Poor GPS performance with AIS mobile

[404cameljockey]

I just moved to HH and have taken a postpaid AIS phone contract. Out of interest, no work or other visa needed to be shown, just passport page and bank book (I got the bank account last year on a tourist visa, I love the way rules are applied in this country!).

Moving on - I went with AIS because I believe they often/usually have the better coverage, but my God, the GPS...

Before, in any country including here I always used this same phone and my UAE (Etisalat) SIM on roaming, and found Google Maps navigation to work very well. But after one day using the AIS SIM I have spent maybe 30 percent of the time with a 'searching for GPS signal' message on the map screen, and often a lot of lag in updating directions. And that's even when driving down Route 4 through HH!

Is this par for the course with Thai phone service providers?

Cheers

[Geko]

Look at this site could help

https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-impro ... ur-android

or try loading a app the uses pre-loaded maps.

[pitsch]

With the App "HERE Maps" you need Internet only to download the maps and then you dont need internet for navigation. I am not sure if it works only with Samsung Mobiles.

[STEVE G]

There is no connection between the SIM card and a GPS signal, that is an independent function of your phone and the GPS network. If your phone found a signal before and can't now, it's probably due to interference or signal blocking from the environment that you're in, are you trying to use it in a vehicle or in the street or countryside?

[VincentD]

GPS reception for mobile phones differs from the stand-alone GPS units as they also use A-GPS (Assisted GPS) to enhance the signal using wifi and transmission towers to help. They call this high accuracy, and it uses signals from wifi and cell towers to enhance the satellite signals.If you use online maps like Google maps, you will also need a good data connection.
Reception could be a bit spotty in a certain area as cell tower location for AIS may not be the same as cell tower locations for other ISPs.
YMMV

[Geko]

Google maps was updated last year to allow you to download map areas, so you use less data online when actually using the app.

[404cameljockey]

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate the answers. The main point is that it's the same phone as when I was here in May, and the same places (HH main drag where I guess cell towers should be available. The only difference has been the AIS SIM.

Thinking about it, there may be something in the car that's interfering with the signal, I found yesterday that I didn't get the problem if I held the phone instead of propping it up in front of the radio (which was switched off). I didn't think of that before.

And downloading the maps is a great idea anyway.

Cheers, happy Changday.

[VincentD]

Best place for the GPS unit is on a windscreen mount so it can 'see' the satellites. Putting it lower down obstructs the view so it may take a while to acquire a useable signal. Even metallised windscreen tint affects the reception.