Fix your iPhone 3G GPS problems – 3G network issues with iPhone GPS
By Will Park on Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 PM PST In AT&T, Apple, iPhone, iPhone OS
The new GPS hardware in the iPhone 3G seems to be having some trouble when not connected to the AT&T (NYSE: T) 3G network. iPhone Atlas reports that some users are complaining of inaccurate GPS positioning when the 3G data setting (Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G) option is switched to “ON.”
The iPhone 3G uses aGPS (assisted GPS), which means that the cellular network aids in positioning the handset, giving the GPS hardware less number-crunching to deal with. That means you get super-fast GPS lock-on times. But, it seems that some iPhones are getting conflicting data from the 3G data network and their built-in GPS receivers, leading to incorrect GPS positioning.
So, for those of you with wonky GPS positioning on the iPhone 3G, try this fix:
- Navigate to Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G and toggle to “OFF”
- Locate yourself using the iPhone 3G’s GPS receiver
- Navigate to Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G and toggle to “ON”
You should now have accurate GPS positioning information. Leave a comment if this worked or didn’t work for you.
[Via: iPhoneAtlas]
I also work in the warehouse district in Minneapolis and my iPhone tells me I am in Havertown PA. I guess I will be late for work…
thanks! worked like a charm
Turning 3G off works for me, but I have to leave it off. If I disable it, it locates me correctly in southern Illinois. But with 3G on, it puts in Waukegan, IL, and 350 north of where I am.
However, after driving for a mile or 2, it will again find me where I am even with 3G on.
I have software 2.02 and a 16GB 3G iPhone.
I live in Houston and the iPhone says I’m in Portland.
What the eff?
we’ve got the same problem here in europe. I live in vienna and the marvelous ‘Locate Me’ Button doesn’t really work properly.
With 3G on, this function doesn’t even work (the most time) -> well it’s pretty disappointing
But the trick above didn’t really solve my problem -> without 3G I am located pretty well but it’s not as exact as it should be!
My Iphone doesnt locate me with 3G on. It keeps and keeps searching and never ends. When 3G off, it locates me but its not accurate. I made this test but it doesnt work at all. Iphones GPS suck!
same problem, bought two iPhones 3 g two days ago and it locates me
In NJ and I live in Florida, tried this fix but did not work.
The funny thing is the gps pinpoints me at my old house in Jersey City, NJ and I never put that address in the gps so I believe is taking the wrong location from my wifi at home.
That’s funny…The GPS is crazy, specially with people who are living on Oregon or Portland, cuz I live in Austin, TX but the GPS near to my house show Oregon.
well all you Portland/Houston residents will be happy to know that clear across the country in Delaware we also get a gps reading of South Central Houston. It’s so annoying! The fix worked when I turned off 3g but as soon as I switched it back on, well right back to Houston. How can so many people have this problem and still it hasn’t been fixed?!?! I even submitted my wireless router info to skyhook about 2 months ago and I can see that was just a waste of time. I’m so sick of Houston!!
Sounds like its an issue with what the local cell tower s id’s vs the database it uses to lookup the location. Mine always takes a while to lock on. TOM TOM need to bring an app to the iphone that just uses the inbuild GPS. I wouldnt mind paying £50 for the tom tom application if it works as well as a standard £100 tom tom unit.
I live in Japan. When I try to use GPS I get either “Your location could not be determined” or it has placed me in Tokyo a few times. No matter what configuration I use it no longer works for me. A month ago I was able to use the service without issue.
In Japan, there is only 3G phone service as 2G does not exist here. So, when I turn off the 3G I don’t have phone service. And, the Wi-Fi connection and Location Services has never been a combination that has been successful for me.
I called iPhone tech department and he had me reboot my iPhone (hold the home button and on/off switch till I saw the little apple on the screen – IGNORE THE MESSAGE SLIDE TO .. . .) and then I could do GPS.
After reboot I was seeing “3G” next to my signal strength bars. That did the magic. He said there are so many variables that can cause this.
Hey guys,
I live in Houston, It may suck, but I am a driver and still need to know where I’m headed. I’m also having the same issue w/ GPS showing me in Portland. No help from apple, the various fixes found on the Internet help but getting frustrated with constantly having to go to settings to find my location.
Maybe we can set up a website for people from Houston and Portland so they can meet and exchange IPhones!!
Lost in Houston,
Joey
It also only happens when I’m at home
Worked for me. Thanks!!
I live in scotland and apparently according to my gps maps thingi
i am in dubai!!
do we get a prize for the wierdest place your phone ends up
perhaps this is a good thing to stop people being tracked?
or are they doing that deliberately??
hmmmmm!!
