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stone315

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 17, 2008
149
0
I hadn't used the GPS location feature on my iPhone until the other day, but when I did, it said I was standing in the middle of a highway about 5 miles away from my house, where I actually was. It does this each time I try to use the GPS. Any suggestions on why this is happening and how to fix it?
 
I think this is due to either weak gps antenna or bad software/mapping. Occasionally when i am on the highway, the blue dot will veer off the highway and into a building half a mile off the road. I am not sure if this is because the maps are drawn/rendered badly, or if the antennae is just innacurate in some spots. Whatever the reason, you are not alone.

I would turn GPS on and locate yourself, then take a drive down the street and see if it adjusts properly.

I was in houston a few days back and i left a restaurant and tried to locate myself and it placed me halfway across town, but after driving for about half a mile, it relocated to my correct position. I think it is just spots here in there that it doesn't like, but it does require some testing.
 
Ok, thanks. I'll try driving around tomorrow and post how it turns out.
 
Is the GPS actually getting a positive lock or is it just using the cell information? When you hit the locate me button it will usually initially place you roughly in the right place using your cell location (indicated by a big blue circle outline with crosshairs, which often "throbs" and may shrink in size as it improves its cell information) and it will then pinpoint you with a GPS lock once it has one (indicated by a blue pin marker). Sometimes the GPS lock wavers a bit and you will get a shaded blue circle around the GPS pin marker which indicates it is only accurate to somewhere within that circle. Once it has a single blue pin though it should be pretty accurate - if it isn't then that could indicate a problem (it certainly shouldn't be miles out - it should be accurate to within a few yards).
 
I've never had a blue pin, just the crosshairs. I'm assuming that means I'm not getting a GPS lock at all. Does anyone know if that could be caused by a defect in the phone? I doubt that, but my dad has a Garmin that works fine in our area, so I don't think it has anything to do with the actual GPS signals.
 
Ok, well, I'm assuming it must just have been some weird glitch, because I just drove around for a little bit and it was working fine. Lagged by a second or two, but that's to be expected. Thanks for the advice!
 
Ok, well, I'm assuming it must just have been some weird glitch, because I just drove around for a little bit and it was working fine. Lagged by a second or two, but that's to be expected. Thanks for the advice!

That's good to hear. Does it now work when you use it like you were before or does it still place you a few miles away? The second or two lag seems about normal. I will cross under a bridge and the pin will not cross for about a second or two after I have.
 
I had it happening to me like that the other night

Said I was 2 miles east of where I was at and when I refreshed it later it said 3 miles east. :eek:
 
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