yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PartyMango:
Maybe I am misunderstanding here, but isn't it pretty normal for phone GPS to be a bit inaccurate at times when used in a city? I know there are certain areas in my city (Vienna) where, when I'm walking about on the sidewalk, my Nexus One can't locate me on the map or at leasts is very inaccurate at it. Especially narrow streets with tall buildings block the GPS signal, but even on wider avenues my Nexus One often isn't absolutely accurate (but precise enough).

Unfortunately, I don't own a Galaxy S2 yet, so I can't provide any findings of my own.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
So I take it you're claiming you weren't drunk, despite the clear evidence? ;)

Can you tell us what GPS Test shows for accuracy when you use it outside? Also, how stable is it, does it fluctuate more than a few meters once it reaches it's best level?

Thanks very much for posting the track.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Intratech:
Did you have the WiFi and sensor aiding turned on? I turned those off and my GPS is perfect.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fallenguru:
That's what we're here to determine, are we not?

Oh yes, I can. Watch me. :D

FWIW two different things make me doubt the SGS2's GPS

Samsung phones have had bad GPS implementations - not neccessarily bad hardware - in the past. To viz, the SGS1, the NS, the Spica (i5700). Of these the then-new SGS1 I had for testing a couple of weeks back was absoultely fine, though, and the Spica is practically stellar as of CM7. Even so, neither can hold a candle to my friends' HTC Legend and LG Optimus One (P500) as far as GPS is concerned. GPS just isn't Samsungs strong suit on Android, it seems.

A lot of Gingerbread users, never mind which phone, are reporting serious issues with GPS, often to the point of uselessness. The SGS2 is running Gingerbread.

I don't think doubts can be dismissed out of hand, so we're here, testing. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dk206:
re-reading all the posts made here. I'm starting to doubt whether people actually own SGS II's...

POST YOUR GPS Data + also a screenshot of your firmware too please.

Seriously. I'm an ex-SGS owner and I know how shoddy that GPS was.

But this is something completely different. It just feels as if people are almost wanting to believe GPS is crap on SGS II.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
Why is it so hard to believe your single phone doesn't = all? Posts like that totally baffle me.

There were wide variations between phones on the SGS as well. Some worked fine from day one, some never worked at all, and many were in between.

That disappointing Samsung QA is one reason threads like this are necessary, and make some of us hesitate to jump on the S2, particularly in the US where warranty returns are not simple.

The poll has run consistently over 20% not getting <10m stable locks. You actually think 1/5 are lying or don't know what phone they have? Nuts.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] :
Do you mean to say that 4/5th are lying? Your tone says that you believe so.

If getting in US is the main issue for warranty/shipment costs, just wait till the GS2 is released in US. By that time you also have Sensation releasing. So compare the GPS and take a phone of your choice. Why so agitated just for a simple phone?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] t2of3:
FWIW:

finance.yahoo.com/news/CSRS-SIRFSTARIV-GPS-POWERS-bw-2534970227.html?x=0
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Burko:
I appreciate that lock time is important, but it was never an issue.

If you read the OP and the first 10-15 replies, you'll see that the satelitte lock is not in question, it was the accuracy and stability of the GPS location.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] szpic:
my phone:

gps NOT working at all.

can find 1 max 2 sats.

always getting message " Your location is not avaible" ( Europe )

what the hell?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
Hi

What is a stable lock?

I think people maybe have have a little too big expectations when it comes to the GPS signal strength in various environments.

Weather, trees, buildings, window coating, electronic disturbance and other conditions all have a impact on the GPS signal.

In a forest or in a city GPS simply can't provide this kind of < 10m stable lock AND I DO NOT expect that. My GPS help me not getting lost in the forest and it can bring me 1700 km from Copenhagen via the Alps to a small nearly unknown village in Italy without any problem ... that's fantastic!

I'm NOT saying that SG2 (Gingerbread) do not have some kind of HW/SW problem ... I just wonder how many of the 20% voters placed their votes based on too high expectations :rolleyes:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Nicolopolus:
I used an app called Faster Fix on my SGS1 (needs root I think), so tried it on my SGS2 and it said my current database was set to North America. Changed it to UK, but tbh, my gps accuracy and fixing is light years better than my Galaxy 1, so I don't even mind a little inaccuracy!
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] troed:
Received my SGSII (KDD EU German) last night, set it up und configured it, went outside, started google maps in satellite layer (WiFi off) and had my position fixed in 30 secs almost exact on the meter ................ (I was sitting on a stone that can be identified perfectly in satellite view)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beefheart:
Just gone outside at work to test this using GPS Test by Chartcross. Locked on within about 15-20 seconds and the amount of sats varied between 6 and 9. As for accuracy, it started on just over 100 ft but quickly got a lot better. At it's best it said 9 ft (or 3 meters) but it generally stayed around 30 ft (10 meters), occasionally dropping to about 50 ft (around 17 meters).

