so far epic gps sucks.

[JirafaBo]

Originally Posted by sndtubes

What's wrong with the GPS? Lag? Not getting a fix? I played with the Epic the other day and I'm really anxious to get one. I have to wait till Friday. My upgrade date is Oct 1 but they will only push it ahead 2 weeks. They were being jerks about just a few extra days.....

HAHA Same for me! But they told me I had to wait til Saturday. Wonder what Best Buy can do, as I don't want to wait for my rebate.

[rdm]

Originally Posted by sndtubes

Is the GPS only AGPS or does it have it's own GPS SiRFIII chip?

SiRFIII is not the determining factor in whether GPS works without aGPS. Lots of phones without SiRF work fine for GPS without assistance.

The Epic has two locating systems. They are on the location menu. AGPS using satellites and data connection system started with the "GPS" switch; and a ", non-GPS cell site triangulation method started with the "use wireless networks" switch.

I suspect the Epic satellite system it is only aGPS. After failure to work in airplane mode, I had my son who does offshore fishing do some tests this weekend. Outside of CDMA range, he got no fix sitting there for hours; reset, wait a few hours, no fix. Battery removal, wait 10 minutes, restart, attempt to use GPS, wait hours, no fix. He could be wrong but it seems a good test.

The use wireless networks has no affect, interoperability, or help to the the aGPS function either. That substitutes full land based instead of aGPS. Using it doesn't speed up aGPS or stop the problem I have, which is aGPS working great much of the time, and then sometimes not working at all without a reset, a problem I see three or four times a week.

In my opinion the Epic has barely passable GPS and location systerms, especially given what is on the market.

Originally Posted by TheMostToys

Both.

Both regular GPS and aGPS? Your basis? Evidence? Did you test outside of the US?

Originally Posted by darren.wlsn1

just got done chatting with my sprint guy and theres a hotfix coming maybe next week.

Never happened. The hotfix changed some of the non aGPS/GPS fuction. Wireless networks location now works slightly differently, no change to GPS function.

[gTen]

Originally Posted by rdm

Both regular GPS and aGPS? Your basis? Evidence? Did you test outside of the US?

I was outside the US and I had GPS work :/

[a_c_s]

Originally Posted by sndtubes

So I'm still trying to decide on a phone. Anyone have any thoughts about the GPS in the Epic? Especially would be interested in a comparison to the HTC Touch Pro II.

I had the Touch Pro II on Sprint prior to the Epic and think the GPS is actually better on the Epic... graphics are sharper and I actually find a lot less lag, if any, on the Epic... I boot up GPS, wait 30-60 seconds, and then launch whatever progam I am using, more often than not, Google Navigator... I do miss Garmin from my TP2 a little but am getting used to the other programs...

[TheMostToys]

Originally Posted by rdm

Both regular GPS and aGPS? Your basis? Evidence? Did you test outside of the US?

The GPS chip is the BCM4571.

I know the Epic uses a-GPS data because of advanced configuration settings on the phone (dialer codes that let you configure the operation of the PGS, including a-GPS.) I also know because this has been identified as one of the problems with the Epic. It is not properly updating (invalidating the cached a-GPS data). I also know because it would simply be ridiculous for anyone to manufacture a modern cell phone without using a-GPS.

Cheers

[El Mono]

No authority on gps but luckily gps has been quite reliable on my Epic. Been using it since the devices release and not once have I had the issues seen on my generic Galaxy S (randomly loosing location). I am using a stand alone app.
BTW, thanks for the info regarding agps vs. simple cell tower triangulation.
El Mono

[rdm]

Originally Posted by TheMostToys

The GPS chip is the BCM4571.
I know the Epic uses a-GPS data because of advanced configuration settings on the phone (dialer codes that let you configure the operation of the PGS, including a-GPS.) I also know because this has been identified as one of the problems with the Epic. It is not properly updating (invalidating the cached a-GPS data). I also know because it would simply be ridiculous for anyone to manufacture a modern cell phone without using a-GPS.Cheers

Yes, a cache problem would be what makes it work fine most times, with lag other times from using less satellites than it should be able to, and other times, not at all, until you turn it on and off. I am seeing all of that.

What I was getting at with the question of both was not whether it has aGPS, phones don't just included it, they really need it. But whether it also has functioning regular autonomous GPS.

GTen has had it work outside the US. In my son's experiment on mine it did not seem to.

GTen: Thank you. That is no use of wifi and no CDMA signal from any carrier, right?

As another test I put my phone outside, in a plastic bag, overnight. I had turned on airplane mode, the dialer code change recommended, restarted, and it with a GPS testing program from market. NO location this morning. I suppose that airplane mode is an imperfect test, and a false negative or false positive for autonomy is possible from it, but it does make me still uncertain the Epic has functional autonomy in GPS.

[TheMostToys]

Originally Posted by rdm

What I was getting at with the question of both was not whether it has aGPS, phones don't just included it, they really need it. But whether it also has functioning regular autonomous GPS.

Ah, hm, interesting. Well, it absolutely has a regular GPS. When it works, it does work (although it's sensitivity leaves a lot to be desired.) I believe the operative word is "functioning". And although I can not tell you what is wrong, I think we can all agree that it is not functioning well.

I understand what you are trying to test. The GPS, with no sGPS data, should be able to lock on within an absolute maximum worst case scenario (given it is receiving data from at least three satellites) of 25 minutes. I believe your airplane mode and using a program like GPSStatus or GPSTest should be a valid test.

[MakeMoves]

Hey all I have been researching the Epic and this has been my main reservation.

I found something in another forum saying the issue is fixed.

Can people confirm that after the fix the Gps is up to par with other devices (evo)?

For those that haven't done this here is the fix:

TESTED AND FUNCTIONING WORKAROUND:
Enter GPS debug/settings application by typing *#1472365#
click "Setup" tab
click "position mode"
Click "starting mode
Enable "Cold Start"
Back out.

Epic GPS will now call on data network for fresh valid ephemeris and almanac at every programing invocation of GPS and aGPS fixes will be very fast (usually less than 10 seconds).

There one downside. while cold start will be effectively warm start in aGPS mode (good). That is it will work very nicely in the presence of a 3G or 4g data connection. But absent data connection, ie in Standalone GPS mode, you will be always cold starting (starting with empty cache), meaning fixes will be 5 to 14 minutes if you are not on the network. If you are going to be off the network for a while you can simply set to warm start from same menu.

Thank you

[Johnny.Bravo]

Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (Android; Opera Mini/5.1.21126/20.2489; U; en) Presto/2.5.25)

Hey everyone, I am about to update the section of the wiki that talks about the gps problems, but before I do that I need some feedback as to whether or not the latest update -DI18- has completely resolved the problem.

Bueller.....anyone?