T-Mobile Dash 3G — Another Short GPS Update
- T-Mobile Dash 3G — First Impressions
- T-Mobile Dash 3G: Closer Look at the GPS
- Dash 3G Camera – Not Bad At All
- T-Mobile Dash 3G — Another Short GPS Update
- T-Mobile Dash 3G – Ongoing Update #1
- I’ve Officially Given Up on the Dash 3G GPS
- Dash 3G GPS Help?
- Updated List of My Windows Mobile Software
- Another Dash 3G Update – Upgrading the Radio
- The T-Mobile Dash 3G Summary Post
- T-Mobile Signal Strength and Bad SIMs
I’ve mentioned the poor lock time of the Dash 3G GPS previously (see this and this). Here are some real-world times.
Yesterday, I was sitting in a window seat of my train home. I opened Google Maps and let the GPS search. The phone was right next to the glass. GPS lock time: NEVER. No satellite lock was achieved in 10 minutes of trying. (Google Maps appears to have a 5 minute timeout if no GPS signal is obtained. I waited two full timeout cycles before giving up.)
So, when I got to my train station, I stood in the middle of an empty parking lot. No trees or anything for 100+ yards in any direction and no tall buildings at all. Time to find a GPS lock: 3 minutes 50 seconds. To put it simply, that is pathetic. I might as well bring my topo map and compass.
I certainly hope that HTC or someone at XDA-Developers can help sort this out because a GPS with performance that poor borders on useless.
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Post Revisions:
- 19 September, 2009 @ 19:22 [Current Revision] by Rob
- 5 August, 2009 @ 22:41 by Rob
- 5 August, 2009 @ 11:03 by Rob
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I'm old enough to have been around the internet since the beginning -- starting with private BBS systems which I accessed via a Hayes 300 baud modem and then moving on to a genuine CompuServe account! I have a degree in Environmental Science and have had a varied career starting in a laboratory, followed by 10 years in Service & Operations for a large networking equipment manufacturer, and now in a Product Management role for an innovative healthcare organization. I started making web pages on Angelfire and other free services, and can remember when NetZero actually provided Internet access for free (hence the zero in the name). Among other things, I build my own PCs and run my own Linux servers at home for fun.
I have great sat lock times with the GPS, typically 7 seconds, Google Maps is one of the slower locks (with Bing a close second) how is your lock time with Telenav or some other GPS software?
Just now, standing in my back yard, it took 2:05 using Garmin Mobile XT. Better than with Google, but I’m used to 30 seconds max with my OnCourse Bluetooth GPS. This is definitely an area for improvement. Thanks for the info though. I’m glad yours works — my wife has a Dash 3G also and she gets about the same performance as I do, so I suspect it’s the phone’s design, not that mine is a lemon.
Check to ensure you have assisted GPS (A-GPS) enabled to get the fastest lock times.
Thanks. But it makes no difference. AGPS on or off — files new or old. It’s still slow as molasses in winter and loses signal at thr drop of a hat. I’ve switched back to my OnCourse Bluetooth GPS when I actually need to navigate somewhere.