iPhone 3G GPS is not working with T-Mobile

[zohirul]

Hi,
I am using iPhone 3G with 2.1 (Jailbroken), T-Mobile with "Universal SIM", and the T-Mobile's $5.99 T-Zones with the new APN.

My iPhone's GPS was working (kind of) time to time before while I was using 2.0 or 2.0.1 before. Then the GPS stopped responding. I have updated my phone to the following latest version (2.0.2 and 2.1), still the GPS did not work. The phone just find the approximate position using the cell tower triangular method with a big circle. I have tried the GPS almost hundred times (toggling the 3G off or on, restarting the phone, turning data roming off and on, bluetooth on or off, restoring the iPhone) in different location even at wide open area, but nothing worked out except the cell tower positioning. It seems the GPS circuit is not responding at all.

Is other people (using T-mobile with SIM unlock method) having any problem with GPS? Is there anyway I can fix the issue?

N.B. I tried my phone with other AT&T sim card and tested the GPS which worked fine.

[Daiskei]

T-Mobile doesn't support 3G at this time, at all. I don't know what you mean by stating that it was working prior... but if I am not mistaken it shouldn't have been without 3G. T-Mobile will support 3G by the end of this year I have been told, however, it WILL NOT work with the 3G iPhone as T-Mobile's 3G is of a different frequency (true?) than what the 3G iPhone requires.

Someone back me up on this or correct me if I am wrong.

[zohirul]

T-Mobile doesn't support 3G at this time, at all. I don't know what you mean by stating that it was working prior... but if I am not mistaken it shouldn't have been without 3G. T-Mobile will support 3G by the end of this year I have been told, however, it WILL NOT work with the 3G iPhone as T-Mobile's 3G is of a different frequency (true?) than what the 3G iPhone requires.

Someone back me up on this or correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you for replying.
I meant GPS, not 3G internet.
Please tell me a solution.

[jimbeam4581]

I'm using a universal-sim v5.00 on T-mobile US and GPS works fine. Sometimes it takes awhile to find the location. I'm on 2.1.

If it doesn't load the maps fast enough then I think it just uses cell phone triangulation. It could also be a problem with your phone.

Try pushing the locate me button in the left bottom corner. It should find your approximate location and the circle should bounce then hit the button again and the circle gets smaller. Hit it one more time and now it should give you an exact location. This is how it works for me.

[Daiskei]

Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking last night but for some reason I was convincing myself that the GPS relied on using the 3G connection. (Stupid, no?) Lol. Anyways, I knew then that it didn't... Not quite sure what I was thinking. Umm, try changing your location and then changing it back in the location services... maybe do a network settings reset and set everything back up? If the problem is really dire (to you) maybe even consider a restore and a fresh restart? From what I h ave read I can't seem to find any problems with GPS specifically not working out of nowhere, except for when people lose their EDGE connections as well as 3G.

I wish you the best of luck! Post back if you figure it out at all.

Edit: Have you recently changed your apn? If so, try changing it back to the old one. For me, often times the epc.tmobile.com one fails to work with certain apps whereas the internet2.voicestream.com one works for everything. I am using the total internet plan though. Try going back to wap.voicestream.com, or, if you really really want GPS... Consider the total internet.

[tattoojack]

total internet and tzones are NO different in speed or reliability. do a search.

the location services is the problem.

when you first open maps, if you do not let it use your location it will fail.

restart location services and try again.

[ausdhnj]

The GPS in the iPhone 3G works pretty crappy if you're on T-zones. The A-GPS uses your data network to load the map (while you're on the move) and ALSO to triangulate your exact location. The iPhone does not have a standalone GPS chip that you find in your typical portable GPS system.

So if you're on T-zones the GPS can be lagging or quite inaccurate. I upgraded to the total internet plan and now GPS is much much better.

If you're moving up from T-zones to the total internet plan, don't forget to remove the T-zones settings by uninstalling the T-zones package from Cydia and restarting your phone. Then you'll need to change your APN settings again for the new plan.

[Daiskei]

total internet and tzones are NO different in speed or reliability. do a search.

the location services is the problem.

when you first open maps, if you do not let it use your location it will fail.

restart location services and try again.

Actually, the certain APNs used by the two allow diff. apps to function... I can use some apps with epc.tmobile.com but not all whereas internet2 lets me use them all and then with wap.voicestream.com I can't use any apps like AIM or Pandora.

[zohirul]

thanks to all for replying with various comments.

So far I have understood I will have to try the GPS by upgrading from T-Zones to the total Internet plan.

I will post the result after I will upgrade and try the GPS function.

[stlcaddie]

To tell you the truth, the iphone 3g gps doesn't work for sh^t. so thats probably why your having a problem. Im att and the gps on my iphone really is just a laughing joke. So im sure apple threw out a bone for us dogs before the bone was cured and ready to chew on. Feel me ?