O2 Galaxy S II

Unbranded KDD firmware

Rooted

I take it this isn't too bad?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bilboa1:
it's just fine
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dk206:
Also remember that the poll can be taken by ANYONE on this forum. Keep that in mind.

Read the reviews. There's hundreds out there. Not one has talkes about. A fault with the GPS.

Swyped from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dk206:
This is A different phone. This isnt galaxy s.

Some people just choose not to believe.

Get a different phone.

Swyped from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
???

I was responding to the poster who seems to be claiming anyone saying the S2 has GPS problems is actually using some other phone, since his S2 GPS is fine. I pointed out that 20% of the poll respondents say it's not working very well, and that it's nuts to think they are all fools.

I fully intend to compare the S2 and Sensation before making a choice. My "agitiation" is with those who think because their phone works all phones must be ok, which is a simplistic attempt to dismiss valuable information. Actually it's not a simple phone, it's a mobile, connected, location aware, pocket computer that can also make calls. I think the manufacturers need to deliver a quality product and threads like this are our way of collectively pressuring them to do that.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] robot1000:
I'm getting my GS2 replaced by O2 as I'm having GPS and Compass issues. It was worse then my Orange SF which cost a quarter of the price
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
I trust actual daily users of the phone much more than reviewers. Most reviews don't even attempt to use the GPS, and the one Endgadget GPS demo was useless. It's like someone making a single phone call, have it not drop, and claim the phone is perfect for calls. Only after 1000's of users put a device through real world use can you determine how reliable it is for something as variable and complex as GPS.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
For a second I thought you meant O2X ... but then again O2X GPS might be the only thing working ... LOL
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jeanclaudevandamme:
my sgs2 seems to be just fine, i think its at the beginning there is a big blue circle/bubble around the arrow, that means it unaccurate. after a while the blue circle will shrink and be just bigger than the arrow, then it's more accurate.

like i said, it seems fine on mine, might take a while to lock but that's all
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bilboa1:
the big circle is not the gps, its triangulation via cell towers

when it disappear, then it means the gps has locked on satellites
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DJGibbon:
I had GPS Test on in the car last night, and I noticed that while on my lap, the fix wavered between 14m and 20m, but on the dash it held down at 4m - 8m 100% of the time (and more often at the lower end). This was travelling at 70mph, mind.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
I don't believe that's correct. I have "use wireless networks" turned off. Also, a lock is indicated when the sat dish icon stops moving. Even after a lock in Maps I often see a blue circle. It only goes away when the accuracy has reached a sufficiently low value.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nomisunrider:
Not a surprise. The metal roof obstructs the signal more than the glass windshield...
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] JJEgan:
May be of relevance or not for some users choice .

GPS.conf file is set as standard to North America pool .ntp for the NTP server .

I always edited my file to show a more local NTP server UK.pool in my case .

Or you can use Fasterfix from the market to do the same job .

jje
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
Regarding NTP time, my phone time is consistently about 9 seconds slow compared to this official NTP time.

http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Eastern/d/-5/java

I wonder if this makes my lock times slower than they could be?

Anyone else have a variance between their phone time and NTP?

Anyone used the apps NTP Client or ClockSync to synchronize their phone time, and if so, did it help with GPS lock times?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] :
Just a thought - how can we say the accuracy/efficiency of GPS status or other application in measuring the error values?

From what I read, there is a new CSR SiRFstarIV GPS solution in the GS2. I don't have much knowledge about these, but are we sure that the applications can properly understand/interpret this new architecture?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Beowulf_pt:
Best post I've seen on this topic in ages. As the owner of an SGS1 (which I was lucky to be able to return) I agree that the mess on the GPS topic was immense.

No consistency at all in the tests and opinions and very few proper testing being done - even by professional reviewers, which is sad.

The SGS was lousy... and now I wonder how better the SGS2 will be. But as you so well put it, comments with no proper data to analyse end up generating nothing but more confusion.

At least I'd try to get several sessions of MyTracks data... driving and walking, both in open spaces and urban areas with tall buildings. Match those with google maps satellite data and you get a fairly accurate idea of how well it will perform (accuracy and how often it loses locks).

ttff times and all... pointless.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hexxor93:
I do hope it isn't the case for all the SGS2 phones as I got rid of my GS1, which got a lock on but was just unstable... I could try the gps on my other Android phone and post the results. That way you can compare the gps to another phone and see if it is funny or not.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DJGibbon:
Sorry, I typed that in a bit of a hurry. I was more interested in the fact that it seemingly got a better fix when travelling fast than it did when stationary . . .
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
I totally agree that the user reports are a mess. That was always true during the SGS GPS circus as well. But, as I think you rightfully conclude "the SGS was lousy". It's really the accumulation of evidence, and personal experience, that brought so many of us SGS owners to that common conclusion.

