New England-filter: Verizon vs AT&T when using GPS/Google Maps

July 19, 2018 11:28 AM

Is Verizon GPS with Google Maps particularly awful around Cape Cod? I just switched to a Verizon pre-paid plan from an AT&T pre-paid plan due to poor AT&T reception in areas I frequent, but I didn't expect it to destroy my GPS-ing! Is it that bad elsewhere?

I checked all the settings possible to ensure the highest location accuracy, rebooted while en route several times, and I couldn't find an explanation why my newly Verizon-ed phone couldn't find out where I was along Route 6 on Cape Cod. Mr metarkest's phone on AT&T had no problems whatsoever.

Have you experienced similar? Is Verizon like this outside of the big New England cities?

Additional details: Unlocked Moto G5S Plus, purchased last fall directly from Motorola, so it's universally unlocked and compatible with both Verizon and AT&T. I've been on AT&T pre-paid plans for 3-4 years and never had such a GPS fail. I kept my SIM card when I switched, and can switch back.

Thanks in advance for your advice, experience, etc.!

posted by metarkest to Technology (8 answers total)

There are some cheats based on cell towers or other markers if satellite reception is bad, but GPS shouldn't be dependent on the carrier. It's a separate radio chip entirely.

I did some quick googling and there appear to be others with your phone having the problem, with some people pinning it to a software update this year. Have you tried contacting Motorola support? This really sounds like a phone issue.
posted by mikeh at 11:36 AM on July 19, 2018

The GPS status app should be able to help you troubleshoot since it shows all the detailed status information and allows you to force a download of assistance data or even a full cold start.

Unless Verizon is doing something weird to force it not to use the GPS chip or is forcing the download of incorrect assistance data, changing carriers shouldn't cause any change in GPS lock speed or accuracy.
posted by wierdo at 11:48 AM on July 19, 2018

Best answer: Anecdote: I loaned my AT&T phone to marine mammal rescuers on a Truro ocean beach earlier this month because their Verizon phones had no signal.
posted by nicwolff at 11:56 AM on July 19, 2018

I have Verizon on an Android phone. I've not been to Cape Cod.

However, when I asked for route from CT to Maine a couple months ago, I got a message that coverage was skimpy in places along the route and asked if I wanted to download maps in advance. I don't know if you can force that. If you have the maps, the GPS ought to at least be able to track you along your route in the areas of skimpy coverage.
posted by SemiSalt at 11:58 AM on July 19, 2018

Cell carrier absolutely could cause the observed behavior. Despite what you'd think, phones mostly don't use GPS to locate you. Cell tower and wifi network proximity are much more frequently used because they are lower power and more convenient. On an iPhone at least, the actual GPS is mostly only used if there is literally no cell tower or wifi signal. Driving on a road I expect my position most of the time comes from cell towers.

Be sure to power the phone entirely off and back on after switching networks, and see if there's any cellular data update you can get. When I go to Europe that's the only way I can convince my US iPhone to fully use a European network.

I'm wondering if your phone is able to talk GSM/LTE to Verizon, but not CDMA. A lot of AT&T-sold cell phones are not CDMA capable and that might cause a partial failure of service. I can't tell from what I read online whether the moto g⁵ˢ plus is CDMA capable. I think it is supposed to be? But there are lots of complaints about it not working... can't tell if that's the usual customer griping or if it's a real problem.
posted by Nelson at 12:04 PM on July 19, 2018

If you are heading back, you can have Google Maps cache offline maps of the area while you're somewhere with WiFi or a good cell signal.
posted by exogenous at 12:48 PM on July 19, 2018

The Moto G5s plus is capable to talking to Verizon on all its networks and frequencies, that's not the issue. Second, I have to just flatly say that GPS/GNSS is the primary source of location for road navigation. This is not the case for casual location queries, but only GPS/GNSS has sufficient accuracy (especially in non-urban areas) for navigation, since cell tower location is only typically accurate to within a half-to-quarter mile in most cases, if not worse.

Your carrier shouldn't affect the ability to get a GPS lock. Were you able to see if you had data coverage? It could be the case that you were able to get a location but not actual directions/navigation if that's the case.
posted by thegears at 4:05 PM on July 19, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks for the ideas and comments so far! According to Motorola's website (where I bought the phone - it's not from AT&T), it is completely compatible with both Verizon and AT&T.

It seemed to have data, as it was rapidly able to do the mapping it needed to get me from point A to point B, but then it couldn't follow me along the route. My icon never turned into a blue arrow, instead fluctuating between a blue dot at random points along the route or a grey dot with the frustrating announcement of "GPS Signal Lost."

This just started happening after I switched (I switched on Saturday morning, traveled on Monday) and there wasn't any software update that would have affected this.

I had downloaded the maps previously, as well.

I am thinking it's a Verizon tower issue. But please keep the ideas and suggestions coming! I'll be using it for a few more weeks and then I'll decide whether to go back to AT&T.
posted by metarkest at 7:03 AM on July 20, 2018