Strange GPS problem on my s6

IvanDobskey · 22 Mar 2016 at 14:48

Updating to marshmallow did not go smoothly

I have had numerous problems, but the latest one is just the weirdest.

Outside, the GPS works fine and correctly reports my current position. However, when I go inside, it insists I'm in Cambridge!

I have scoured the net and tried everything but no luck. May have to resort to a factory reset

slick rick · 22 Mar 2016 at 14:57

Just move to Cambridge, problem solved!

HecFam · 22 Mar 2016 at 15:03

I had something similar to this on my nexus 6 before.

I live in London and it kept saying I was in a cemetery in Scotland. Before i knew it, I was sipping Irn Bru and playing the bag pipes.

But seriously, mine was down to google maps reporting the wrong location, removed google maps and other apps started reporting correctly.

May be worth clearing the data/cache for maps and seeing if it then reports ok. (as long as i didn't open maps it wouldn't report wrong.) Seems the issue has gone now, but may have been since I updated to 6.0.1.

mark43 · 22 Mar 2016 at 15:10

I used to get a similar issue on my Nexus 4 (so not a marshmallow thing). It would often report my location as Sioux Falls when I was stood at a particular bus stop in Bristol, fine everywhere else.

Myshra · 22 Mar 2016 at 15:59

It's likely attributing a nearby wifi mac address to the wrong location (using the google equiverlant to Skyhook - http://www.skyhookwireless.com/ ).

Amos91 · 22 Mar 2016 at 16:11

Turn off Wifi locating and see if that fixes it.

IvanDobskey · 22 Mar 2016 at 16:21

Thanks for the replies guys.

My WiFi is switched off, so surely nothing to do with that?

I'm at work, and as soon as I leave the building it's OK.

Myshra · 22 Mar 2016 at 16:26

Even with Wi-Fi turned off your Android phone will turn it on to locate you (but won't show it as on) in combination with sniffing the mast ID of your network and then using both to assist with GPS lock using the A-GPS system.

IvanDobskey · 22 Mar 2016 at 16:28

Before I updated to marshmallow, I didn't have this problem though. Very odd.

IvanDobskey · 22 Mar 2016 at 16:42

Actually, I think they have changed the WiFi router at work lately. So maybe this could be the issue.

IvanDobskey · 23 Mar 2016 at 09:01

Myshra said:
Even with Wi-Fi turned off your Android phone will turn it on to locate you (but won't show it as on) in combination with sniffing the mast ID of your network and then using both to assist with GPS lock using the A-GPS system.

Pretty certain you are correct with this. My location is spot on until I enter my work building. Then my phone immediately thinks I'm in Cambridge.

I reckon the new router must be configured incorrectly and my phone is getting locational information from it despite my WiFi being switched off.

Cheers for the help.

Myshra · 23 Mar 2016 at 10:41

np, if you have a high end router you can usually change the broadcast MAC and you can try incrementing it by 1 hex digit at a time to see if it's unique and will stop the issue or you can ask google to fix it:

Shake to send feedback on your mobile device

You can shake your device to send us feedback. This captures a screenshot of your Google Maps screen to help us understand what is going on. You can remove this screenshot if it's not needed.

To turn "shake to send feedback" on or off, follow the steps below.

Open the Google Maps app maps.
Touch the menu > Settings.
Check the box or switch on "Shake to send feedback."

A-GPS is pretty awesome but adding wifi into the mix (they sniff the MACs when they update google maps) gave it the odd issue.