A similar hodge-podge of reports are posted here. And so far the poll is staying at >20% reporting less than very good performance. What seems apparent so far is that the S2 is not consistently performing as well as some other phones, where users say they get nearly instant locks (5 sec or less), high accuracy (<5m), and never experience drops or location jumps. Some posts here of side-by-side tests are evidence.

That's really what it comes down to for me. I want what I've seen described many times by numerous users of other types of phones as excellent GPS performance. Maybe the S2 is capable of that, but it seems that at least a significant percentage don't achieve it, and the average appears to fall below the state-of-the-art. Is it good enough? We each have our needs and preferences, so there's no single right answer.

For all its flaws of rigor I find this thread very helpful.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] landerson07:
Eh? I've just updated my phone today and now my gps is a mess!!!

If I open google maps, it puts me within 30m (whilst in my house) which is better than the 70m previously.

However after 10 secs or so it moves again to within 2400m?? another 10 secs and back to 30m??

This keeps happening no matter how long I keep maps on for :( The GPS logo on the top bar constantly flashess too, I cannot recall it doing this before the update??

Cheer

Lee

EDIT: well its getting a bit more stable, now between 30m and 100m. I am indoors so hopefully outdoors will be better??
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
GPS isn't supposed to work indoor ...

Do some test outdoor and THEN post the result PLS !
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
People getting bad results are now 22%

I'm thinking about making another poll asking:

How any of you 22% voters made the test:

- Indoors?

- Outdoors?

:rolleyes:
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
By update do you mean new firmware? I have seen some other posters say their GPS got worse after installing the newest firmware, but it didn't sound as bad as yours. Also, reports like that are hard to evaluate since GPS function can fluctuate day-to-day anyway.

One thing you might try is in the GPS Status app, Settings > Tools > Manage A-GPS state, you can clear and redownload the ephemeris data. Worth trying since it may have gotten corrupted. If you have "use wireless networks" enabled you might try turning that off as a test to see if the jumpiness is reduced.

Appreciate the post and any updates.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] landerson07:
I tried it with wireless off and it said position not available? I'll try that GPS status thing and report back
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] landerson07:
Right more testing done and outdoors with maps it was within 10m, then I tried copliot and it was spot on exactly, perfect turn by tuirn.

Now back home and tried indoors with wifi on and it still jumped between positions. So turned it off and now it put me to within 20m-30m.

I also reset gps settings using gps status.

So all in all I think its working as it should :)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
No idea how relevant this might be to the S2, but on my S1 I get much better locks and accuracy with wifi off. It also doesn't really make much sense to be using GPS and wifi at the same time. I know the OP said he leaves wifi on all the time due the hassle of toggling it. But then his GPS was so bad he returned the phone. :)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] valdigre:
Well, here is a comparison of my morning route to work today, my Galaxy S and Galaxy S 2 were registering route details at the same time, using my tracks.

- Galaxy S: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211531279532048944891.0004a3227ff46bf619c86&z=12

- Galaxy S 2: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=211531279532048944891.0004a32301b1a7f63a9cd&z=12

Both on Gingerbread firmwares, GS 2 updated yesterday to latest firmware.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mittaa:
Thanks .. Very good compare and GS 2 very much better than GS :)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] artesea:
Remember with Wifi ON, whilst indoors your phone will most likely pin point you on Google Maps based on the MAC of the router. This is why at my house the blue dot is tiny and spot on. If Wifi is OFF, Google Maps will use the cell towers and signal strength to guess where you are which is why the blue circle is larger and often way off.

It's very unlikely that Google Maps will be using GPS signals to locate you indoors.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fallenguru:
In theory a wifi connection could be used to get assistance data and even when not connected the seen APs could be used to calculate a rough location to seed the GPS. So basically, wifi should help, never hinder.

It seems to me that the hardware might be fine this time but Samsung and/or Gingerbread have a problem with blending multiple location and other info sources. Instead of getting better with more info available they just get confused.

Just imagine the possibilities when the sensors get good enough for dead reckoning.

If GPS is enabled it will at least try (blinking location icon in the status bar) and if it gets a lock (icon stops blinking) I don't see why it wouldn't use it.

EDIT: Pretty meh for a 100th post ... :o
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hermaniii:
Great post. Thanks :)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] f1ux:
Don't forget that when you update the firmware, the gps.conf gets reverted back to north america...

Attached is my current GPS conf from system/etc

i am in the UK .

