GPS Lock Taking Too Long? Try Google Location Server supl.google.com
If you’re waiting too long for a GPS lock, try the location server supl.google.com instead. When I was using the Nokia N900 in Amsterdam, I was able to geotag photos in seconds. I became very suspicious when I came back in the US and it took much longer. I shrugged it off until a tip from the Maemo community suggested to replace Nokia’s location server with Google. I’m happy to report that I now get a GPS lock in seconds!
I’m not sure why this is the case, but others in the US have confirmed changing the location server from supl.nokia.com to supl.google.com makes the GPS faster to find their location. I also got better results after replacing the server on the Nokia N97 mini as well.
Assisted GPS (A-GPS) uses the device’s data connection to talk to these location servers to help triangulate positioning data even where GPS signal is poor, like when the device is surrounded by buildings or is indoors. You can change the server under your device settings. On the Nokia N900, it is found on Settings – Location.
Is it possible that Nokia’s location server is broken in the US or am I being delusional? Try Google’s and let me know if you see improvements.
Dave on 16 December 2009:
A-GPS seems to work much, much faster now on my N900. It found the closest cell tower almost instantly in Ovi Maps, instead of waiting till it acquired a full GPS lock.
Also, in the status tray, the dish icon has appeared and the status menu shows “Coarse Accuracy”. This never showed when the Nokia A-GPS server was being used.
On my G1, coarse geotagging was very quick, and I'm hoping that this will help. Better to have it geotagged in the neighborhood than not at all.
Mark Guim on 16 December 2009:
Thanks for the feedback Dave. I'm assuming you're also in the US?
slipurson on 16 December 2009:
I tried this on my “swedish” unbranded N97, and every time i started Nokia Maps it crashed my phone with some flickering colors on the screen and then i had to restart the phone by pressing the powerbutton, i tried this 4 times and then changed back to supl.nokia.com and it worked fine, changed again to supl.google.com and it shut down in nokia maps again.
I also tried it with Google Maps and that worked fine,with both servers, but i got the feeling that supl.google.com was faster and more accurate, got “you are about 200m from this location” with no conection to any satelite, with nokia.com i keep getting 500-1000m.
Just thought i should add that it might not work well in areas outside the US
Yaotl on 16 December 2009:
freaky, just tried this on my N97 NAM and the same thing happened. Ovi Maps did the fade out and flickering colors thing and shut down the phone.
tony on 16 December 2009:
Does supl.google.com work outside of US?
RaChi on 16 December 2009:
Great tip. The GPS lock is much improved.
Thanks.
Raphael Chalono on 16 December 2009:
The same thing happens to me and I live in France. Maybe it only works for US.
Mark Guim on 16 December 2009:
Thanks for letting us know. Maybe this just works in the US.
Mark Guim on 16 December 2009:
Thanks. Where are you located?
RaChi on 16 December 2009:
DC
RaChi on 16 December 2009:
DC
Jeremy on 17 December 2009:
To plan for a Blues Clues Party, start out by finding some pre made cards of the Blues Clues characters. These should be readily available with most online party suppliers. Can’t find any and have good home printer? Then find some good graphics of your child’s favorite characters online. Or, look for some paper or cards that have some dog prints on them!
KnoedelDealer on 17 December 2009:
Using supl.google.com ovi maps crashes the whole phone (N97) reproducible
mspierings on 17 December 2009:
To me happened the same on a N97 V20 EUR
KnoedelDealer on 17 December 2009:
Using supl.google.com ovi maps crashes the whole phone (N97) reproducible (i'm in germany)
mspierings on 17 December 2009:
To me happened the same on a N97 V20 EUR
Dave on 17 December 2009:
That's correct.
I've used it numerous times since with success. I did have to re-enable the “enable geotagging” option in the Camera, which seemed to cause the app to hang badly, but after a restart it was working very quick.
Akin to what I mentioned on the G1, and Google's A-GPS implementation, when I open Ovi Maps and check my location, it simply tells me which cellular tower I am connected to, rather than my exact location. This might not be exact, but it's close enough for photos and to get directions while waiting for GPS to lock for the more precise driving display.
Aaron Martin-Colby on 19 December 2009:
Rhode Island, rural, USA.
Nokia N85. GPS lock comes substantially faster. I'd estimate 15 seconds faster. Total time about 30 seconds. It's very impressive.
Works well in Google Maps. Crashes my phone in Ovi Maps. I don't mind. I've stopped using Ovi Maps.
RaphiBF on 19 December 2009:
I tried it on my N97 in Germany and the phone crashes immediately if you open up OviMaps and want to go to your location. “supl.nokia.com” works quite good, so it's not that bad at all
Greets, Raphi
fly3rman on 21 December 2009:
crash my 5800
avogl on 21 December 2009:
The google change causes ovi maps 3.01 to crash the phone immediately on my N86 RM-485, as well. Everything works fine once I went back to supl.nokia.com.