Both my iPhones suddenly started showing my location in California when I am on the East coast. This happens when using Google maps. When I try GPS Lite, it locates me accurately within 30-60 seconds.
I realized that I bought a new Linksys wi-fi router. Maybe a brand new Linksys router is set to be in a california location. But I tried turning wi-fi off on my iPhone without any luck. Even with wi-fi off, it still shows me in California when on 3G. It only works when I turn 3G off and then it gets close enough (small blue circle) but not a blue dot. If I use GPS Lite though and then go to Google maps, it pinpoints my exact location with a blue dot.
Either the Google maps application is ignoring the fact that wifi is turned off and still reading wifi network or the 3G triangluation in my area has gone bad (been working fine for past 6 months).
Same problem in The Netherlands. I am in Amsterdam and the positioning is not getting to the gps blue dot on google maps anymore. It worked fine for nearly half a year and suddenly 4. Januray 2009 it stopped working. Now I never get closer to the right spot then some hundret meter. I also don’t get any gps log anymore in gps tools like MotionX GPS
I have similar GPS-problems in Belgium. I don’t understand what actually Apple has done with this iPhone3g-GPS. As for me, this is NOT GPS at all ! True GPS relays on GPS-satellite data. This functions well (fast, accurate, charge-free …) for years on pretty cheep & smalldevices. Why the hell do they make something that depends on such inaccurate sources as Wifi-sources and cellular antennas !? This is not usefull at all !
Ooh you just saved me
i thought my iPhone was broken because i dropped it, but it works like a charm, thx!!
I can’t get my exact position … maybe i will take my iPhone to the service ..???
I tried alll, but it never shows my exact position. Just the circle where i can possibly be.
As a fix for the Portland Houston issue may I suggest the fix of moving to Houston
(joking of course 
)
This worked for me. Thank you!
This was quite effective! My GPS is now spot on. Thank you for posting an easy fix. This saved me a trip to the Apple Store.
hey all i’m Will from Orlando, just wanted to stop by and say awesome fix guys it worked for me thanks very much.
man dis 3g iphone map is suck really!!! I live in North California and wen i try to locate my destination it shows i’m in Mars WTF is dat. Dis is totaly BS
followed your instructions and it reset the gps
thank you
Just did this on my wifes iphone and it worked like a charm! Thanks!
I have used the GPS on my IPhone 3g for a couple of mouths now with no problems really, here in England and in Holland. However today my friend just got hold of the new IPhone 3GS and his GPS was out by 2 miles I checked my Iphone and the same 2 miles out!!!! Crazy !!!
The fix did work but once we turned the 3G back on the location was wrong again…. 2 miles out !!!!!
This seem to me that it’s a 3g network problem not apple (maybe)
What do you guys think???? Thanks for the fix ….
Same problem in Germany. I thought my GPS chip is broken. I went to the Apple Store and they gave me another iPhone with 2.2.1. GPS worked fine on it (1 meter accuaracy). I went home and updated to 3.0 and what happens, right: no GPS (only net triangulation)
The best thing of this bug is… xD yes I have got a new iPhone ^^
I tried this:
So, for those of you with wonky GPS positioning on the iPhone 3G, try this fix:
* Navigate to Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G and toggle to “OFF”
* Locate yourself using the iPhone 3G’s GPS receiver
* Navigate to Settings>General>Network>Enable 3G and toggle to “ON”
The result of switching off the Enable 3G was to put me 1 kilometer south of my current location. Since the 3.0 upgrade I’m usually .5Km south of my actual location.
The GPS dot travels along roads accurately, it’s when we stop the dot moves off .5 km south of location.
Worked for me! Thanks
Mine was working fine until 3.0 upgrade.. then.. die!
I had a great experience with the iPhone 3g GPS, and began to have problems when I picked up the new iPhone. It would locate me in a general sense, but it was not GPS location. It was anywhere from 1/2 mile to 2 mile off. It was ALWAYS this inaccurate. I tried all the fixes and workarounds my research discovered (turn off 3G, change compass North from “true north” to “magnetic north”, use a third party GPS app like MotionX to get the phone to “turn on” the GPS receiver and then switch to the native maps application, reboot the phone, reset the phone, completely wipe the phone and start over). None worked alone or in combination. The folks at the apple store did the complete wipe and sent me on my way (to no avail). On my second trip to the store (yesterday), they handed me a new phone, and it works perfectly!
