How accurate is my GPS location?

LandGlide® relies on the information it receives from your phone GPS/Location Services to show your location.  Please be sure you have given LandGlide® permission to use your location and all location services are turned on.

GPS is a system to estimate location on Earth by using signals from a set of orbiting satellites. The GPS system includes the chip in your mobile device as well as the satellites above the Earth.

A recent worldwide study found that GPS-enabled smartphones show positional accuracy within a 4.9 m (16 ft.) radius under open sky conditions.  However, the accuracy degrades near structures and tree canopies. Urban areas on average, have more GPS signal bounce, and smartphones can detect satellite signals from a much smaller portion of visible sky.

Examples of GPS Issues

If you experience any of the following while using LandGlide®, your location may appear different than your actual location.  Please refer to the troubleshooting steps listed in this answer to prevent similar issues in the future.

• GPS drift: The GPS track deviates from your path. You may see that the track generally follows the shape of the path but with much less precision.
• GPS bounce: A 'jumpy' GPS track can cause you to appear in many different areas in a short time frame.

Achieving Good Initial GPS Lock
 
To achieve fast startup and high-accuracy position estimates, you should provide:

• A clear view of a large portion of the sky. Any obstructions between the phone and the sky can adversely affect signal strength. A big tree is an obvious obstacle, but even a pocket or a backpack can cause problems for the very low-strength signals.
• Time to tune-in to the signals from the satellites. To improve signal acquisition time, keep the device in one place and make sure the device's data communications are enabled. This allows the phone's GPS to get hints about its approximate location. Even with a perfectly clear sky, it can take a few minutes before a lock can be established in some situations.
• Turn off WiFi as it may be causing conflicting data with your GPS as your mobile devices will try to use it as part of the location services.

Understanding Your Device’s GPS Performance

• Even if your device is in the same place and the settings are the same as before, it may behave differently from one day to the next. Typically, the device needs to receive signals from about 5 satellites to get an accurate estimate of its position. With the changing position of the satellites, changing weather patterns, and the changing nature of the Earth's outer atmosphere, there are enough parts of the GPS system outside of your direct control and observation that it is difficult to make conclusions about what specifically is causing inconsistent performance. We recommend you try repeatedly before making a judgment about the best ways to work with your device's GPS.

* Some of the information contained in the FAQ was obtained from GPS.gov.  For more information, please click here.

Please note:  Geolocation on your computer works a little bit differently from a phone with GPS, which is why you may have different current location results from our LandGlide® mobile app.