Carla Saavedra, web product analyst for Samsung Mobile support, recently tweeted information about a software update Samsung is hard at work on to fix the GPS problems that plague the Galaxy S line of Android smartphones.
The Samsung Vibrant and the Samsung Captivate seem to be the phones suffering the most from the poor GPS functionality. This could affect the not yet released EPIC 4g and the Fascinate phones as well. This software fix could be in conjunction with a Froyo update, although it hasn’t been confirmed.
You can try to fix it yourself, if you feel comforable using these steps:
- Navigate to Settings > Location & Security and uncheck the box next to “Use Wireless Networks.”
- Go to the phone’s dialer and enter the number *#*#1472365#*#* then press send to access the phones LBSTestMode menu.
- In the LBSTestMode menu, press “Application Settings” and change “Operation Mode” to “MS Based.”
- Navigate to the “SUP/LCP Settings” and the SERVER & PORT to supl.google.com (make sure NOT to place “www.” in front) and port 7276.
- Make sure the settings are saved and reboot your phone.
- Navigate back to Settings > Location & Security and check the box next to “Use Wireless Networks.”
This fix is also confirmed to work on the Samsung Captivate.
If the fix doesn’t seem to work for you and you’d like to reset to your old setting repeat the same process but use the following information at the LBSTestMode menu:
- Operation Mode: Standalone
- SERVER: www.spirent-lcs.com
- PORT: 7275