[Galaxy S I9000 General] hugo5:
There is definitely a software AND a hardware problem

So after owning the SGS for about two weeks and doing some intensive testing the GPS I can state, that the GPS problem is both software and hardware related. Why I know?

Well first of all the GPS is far better than the one of the HTC Raphael, that I came form. I couldn't use it whatsoever in terms of geocaching and car navigation. Getting a fix took minutes under clear sky and the positions were jumpy. So I resorted to using an external bluetooth GPS solution, which I hope will be useable sometime soon for the SGS as well. With the external GPS the Raphael was spot on. For geocaching I use a Garmin GPSMap 60Csx, which is still one of if not the best dedicated outdoor GPS device ever made ;) ! What I noticed with the Raphael, was that out of the two cars, that me and my wife own, one has coated windows, which effectively block GPS signals. So even if I use my superduper MTK Chipset GPS mouse or the Garmin GPS unit there are significant signal drops, although they can lock on spot even with the lower signal levels inside the blocking car.

This behavior is also observeable with the SGS. BUT because there is the sub 22 SNR bug it wouldn't lock on the satelites, which could be detected inside the blocking car. In the non blocking car I get fairly decent GPS performance. There the signal noise ratio rises sometimes even up to little above 30. Of course there are no more locked satellites than 8, but I think this is old news.

What I also observed, is that the SNR under clear sky conditions is not significantly higher than in the non blocking car, meaning it only results in more sats getting a little over 30 SNR but not in higher reception quality. This led me to the idea, that maybe the GPS antenna of the SGS is low quality, and unfortunately it is. I have to say, that even removing the backplate of the phone increases reception quality by approx 3-5 % (not that much but still noticeable). The other way round is also true. You can dampen the signal by covering the antenna area with your hand, or by mounting the SGS upside down in a car holder.

To get a better reception inside the blocking car I eventually bought a GPS-Relais antenna. This little gadget has an active GPS antenna, which is mounted outside on the carroof and which is connected to a GPS L1 band sender which radiates the GPS signal inside the car. The one I bought has a working radius of approx. 2 meters. (It is the Garmin (Sanav) RA-50 for that matter). Guess what? Now I have 10 sats with 51 SNR of which 8 sats are connected inside the blocking car! :D No jumping signals and spot on tracks!

Sounds great? Well not really. First of all, even if brought absolutely close to the sending unit, the reception levels of the sats top at 51 SNR. This I suppose is also a software bug. But the fact, that while using an L1 band sender near the SGS it can get way better signals, than observed under clear sky under - let's say - normal GPS conditions, proves in my eyes, that the GPS antenna of the SGS is absolutely sub par quality.

I am almost sure now, that since the antenna is only a metal foil on the outer side of the inner back coating of the phone which is not connected to the sending unit by means of RF cables and connections but rather with simple copper contacts ther could ly the explanation for the fluctiation of the GPS reception quality: wrinkles in the foil, bad contact quality, dampenig of surrounding coverings, etc.

What I do hope, having experienced all this, is that the bluetooth stack of the Android system will be improved soon to be able to use serial port profile and use external GPS and TMC receivers, and that the sub 22, the super 51 SNR and the above 8 sats bugs will be resolved.

As for the antenna quality I don't give much hope at all to see here any improvements in this phone by software.

Having said that, I have to state, that I am quite pleased with my SGS in comparison to my Raphael HTC and will most certainly keep it. I am sure that the GPS can be tweaked to work better - even officially by Samsung I hope - but don't forget: This is a telephone, not a dedicated GPS device. If you need sub 2 meters accuracy, fix in 5 seconds, WAAS or EGNOS, than you definitely bought the wrong device. Even if the specs list is incredible, but there is nothing such as an "Eierlegende Wollmilchsau" (for my englishspeaking friends, please google it up! :D )

Greetings, Hugo

post scriptum: I own an unlocked SGS i9000 with stock xxjf3 with no mods, tweaks or root