One question I have is, how many of you with GPS problems use the Belkin car thing with FM transmitter? I saw one person with GPS issues that used one and I use one, too. I also noticed that at times (with the first iPhone 3gs I had, not the replacement), it had interference when using GPS while in the Belkin cradle.
SOLUTION!
i also suddenly have a problem gettign acurate location on 3GS..was working fine and now my phone think im 60miles from home..but i fix it!
1_turn the 3G network and wifii OFF
2_EDGE will go ON and locate yourself.
3_I have been to me.com also to make sure that the service see me..i does (wastn before)
4_Then i turn back ON the 3G network, use the compas, and go back to locate me..it work. Back to mobiel me..it work.
Now all is fine!
I live in Texas and it didn’t work for me. This 3GS has been the biggest disappointment I’ve had in a cell phone in a long time. I traded from a Blackberry and feel that I’ve taken a giant step backward. No decent GPS and no MMS. My wife’s 5 year old, worn out Nokia can do MMS.
The GPS on my 3G version 3.0.1 is off too by about 1/4 mile only when i use tmobiles APN. If i remove the APN and leave it blank and use only the WIFI it corrects my location like it should.
Anyone else experiencing this on tmobile?
I’m from Sweden and I have the problem with the GPS placing me 5 blocks from my accual position when I am connected to a WiFi. When I turn the WiFi off i get my exact position, even if my 3G is on. So in my case WiFi is the problem.
I notice that my GPS stops working if I have my WiFi setup. If I “Forget” the WiFi, the GPS works like normal again. Maybe you can try and see if this works for you.
I had the same issue with my Iphone 3G GPS (couple months of use). After lot of reading and thinking the worst, this worked for me, so you should give a try:
1st: Turn Off and Turn on your Iphone
2nd: Tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings
Note: This will reset all settings. No data or media will be deleted.
Now GPS WORKS Again!
– I think maybe it was an app that was causing this trouble.
I have the same problems. I’m from Germany and desperately seeking a solution for this useless GPS. I don’t want to flash my device and re-install everything again, as proposed on some boards as my phone has jailbreak and unlock which I don’t want to re-install again.
But with maps I get a good positioning nearly every time (3G and WiFi off). But when I start up my NAVIGON programm it will not find any sattelite connection. As if GPS was swiched off.
I even re-installed NAVIGON today, but there is no improvement. No sat-fix. No guidance via NAVIGON.
So where is the problem? With the iPhone? With Navigon? ….. Had no problems with the sat-nav on my old Nokia N95.
Any solutions anyone?
Regards,
Goran
Hate to say I’m running into this as well. I live in Belgium and never have any problems with the GPS at home. I’m now visiting the NY area and impossible for me to lock on. Tried some of the hints mentioned here, but nothing seems to resolve this problem.
it worked!!! thanks!!!
Mine didn’t work. Sitting next to my friend with his 3G together with my 3GS. His blue dot move smoothly while mine shift every 0.25 mine or more. His continuous to work on our way to work (30min drive). Mine stop working every now and then. It basically jump all around different towers and back onto the road. I called AT&T to have the network permission reset as recommmanded by APPLE Genius Bar rep – Didn’t work. Visited APPLE store again and ask them to take a look at it. The rep keep telling me the GPS would not the exactly location. (Com’on what good a GPS does if it tells me I am in that 3 mile radius??) All he did was to do a restore (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING ME WAIT IN STORE FOR ANOTHER 15 MINUTES WHICH I COULD HAVE DONE ON MY OWN AT HOME)- restore seems works again (NOT SURPRISED)until I start putting songs not even a single APP into the iphone (NOT SURPRISED).
Tell you friends who owns iPhone 3GS to test their GPS. I think this is a major issue that APPLE need to address. The more people we got on our side, the sooner they will have to come up with a solution.
I am getting really fed up by it.
That’s funny. I’m sitting in the Delta lounge at Narita airport in Japan and my iPhone keeps jumping back and forth from here to Newark airport. I’m wondering if the WiFi here is coming through a server in Newark? Seeing that it just took something over 11 hours to get here from LA, if only I could jump back and forth that fast.
This seems to fix the problem but when I switch back to 3g it relocates me incorrectly
Guys do a respring. I’m jailbroken and running sbsettings. Reboot didn’t work. Respring worked like a charm!
THANKS! This fixed my problem. My GPS thought I was two houses further north that I was. It was consistently wrong all the time until I tried this fix, which worked! Thank You!
Is Work. THx. But after i change back to 3G not too accurate
Apple say a faulty gps or bad signal on the original iPhone is a faulty chip inbottom of phone where lead connects. Mainly due to a chemical reactiondue to waterdamage. 140 poundtofix