[Samsung Epic 4G Touch] DruHill:
Thanks madocs for putting together this thread, it's certainly informative and should provide users with some guidance on how to resolve their gps woes.

Unfortunately for me, I had tried all sorts of fixes / workarounds / tricks in hopes my gps functions would improve only to realize no fix lasted for a considerable amount of time.

I initially called up Sprint back in Oct '11, regarding my E4GT's erratic gps behavior because no matter the app, my gps location/tracking would not work consistently (proving to be very frustrating when using navigation). The result of the call was that, Sprint didn't support any navigation software aside from Telenav and since there couldn't be anything wrong with my new phone, I would have to contact Telenav myself to get help on the issue. "Thanks for nothing".

I called Sprint a few weeks later to complain again and this time, they were a little more willing to troubleshoot. The csr said they tried something on their end and had me reset my phone. This attempt to fix the gps issue seemed to help only slightly and was short lived, possibly just a result of restarting the phone. Just when I thought my gps woes were done, they resurfaced about a day or two later. Although frustrated, I decided to not get too worked up over the issue as I only tried to use navigation a couple of times.

FFWD almost 2 months later, failed attempts at trying to use navigation really prompted me to pursue getting a replacement phone. I brought my phone into a 3rd party retailer/repair center and even they couldn't improve the gps reception with their methods. I ended up calling Sprint a 3rd time and explained I had been through the mill (resets, gps s/w tools, etc.) with trying to get the gps function to work properly. I pretty much asked what needs to be done to get a replacement phone because I am done with trying anymore fixes on my phone.

After being on the phone over 30 mins discussing the issue, consulting with his team/knowledge bases, the csr told me he wanted to contact Sumsung tech support to see if they could provide a resolution. I received a call the following day stating no patches/fixes were available from Samsung and I was FINALLY issued a replacement phone.

Once I received my phone and activated it (even that was a story in itself), I tried out the gps navigation (not just location) function and was relieved to see how much better it was than my original phone. Using any map/navigation s/w, my location is found within seconds, between 8-10 sats are locked on when outside (about 6-7 locks inside my house) and I've seen accuracy down to 3 meters. A good illustration of the improvement was using GPS Test to view the number of sats and signal strength. Previously, I got, at best, 7 locks and the signal strength bars (SNR) were low and orange. Now, I get 8-10 locks and the signal strength bars are green/yellow.

The gps issue was the only gripe I had with the E4GT and now I'm completely satisfied...I no longer miss the gps accuracy of my Evo/Evo 3D. I'd recommend anyone with consistent gps problems to pursue getting a replacement. For me, it took A LOT of patience, but in the end, it was worth it. I'm convinced this is a h/w issue that cannot be bandaged with s/w.