[ausdhnj]

To tell you the truth, the iphone 3g gps doesn't work for sh^t. so thats probably why your having a problem. Im att and the gps on my iphone really is just a laughing joke. So im sure apple threw out a bone for us dogs before the bone was cured and ready to chew on. Feel me ?

Thats not true. My friend has the phone with the regular AT&T plan and her GPS works very well. You need a fast internet connection for the GPS to work perfectly.

[tattoojack]

thanks to all for replying with various comments.

So far I have understood I will have to try the GPS by upgrading from T-Zones to the total Internet plan.

I will post the result after I will upgrade and try the GPS function.

yippy!!!!
finally some results that prove tzones and full package are NO different. it is just sh!tty tmobile and their spotty service. sometimes good, sometimes bad.

i have tested it myself, EXTENSIVELY!
the only difference i noticed was wap.voicestream.com limits ports so latency is crap. epc or internet2 work exactly the same. speed, reliability. i was even watching youtube with tzones, epc.tmobile.com, and 3 bars of signal.

just do a search. see how many people have tested it too.

[zohirul]

I think I have found a way to at least bring the GPS dot on the google map. As I mentioned earlier that I was just getting a big circle of at least 20 blocks of radius on my google map.

I am not even sure if it make sense to any other person.
While I was trying to "Locate me" on the map, it was finding a big circle before, but while I was trying to find any address, then trying to find the direction and put the start address from "Current Location", the GPS start working. I have tried this method in several places, most of the time it took a little while, moreover, while I was moving on the street in my car, the DOT wasn't moving smoothly. This can be the cuz of a slow internet connection. Anyway, at least something is better than nothing.

One more thing, this method never worked (for me) while the WiFi was enabled (on). While the WiFi was on, the map was showing a very small circle (like less than half a block of radius, but no DOT or GPS sign)

[461am]

^the dot never moves smoothly. The only time I've ever seen it work flawlessly was when steve jobs was demostrating how it worked.

Demonstrating*

[zohirul]

I totally agree with 461am..

[n00neimp0rtant]

I HIGHLY doubt the GPS has anything to do with cellular. I was able to use GPS with no SIM with my 3G tethered to my 2G.

[kjack05]

my blue dot doesnt work on AT&T, not sure what the issue is

[NookaDooka]

Did your GPS work once? Is it just crap now, showing wrong locations, not moving at all? Is your wifi signal weak or dropping all together? I had this problem after dropping my phone at a friends after one to many beers. I didn't notice that night but best believe that next morning I knew something was up when I was right at my desk (at home) next to my wireless router and I kept getting either weak signals or none at all! I figured that it was just low speed so I shrugged it off and went to work. Well when I opened the maps app my GPS was all screwy! What I mean by this is that it wasn't doing **** for me! It kept locating me in an unknown spot and the little blue dot wasn't pulsing. Not only that it didn't track any of my movements. Then I knew the drop the night before had something to do with it. Still skeptical about any hardware issues I searched the internet high and low for answers but found the same thing over and over. reset network settings and go outside, find open area with no trees... yadda yadda bla bla bla!! That's all fine and dandy if you're having a GPS update issues but not for I and a whole lot of others! So I researched how to open this bad boy (iphone 3g) and take a look inside thinking that it may be hardware issues and low-N-behold... yesir!! here's what i did...


First learn the correct way to open a 3g (suction cup) without breaking anything. Just google it.
Next once you open it up notice that there are little orange stickers with numbers on them. YES apple was nice enough to label some stuff for us though I have no clue what the hell any of them are, but rest a-sure they are numbered.
Now look at the top left corner, there should be a little round labeled piece numbered 6. I pressed until it snapped back into place and closed and fired her back up... and BINGO there's my pulsating blue dot.
When I connected to my network here at home it was stronger than ever!
I REPEAT the little round piece labeled 6 at the top left corner was lose so I just snapped it back into place and every thing was good once again! Try it out but be careful opening your 3g the front is attached to the rear piece. GOOD LUCK!
<------- that's me now!!!

[RDL]

If I was brave enough to take apart my phone I would try the above. I rarely use Maps or apps that require it to locate me but lately when I do I notice my GPS is poor. It worked great on my 2G but not so much on my 3G. Sucks cause its out of warranty. I havent dropped it. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I read tons of ppl claim 3.0 started this GPS problem and honestly I think it might have. I dont think its TMobile or my phone but the firmware.

[mooselander]

To tell you the truth, the iphone 3g gps doesn't work for sh^t. so thats probably why your having a problem. Im att and the gps on my iphone really is just a laughing joke. So im sure apple threw out a bone for us dogs before the bone was cured and ready to chew on. Feel me ?

My 3G GPS works quite well actually. I'm on the T-Mobile $5.99 data plan and I have zero complaints, I use it all the time.