iPhone 3G GPS intermittent problem

[Atrocity79]

Hello everyone!

I've noticed since launch that my iPhone 3G's GPS doesn't work consistently. Sometimes when I need to use it; it doesn't work so I'm forced to use my BlackBerry Curve's GPS. The only way it work again is if I power the phone off and back on. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a fix?

I have a few days before my 30 day buyer's remorse is up and I need to know if I just got a bad iPhone to begin with.

[deftdrummer1]

sometimes the iPhone can take as long ad 2 minutes to hone in on your exact location. It doesn't have the best gps radio, but it works fine for most in car applications.

[Atrocity79]

I've left Google Maps on for up to 10 minutes and it didn't give me a location at all. The only way it did locate me is when I tured it off and back on. Is this normal for the GPS to work?

[jhollington]

I had that exact same problem happen to me a few times on my iPhone 3G with the out-of-the-box v2.0 5A345 firmware build.

When I restored it using the v2.0 5A347 build from iTunes, the problem went away and I haven't seen it happen since.

In fact, I had a lot of problems with 5A345, but I suspect that may have been due to restoring a 5A347 backup (from my original iPhone) onto a 5A345 iPhone.

I would hope and assume that with v2.0.1 this would be completely irrelevant. Have you updated yet?

[Atrocity79]

updated to v2.0.1 when it was released

[tonepod]

IIRC it's a bug (read about it on the Apple support forum) where if you have 3G enabled and the iPhone is unable to acquire a GPS signal on its initial attempt, the GPS receiver "gives up" and does not attempt to continue to acquire a GPS signal while 3G is still enabled. The workaround is to temporarily disable 3G, allow the iPhone to lock onto a GPS signal, then turn 3G back on. This fix is temporary since if you turn off (by "off" I don't mean sleep mode) your iPhone and then turn it on and attempt to--and are unsuccessful in--get(ting) a GPS lock while 3G is enabled, you'll get the same GPS problem.

Dunno if 2.0.1 fixed it, but it is a known bug...

[tizzo]

I didn't get this problem until I updated to 2.0.1.

[Imagine Engine]

I noticed a delay between a minute or two for A-GPS to detect my location over HSPA and over 5 minutes when connected via WIFI. The delay has been seen since updating to 2.0.1.