iPad 2 ( No 3G )

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DanMichSr

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I'd like to purchase a new iPad 2 without the 3G and use it part time as a GPS and thought I might be able to buy a receiver ( GNS 5870 MFI Bluetooth GPS Receiver ) MFI stands for Made for iPad. I guess my question would be does the ipad come with a complete google map software that you don't have to have access to the internet and would anyone know if it might be configured to a bluetooth receiver. Most of the iTune map software states it will run on the iPad but doesn't say anything about the 3G needed. Anyone have any experience with this. The 3G data cost for me in one year would be more than I'd pay for the iPad. Thanks
 

hertzertec

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There is an app called "direct u maps" and it downloads the whole country map very detailed, and it does not hog all of the memory. The down side isa that there is no direction finding option or search so basicly you have to browse manualy. There are tons of these apps for each country: US, Europe, Canada, Australia, Mexico, and more. Check it out.
 

johnmarshall4

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I can tell you with full confidence that tethering a Wi-Fi iPad to and iPhone will not give you full gps. It only uses wifi location which is not good enough for turn by turn, not to mention useless in the country where there is no wifi.

As for the original question, a stock wifi iPad will not connect to an external gps. (Updated: I was wrong about this, there is an external unit called 'Bad Elf' that will plug in to the dock connector and give GPS without jailbreak. But it costs $100.00. Search for them online, they also have a good list of GPS apps that work offline without needing a data connection.) Also the built in google maps app requires a data connection to access maps, they are not stored on the device.

You could however buy a 3G model to get the gps and not sign up for a data plan. Then buy a gps map app that does store the maps locally.
 
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I've actually been getting conflicting reports on this. The iPhone 4 does broadcast a unique service over Bonjour when Personal Hotspot is running, and there have been a number of reports that a Wi-Fi iPad 2 at least does query this service and pick up location information. This definitely isn't the case with a 3G iPad 2 -- the device doesn't even query the service on the iPhone 4 -- but then again it has its own GPS so it wouldn't need to use the iPhone's Personal Hotspot advertised GPS capability.

I haven't been able to test this myself with a pure Wi-Fi iPad 2 yet. This also may not work with the original iPad and/or the iPhone 3GS -- it's possible that it requires an iPhone 4 and iPad 2, and it most definitely requires iOS 4.3 on both devices.
 

johnmarshall4

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I've actually been getting conflicting reports on this. The iPhone 4 does broadcast a unique service over Bonjour when Personal Hotspot is running,
I have ran extensive tests on this using iPhone4 / iPad 1 and iPhone 4 / iPad2. You can find my results on my blog at johnmarshall4 on tumblr. I see NO difference in location tracking being tethered to the iPhone vs. just being on Wifi alone. In fact what some don't realize is that if you load up maps on your iPad and then take off in the car it will track to the map as long as you are within the area of the map that is cached in memory - no tethering required. This is what tricks people, they don't expect it to track at all, so when it does (while tethered) they get all exited. However you'll find that the update rate and accuracy are the same wether tethered or not.

I live in the country however and I'll tell you when I go down a country road with no houses around I get NO location updates, tethered or not. Period.

Here are some things people can do to prove this to themselves:

1. Try to get location out away from Wifi signals. - You won't.
2. While tethered, drive until you stop getting updated and pull over and wait. If the rumors about it just being slow are true then you should get a position update in around a minute. It won't.
3. Tether over Bluetooth with Wifi off. It is just IP packets so the location information from tethering should still come across - it doesn't starting up maps will say "Cannot determine location".
4. Use an app that gives you the actual GPS coordinates like G-Spot. If GPS data were coming from the tethered iPhone they should show the same coords on both devices - they won't.

Sorry for the ramble. As you can tell I've tried and documented all these methods. I don't want people's iPad 2 purchasing decision (Wi-Fi vs. 3G) to be swayed by all the internet buzz regarding this. Of course trying to stop an Internet myth is like trying to stop a giant snowball rolling down a hill. At least I can say I tried.
 
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Thanks for the detailed response. Don't get me wrong, I've been very skeptical about this myself and it's been on my list of things to test... However, I don't have a Wi-Fi only iPad handy to actually do that with. I can conclusively state that it does not occur on the iPad 3G model, however that's more difficult to test results with since there is a GPS in that model, which remains active even if cellular data is off. I did fire up Wireshark against a Wi-Fi tethered connection between an iPad 3G and iPhone 4 and haven't noticed any traffic querying this mysterious UDP 666 service that's running on the iPhone. However, the only conclusion I was able to draw from this is that a device that actually has a GPS chip in it is not querying for an external GPS service.

It's also worth noting that if the iPhone 4 were providing GPS information based on what I've seen it would likely only be able to do this over a Wi-Fi connection, and not Bluetooth. The service on the iPhone that is allegedly providing this capability is UDP-based and is advertised over Bonjour. Bluetooth tethering uses a lower-level connection that doesn't involve the IP protocol.

Tracking of course will work over Wi-Fi while you're on the go only provided nearby Wi-Fi access points can be detected. Of course, many users don't realize that a connection to the Wi-Fi network is not required -- merely that there be networks in range, which may explain where some of the confusion is coming from.
 

DanMichSr

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Gns 5870 mfi

I ordered the iPad 2 from the Apple Store 64g 3g Verizon White. I don't plan on getting the data plan for another 6 months. But here is what I found out today. I received the GPS receiver that I mentioned earlier "GNS 5870 MFI" and again I say that the MFI stands for "Made for I or Ipad/Pod etc.". Having said that I also have the iPod with the Wifi and bluetooth. I downloaded the Free co pilot program then turned off Wifi and left bluetooth on. I worked like a charm and should also with the iPad. Also the GNS 5870 worked great on my Acer Aspire One running Windows 7 with Streets and Trips. On both units the turns were right on the money. Thanks :) Really anxious for the iPad as I will pay for the full version of CoPilot.
 
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