This screenshot is INDOORS

Wifi is OFF

Phone was held

VERTICALLY

It gets a fix in around 5 seconds.

My Firmware version is XWKE2 unbranded UK. ( Was originally O2 branded)

NTP_SERVER=europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=0.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=1.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=2.europe.pool.ntp.org
NTP_SERVER=3.europe.pool.ntp.org
XTRA_SERVER_1=http://xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_2=http://xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin
XTRA_SERVER_3=http://xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin

# DEBUG LEVELS: 0 - none, 1 - Error, 2 - Warning, 3 - Info
# 4 - Debug, 5 - Verbose
DEBUG_LEVEL = 5

# Intermediate position report, 1=enable, 0=disable
INTERMEDIATE_POS=1

# Accuracy threshold for intermediate positions
# less accurate positions are ignored, 0 for passing all positions
ACCURACY_THRES=0

################################
##### AGPS server settings #####
################################

# FOR SUPL SUPPORT, set the following
# SUPL_HOST=supl.host.com or IP
# SUPL_PORT=1234
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7276

# FOR C2K PDE SUPPORT, set the following
# C2K_HOST=c2k.pde.com or IP
# C2K_PORT=1234

#################################
#####	EXTRA SETTINGS	#####
#################################

# Wiper (wifi positioning), 1=enable, 0=disable
ENABLE_WIPER=1

#################################
##### AGPS Carrier settings #####
#################################
CURRENT_CARRIER=common
DEFAULT_AGPS_ENABLE=TRUE
DEFAULT_SSL_ENABLE=FALSE

# TRUE for "User Plane", FALSE for "Control Plane"
DEFAULT_USER_PLANE=TRUE
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
My comment re: not needing wifi outdoors was from the perspective of driving once a lock is established. Also, on my SGS enabling wifi causes the GPS to take much longer to lock, as in minutes versus seconds. No idea if that's a HW or SW issue, or whether it's applicable to the S2. On the other hand I have had instances in cities where I couldn't get a GPS lock at all and enabling wifi and wireless networks provided a very useable location for map reading and walking around.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] samnada:
Excellent GPS review on the blog. Good on ya, mate!

So, how do we account for the reports of problems on the S2? Just a certain percentage of HW QA problems? If so, the answer would be test it like heck early on, and get a replacement under the grace period if required.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
No idea how to explain it, hardware problems could be an answer, or it may be software related since there are some different firmwares about.

Your suggestion to test it a lot within the returns period sounds very reasonable to me.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cmd512:
GPS works perfectly on this phone. I still have my SGS and the difference is night and day... no overshoot, jump to adjacent streets, spinning navigation icon, etc. And, once you let the phone cold lock appropriately, it locks instantly afterwards as expected.

If you guys want bad GPS, just pick up an SGS or one of its variants...
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hakkinenvthh:
I'm very disappointed with my GPS on GS2, sometime it works, sometime it doesn't, and I have never got 10/10 when outdoor, max 9/10. I don't know it's a software issue or hardware, but when it works, it does very well (some seconds to fix)
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dsgfh:
So my experience, without wifi turned on, here in Australia.

In the middle of the CBD it struggles. Something about tall buildings & line of sight to satellites just doesn't mix *shrugs*

I did use it the other day to navigate out to a friends place about 40km out of town through the back roads. It tracked me so well it knew how far around roundabouts I was. I couldn't be more pleased with the accuracy.

As an aside though, I'd have been much happier if the nav interrupted the phone call I received when it needed me to turn, or at least kept showing me the nav screen instead of the phone screen. I was 2km down the road before I hung up & had to do a u-turn :-/
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] chalid:
no problems with gps here. first lock took roughly 6-7 minutes, but all following only 10 seconds or so. got no problems with accuracy as well.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] r_a_c:
Ok a question from a gps newby. What is a lock exactly?

Is it when I use my gps test and the first sattelite in use shows up??

Today i tested it with gps test. In my home and outside. Outside I got a pretty good accuracy, in the sattelite view it exactly put me where I was standing in my garden, however saying it was 12m accurate, but was a little switchy between 16-12 when I moved, is this normal?

Also sometimes al sattelites disappeared from the test to come back after few second, seemed when I moved or something. Also in google maps, the bleu circle was pretty small, didn't completly disappeared(will it ever?), but sometimes the marker jumped a bit to other places, is this normal? Or is this the "lock" thing?
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
Read my GPS review here at http:blog.clove.co.uk - hopefully give you a better idea about GPS.
[Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dk206:
Yes everyone who is concerned should look at the video and review done by NZ at clove. Summed up my thoughts on the sgs2 gps in kne page.

Best gps review I've seen and should clear things up for some with doubts.