Why Is The GPS So Slow

[tenlientl]

I owned a N95-1, sold it for an N95-3 coz Fido doesn't work with the -1.

Now my concern is the GPS. Why is it so slow? I've had 4 bars with 10+ yet it still won't find my correct position. I purchased the Nokia's Maps, which I regret coz it seem to suck... I'm glad I didn't buy the Vocie Navigation. Is it the N95-3 or is it the GPS software of Nokia that sucks?

[yade]

Firstly is Assisted GPS on?
With Assisted GPS lock time will be no more than 1 minute, without it well it could be anyones guess.
Lock time with A-GPS for me is sub 10s most of the time and if I am travelling maybe 70MPH in a car it will be no more than 30s.
Just a personal opinion but Nokia Maps(smart2go) is a little cumbersome when in action.
I like Navicore most which supports the internal GPS but Route66 is pretty good too.

Hope this helps

Mike

[tenlientl]

I thought A-GPS cost money.

[dchky]

A-GPS will only cost you whatever the phone company charges for a few kilobytes of data each time you use it.

I don't personally find the N95 any slower than a whole bunch of hand held GPS's from Magellen or Garmin. The reason it is slow is because it wants to get the ephemeris information just about every single time the phone is restarted, or the GPS hasn't been used for more than a few hours - ok minutes :-) This stuff comes in at a pretty low data rate so it takes a while to gather. Can take even longer in places with poor reception.

[L11]

My old n95 took ages (2 minutes) to find a signal, even with a-gps.. I didn't care because I never used it anyway.. I sent it for repair on a completely unrelated fault and when it came back i tested the GPS.. Now it takes a maximum of 10 seconds to lock onto a satellite.. So it could've been that my other one was jus faulty

[bartmanekul]

There seems to be such variations with GPS on N95's I wonder if the antenna is loose or some such.

[yade]

I think that the GPS performance would be pretty consistant across devices, it is more down to how they are used.

A-GPS, people moan about it costing in data but it is literally 1-2k

If you put 5 N95's down next to eachother with A-GPS enabled, sliders open and away from any obstruction I would imagine that the performance would be pretty much the same!!

Talking of GPS, will the receiver be in the same place on the N82, i.e. bottom of the phone.

[dez_borders]

Originally Posted by tenlientl

I owned a N95-1, sold it for an N95-3 coz Fido doesn't work with the -1.

Now my concern is the GPS. Why is it so slow? I've had 4 bars with 10+ yet it still won't find my correct position. I purchased the Nokia's Maps, which I regret coz it seem to suck... I'm glad I didn't buy the Vocie Navigation. Is it the N95-3 or is it the GPS software of Nokia that sucks?

If your N95 is new, or has recently had the firmware flashed, then the very first GPS lock can take 20 - 30 minutes. After that, it's usually 30 seconds to 2 minutes.

Load a GPS enabled app, then extend the keyboard and put the N95 somewhere with a clear view of the sky, and don't move it for 30 minutes.

[Peter321]

Make sure that A-GPS is enabled, AND that you have set an access point to use as well as the correct server address for the A-GPS data.

A friend of mine who owns a 6110 complained about slow GPS fix, and I checked his settings.

Everything was enabled, but the server address was some long weird URL.

We changed it to: supl.nokia.com

Now he gets a fix in 5-10 seconds !!! (just like me on my N95-1).

The data usage is about 6KB each time, which is nothing unless your dataplan has a minimum charge for each time you use it.

[andykn]

Originally Posted by tenlientl

I purchased the Nokia's Maps, which I regret coz it seem to suck... I'm glad I didn't buy the Vocie Navigation. Is it the N95-3 or is it the GPS software of Nokia that sucks?

How did you buy Nokai Maps and not Voice navigation? Maps is free, the only thign you pay for is the Voice Navigation.

Like other have said, your first lock will take a while. I think it's important to leave the phone in a stable position, not in your hand.

[cmlewan]

Originally Posted by yade

I think that the GPS performance would be pretty consistant across devices, it is more down to how they are used.

This is my impression too after having reading about the issue quite a lot since I got the N95 in April.

[iball]

I have no problems with my N95 and Garmin Mobile XT. It locks on anywhere in about a minute.

[nudda]

i find that it really depends on how far you are from last usage, where you have placed your gps (in covered or uncovered location).

[RogerPodacter]

i just did a cold boot of the gps, inside my room in a house, and it took about 10 seconds with a-gps on. its saying found 7 satellites right now and i'm about 5 feet from a window. i read many complaints about gps lock time on the n95 but honestly i think they are bad units, or mine is better somehow? cause its always a 10 second flat lock, literally.

[rottie]

Originally Posted by RogerPodacter

i just did a cold boot of the gps, inside my room in a house, and it took about 10 seconds with a-gps on. its saying found 7 satellites right now and i'm about 5 feet from a window. i read many complaints about gps lock time on the n95 but honestly i think they are bad units, or mine is better somehow? cause its always a 10 second flat lock, literally.

Same here...