Vodafone coughs to Galaxy S II GPS glitches Vodafone has acknowledged complaints from Samsung Galaxy S2 owners who claim their handsets' GPS functionality was adversely affected by a recent firmware update. Dozens of customers wrote to Reg Hardware last week, flagging the issue that their GPS services were taking a long time to lock onto satellite signals - if they get …
I've got a Samsung Galaxy Ace that was running Android version 2.3.3
The GPS fix was never great, but it was "OK". It would lock after about 30 seconds, and I could use it whilst driving and also whilst running, using the miCoach app.
Within the last month, the GPS lock has deteriorated. I can't get a lock within my car, and if I go running, the GPS drops out after about 2 minutes and never returns.
I recently updated to verions 2.3.5 via Samsung Kies, but it doesn't seem to be any better.
What are/have Vodafone doing/done to have caused this to happen?
It would be interesting to see the contents of that file.
One would hope to see the Network Time Protocol Server configured as
NTP_SERVER=uk.pool.ntp.org
and then
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
and just maybe for AGPS
SUPL_HOST=supl.google.com
SUPL_PORT=7276
Wifi assist is nice too...
FasterFix on the market will do this for you if you have root (but then if you have that, you've probably moved to a custom ROM and discarded Vodaphone's blunders and the bloatware you don't care about (yay! Battery life extends).
"GPS Status and Toolbox" (also on the market, root not required) will keep AGPS agile for you without root.
Tom: Yes, you've probably hit the nail on the head - if you read the early part of the thread http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Samsung-Galaxy-S2/SGS2-GT-I9100-GPS-issues-taking-ages-to-get-a-lock/td-p/925317 you'll see a few other people asking that, and those who have rooted their phones say that appears to be a solution.
So you're right - but some of us are uncomfortable rooting things, haven't got time, or both, and we're waiting for an official solution. Of course, if there isn't soon an official solution, that may have to change.......
I didn't want to root my phone because I thought it would prevent future support from Vodafone, but having seen what their support is like, I'm starting to think I'd be better off going it alone anyway.
Article: "you'll basically have to wait patiently for a fix, which could come later today, tomorrow, or sometime next year. "
Yes, and in the meantime, our monthly bills from Vodafone keep on coming, despite the fact that the phone has a major feature effectively completely unusable. The phone is not working as advertised, but Vodafone are telling their customers that they are not in breach of contract. Comments anyone?
The previous Vodafone360 smartphone offering *also* gave you a broken Samsung phone and - bless those enthusiastic little elves at Vodacom - even tried to make into Yet Another Social Network. They have now quietly pulled the plug on Vodafone360 and are at last allowing punters to export their own data from this site to other social networks.
Stick to selling phones with the manufacturer's default firmware on it that works, me finks.
Just updating this story.
Still no result/fix/news from Vodafone on this problem.
And the statement from the Vodafone website
"In the meantime, customers should still be able to use location services as normal once their device has locked onto the GPS connection."
Is pointless.
With my device, I never get a GPS lock unless I remove Vodafone from the fone (take out the sim), or disconnect wifi/AGPS. So I cannot use the location services as normal then, can I.....???
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