
 
acribb said:
I have the original 3G, and it seems that the GPS is not working very well AT ALL with the 3.0 software.

The best accuracy I can get is anywhere from 500 feet to 2 miles away! The blue dot always has some size of halo around it, indicating it is not locked in, and when driving, with the phone in perfect site of a cloudless sky, the blue dot lags behind where you actually are by a 1/4 mile or so. So when driving, you'll pass a stop sign, and then 15 seconds later, the blue dot (with a halo around it), will catch up to the stop sign.

It's been a while since i've used GPS, but I don't think it was like this on the previous software versions - from what I can recall, the blue dot would actually follow along with you on the highway fairly smoothly while driving. And their would not always be the halo around the blue dot, indicating it is not locked.

Figured i'd ask around before getting a replacement from the tools at the Apple store.
Click to expand...

+1111111111 its even worse on my 3Gs :mad:
 
Just saw this said 3.0 software on 3G. I have only tried it once on a friend's phone and it didn't work well. 3.0 on 3GS works fine however.
 
Interesting on my 3g iphone 3.0 software, it's working great, actually better than it was before. It put s adot almost immediately and it's almost completely accurate. within say 100 feet or so. within the block.

I just tried again, and i'm in an office with a lot of electrical interference .. and even then, though it initially was wrong, it corrected itself 20 seconds later...
 
The GPS worked fine on all the 2.x versions.
Since I've upgraded to 3.0 it isn't accurate anymore, and some applications even can't seem to be able to get a position via GPS.
This sucks.:mad:
 
I downloaded MotionXGPS Lite as a test. It shows a little more information about what is actually going on under the hood. What is going on is that the satellites aren't really working, it's the triangulation that's working. The status goes from 'NO GPS SIGNAL' (triangulation only) to 'WEAK GPS SIGNAL' at best. This is when standing outside under a clear blue sky. What a POS!!

I think I may put 2.2.1 back on just for kicks to see if it is any different.
 

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acribb said:
I downloaded MotionXGPS Lite as a test. It shows a little more information about what is actually going on under the hood. What is going on is that the satellites aren't really working, it's the triangulation that's working. The status goes from 'NO GPS SIGNAL' (triangulation only) to 'WEAK GPS SIGNAL' at best. This is when standing outside under a clear blue sky. What a POS!!

I think I may put 2.2.1 back on just for kicks to see if it is any different.
Click to expand...

Works just fine for me on my 3G running 3.0. I have a great signal in my house and near a south window.
 
I think mine locks-in a little quicker than it did with 3.0.

The only thing is that when it's in the process of being locked in (when it has the larger radius) it isn't as accurate as it was before. Before, my location would be inside the radius, but now It tells me I'm somewhere else, and then once it gets locked in, the blue dot jumps to my location correctly.

And I don't think it has anything to do with the towers, because I've done this numerous times in the same location (my bedroom) before and after 3.0.
 
I used my GPS last night for the first time since i got 3.0 and it works great. Better then ever. Maps load much quicker for me. I have a 3G iPhone.
 
it use to be within a metre or 2 with the 2.0 software now it's off by a few kilometres! so annoying and it makes the gps useless :(
:mad:
 
applecheese said:
it use to be within a metre or 2 with the 2.0 software now it's off by a few kilometres! so annoying and it makes the gps useless :(
:mad:
Click to expand...

my new iphone 3gs is doing the same exact thing. Google maps is showing my current location as being a 1/4 mile away from my actual location.

Do you think this is a software bug or a defect with the gps radio on these units?
 
I just started a new thread with the same thing not realizing that this was here. I am having the same problem since upgrading to 3.0. It stinks now that the cool GPS apps are finally out. I was using AT&T's earlier today and it totally lost its GPS signal and took a while to regain it.
 
It seems a ton of others on other forums are having the exact same problems so it's most definitely software related.

heres a post from the apple forums

""was actually at the genius bar last night due to problems related to 3.0 and brought this up. The guy working there had the same problem. he said Apple is aware and it will be fixed. ""
 
Mine works great on 3.0. I'm inside my house and it locks on quickly and very accurately. I downloaded MotionX GPS and it says that the GPS has 7 out of 8 bars for the GPS signal while inside my house. It's quite odd that you're having issues, do other GPS devices perform similarly or is it just an issue with the iPhone?
 
Works well on my 3.0 too but I don't recall it ever being an issue. Of course, I am in a densely populated area (SF Bay Area) but it's got it down to a T.
 
Interesting. I had 3.0 on my 3G for almost a week before I got the 3G S. On my 3G, the GPS was perfect, as always, before and after 3.0. On the 3G S, it takes about twice as long to lock into my location.

Both, however, were ultimately accurate within about 6-10 feet and could follow me around inside my apartment.
 
Apple swapped out my old phone. I explained that the GPS wasn't working as smoothly as it used to while driving. tested the new unit today still a bit buggy, but a whole lot better then my past iphone.
 
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