GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hello All,


Over the past few weeks I have had problems with the GPS on my iPhone 6.  It seemed to start when Verizon sent their last carrier settings update around 1/10 or 1/11 of this year (2016).  Coincidentally, this was just before the latest iOS update to 9.2.1. 

I had issues immediately after the Verizon carrier update.  I updated the iOS to 9.2.1 and still no improvement 

The specific issue is inaccuracy of location while on GPS (no Wi-Fi) and also lagging in keeping up while on GPS such using Apple Maps or Google Maps.  When I'm not on Wi-Fi the GPS is about 500 feet to 1000 feet off.  As soon as I connect to Wi-Fi it is immediately accurate.  I noticed if I start a route with Apple or Google Maps on Wi-Fi and drive the route (no Wi-Fi) it loses my location and lags far behind.  It updates about every 10 minutes, but it is off by 500 to 1000 feet.  If I stray from my route it won't self correct the route.

I went through the regular troubleshooting steps including, but not limited to:

  • Hard reset
  • Reset network settings
  • Reset location and privacy settings
  • Reset all settings in my phone and did a clean install

None of these steps worked.  Another coincidence is I lost the ability to backup my phone to iCloud at the same time the GPS location became inaccurate.  I was finally able to resolve the iCloud backup issue through several iterations of deleting and syncing photos.  At this point I'm at a loss on the GPS issue, but possibly believe it may be SIM card related.  I'm reaching out to Apple about this as well.

Any other ideas?

Labels (1)
0 Likes
1 Solution

Correct answers
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

Hello All,

It appears the fix for me was a new phone.  Verizon sent me a phone yesterday and upon restoring to that phone I noted the GPS was very accurate on cellular service only.

This morning I used Google Maps on my drive into work and it worked perfectly. 

I'm befuddled as to why the carrier update would translate to poor GPS accuracy and then a new phone was a fix.  Although, it was likely a refurbished phone...but all the same, it has been fixed.

Thank you to Verizon for the assistance.  If you are in the same boat I recommend you go the new phone route.  Keep in mind you will need to have appropriate insurance coverage if you current phone is out of warranty.  You can always call Verizon tech support and ask if your phone is in warranty and if you current insurance covers a new phone.  When I called I found my phone was out of warranty, but they recommended increasing my insurance coverage so I can get a replacement phone for free.

I had the new phone up and running in 30 minutes.  Keep in mind that time may vary depending on how many apps you have...

Ryan

View solution in original post

Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

Sorry, too late to edit my initial post.  I wanted to provide the carrier information I found in my iPhone.  Hopefully this helps.

Also, the carrier settings update on my phone happened when I was traveling (not in my home location, but in the US).  I'm not sure if that matters.

Verizon: 23.2

PRL: 15428

ERI: 8

NAI: mymobilenumber@vzims.com

MSID: ##########

IMS Status: Voice & SMS

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

rmills06, we want to speed things up for you when it comes to accurately connecting to GPS on your device. Let's make sure that it's enabled on correctly in Settings > Privacy > Location Services> Enable ON when switch is green. Next, make sure that cellular data is enabled on for the Apple Maps and Google Maps applications in Settings>Cellular Data>Scroll down to those applications and tap to enable on. Keep us posted an d let us know if this resolves your issue.




LasinaH_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

Thank you, but I had checked the cell data and location services were enabled and they both were enabled and still are enabled. Sorry I wasn't clear on this on my troubleshooting steps.

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep
rmills06,

I appreciate all of the hard work you have done on your device. I know WiFi can always improve the location on GPS but we all know WiFi is nt available everywhere. It is alarming to hear this occurred after our carrier update came in. I would like the opportunity to look further into this for you. I have gone ahead and sent  you a Private message.


ChristinaM_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
Cmcvey23
Enthusiast - Level 2

I am also having this exact same issue. Tried all the same steps with no positive results. Started 2-3 weeks ago and has rendered my phone worthless for navigation.bwould be very happy to hear there is a solution for this.

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
Salisbury
Specialist - Level 2

   rmills06, I noticed you did make sure Location Services is turned on. But did you go deeper into those settings to System Services? There's quite a few settings in there as well, and might be worth a look at, possibly one of those could be turned off? You did mention Maps and one of the Settings in System Services is called Improve Maps.

  Settings > Privacy > tap on Location Services then scroll to the bottom and tap on System Services.

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

Yes I did. If those services weren't enabled I wouldn't even get location. I get precise location on wi-if and poor location on cellular service.

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
Cmcvey23
Enthusiast - Level 2

If his is like my issue, as I believe it is, the best way to describe it is that while using Maps or Google Maps, the blue circle around my estimated location is the size of a small city. It's receiving signal, it's just completely inaccurate.

0 Likes
Re: GPS Location Inaccurate - iPhone 6
rmills06
Enthusiast - Level 3

It is like that, but also lagging in my location when I use lapse. I tried it again today and it was about 0.5 miles behind my current location the entire trip. It was intermittent on updating the location.

0 Likes