[Q] GPS - Does it Really Require Wifi? [SOLVED/ANSWERED]

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Does the Tablet Really Require the Wifi to be On to use it? Only way we can get it to work is if we turn the Wifi on and then it uses AGPS.

Downloaded GPS Status and it sorta seems to confirm this. Ive read other sites of people returning the product and getting another and GPS works outta the box w/o Wifi?

Thoughts? Solutions?

--Solved -- Issue seems defective Equipment. GPS works Fine in Airplane Mode with GPS on. Tablet was returned for another and now works.

Haven't checked this, but it seems a bit silly. Why would you need a (static) wifi connection when u use the GPS (for moving around). Doesn't make any sense. I will test this tonight.

Originally Posted by spaanplaat

Haven't checked this, but it seems a bit silly. Why would you need a (static) wifi connection when u use the GPS (for moving around). Doesn't make any sense. I will test this tonight.

With the one we have here I can Confirm the only way i can get it to work is with WiFi on. And Acer Support confirms this..

But there is so much conflicting information out there that Id like to see if it can get cleared up.

If people are returning them and their new ones are working fine with normal GPS then did ACER have a Bad Lot? Or are these folks just making rumors.

I've just quickly checked this with Chartcross GPS Test. With WIFI on I could see one satellite indoors. I switched off WIFI and then saw four satelites, so it would seem that WIFI does not have to be switched on for GPS to work. However, having a data connection is always a good thing to get AGPS data with.

Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium App

From my experiance, no it doesn't . I have been using mine with the wifi off with no problems. I use Copilot Live USA to get around all day at work. One thing is, is that Copilot freezes on me if I try to go into the settings menues.

Acer Says Yes

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I chatted with an Acer rep this morning and was informed WIFI or 3G is designed to work with the GPS. GPS will not work if there is no data signal. Being hardheaded I called hoping to find someone with more knowledge on this matter and was told the exact same thing, NO WIFI/3G = NO GPS. With this set back I have decided to return.

But I am curious why some peoples are working and others are not?

Im sure my Buddy will post here soon.

but he called Acer and they are saying that it requires Wifi for GPS by Design.

So if everyone else is able to do it.. and he isnt and Acer says thats the way it should be..

Then either some folks have an "added' feature design flaw or they are Fibbing about it. Or Acer just dont know what they are talking about and my buddy has a defective one.

I do not seem to need to be connected to Wifi for GPS to work. I did notice something interesting while researching this though. 22% of my battery usage was coming from cellular. Thats a huge amount of power being used up to poll for a cellular signal that a wifi device isn't doing anything with.

I added about two hours to my battery life by turning the tablet on Airplane mode and then enabled Wifi. Thankfully the little airplane icon in the status bar is only there for a few seconds

The issue is not GPS need WiFi. It is the map need WiFi or 3G datalink in order to be updated with the GPS signal. Your tablet does not preloaded a map like a portable Garmin or TomTom GPS device does.

The GPS does not require Wifi to work, however if you are using an app like Google Maps, this app DEPENDS on wifi to download map and pois. Google Maps is not like your GPS software on your TomTom or Garmin GPS, it downloads the data using the cell modem or in this case the wifi on the device.

To summarize, if you use an app like Copilot or another GPS app that has maps predownloaded then the GPS works just fine on it's own without Wifi.

I hope this clears it up.