HD 720p on 26 December 2009:
thanks for the great content posted here will always be visiting your blog
vaolo on 28 December 2009:
I tried from france it works like a charm, merci beaucoup !
EverythingBlaxx on 3 January 2010:
It's definitely not faster than the Nokia servers here in Canada. It does work tho on the N900
ParkCity on 6 January 2010:
N97 crashed in Finland, too (V20). The nokia server works quite well for me so it doesn' matter to me.
fhuynh on 6 January 2010:
Twin Cities, Minnesota US – N82-NAM
Wow, great tip. Thanks so much!
Google server greatly improves the lock speed with Nokia maps 3.01. It used to take over 2min with nokia server. N82 NAM locked within 5s (solid 8+ satelites).
LoGiKZ on 11 January 2010:
I've tried that and really works! The gps fix becomes faster!!
Ravi on 16 January 2010:
As posted by Mike Lockwood (Google Android division employee) about the supl.google.com server: “It should be OK to use this for testing, but if you want to ship a phone using this server you will need to talk to us first.”
link: http://groups.google.com/group/android-platform...
Chances are, Nokia doesn't have permission to use google's agps server, so the agps request is denied, and this causes the Maps program to crash for some. The denial from google is probably more prevalent in certain areas where the google servers are wise to this new Nokia trick.
Ravi
hedline on 18 January 2010:
Try this instead, start google maps, then start Ovi maps. By starting Google maps 1st your device will lock on GPS much faster. Then all you have to do when you find enough satellites is exiting Google maps. This will hopefully solve GPS-lockdown-waiting-time for OVI maps.
Aaron MC on 22 January 2010:
I just used Nokia Sports Tracker and it didn't crash like Ovi Maps. In fact, the GPS lock was lightening quick in ways Sports Tracker has never been. A MASSIVE improvement.
Leon on 29 January 2010:
Tried it in Monterrey, Mexico
Works much better..! Thanks
karl on 4 February 2010:
switched the location server as advised and can attest to the fact that switiching to the google server brought an immediate and marked improvement in lock times. in the u.s. and am able to get a lock in seconds whereas before a lock would be obtained a third of the time and then after a long wait. thanks for the tip!
Elad on 14 April 2010:
It looks like supl.google.com is down today (Apr 14). Does anyone know what's happening?
Elad on 15 April 2010:
It looks like Google changed the IP of supl.google.com to 72.14.221.192 and it took some time for the change to propagate through the DNS servers. Now it is working fine.
Mark Guim on 15 April 2010:
thanks for the update!
Steeb on 29 April 2010:
New n900, ovi maps 1.01, Orlando FL.
Thoughht it was broke, reporting me 15 miles from my actual location, and slow to load. Google's server is faster, and more accurate, no crash so far.
arkadinho on 3 May 2010:
I tried this on my N900 from Almere, the Netherlands (45 minutes from Amsterdam by car) and I didn't notice any difference between the Nokia and the Google servers' lock time. As you said it was already quite fast for you in Amsterdam but I figured I'd give it a try. How long should a GPS-lock take at the very least anyway? It takes about 20 seconds for me on average, which isn't a lot but I'd still wish it could be about half that time.
Soundje on 16 May 2010:
Well i tried it on my 5800 and it works like crazy! GPS lock with A-GPS online within 5 seconds without any crash. One thing i must say, the GPS is much better in the 5800 XM then in the N97. It took ages for the N97 mini to lock on a signal and even then, it kept it for a few seconds and dropped it again. Switching to GPS only and A-GPS off and offline worked a bit better but not that well.
*Netherlands / Noord Holland*
adan on 26 May 2010:
it works on my 5800!! im from malaysia, thanx!
SandraMillhouse on 11 June 2010:
Google does work faster. I wasn't expecting that. I guess all GPS devices can use Google instead of their own application. I wonder what the mobile companies think about this.
Sandra Millhouse | VPS hosting
SandraMillhouse on 11 June 2010:
Google does work faster. I wasn't expecting that. I guess all GPS devices can use Google instead of their own application. I wonder what the mobile companies think about this.
Sandra Millhouse | VPS hosting
GPS tracker on 9 July 2010:
Great article, actually you know I have settings like you said in my Samsung I8910 lol.
Tnmanju on 19 July 2010:
I am trying to connect to supl.google.com. Please let me know if root certificate is required to obtain connection. If yes, could you please let me know how to obtain root certificate for this ?
Elad on 28 August 2010:
For the post month or so, supl.google.com doesn't work with the N900. On the other hand, supl.nokia.com works quite well.