Does iPad 2 WiFi Really Have No GPS???

No need to take it to the apple store unless 4 iPhone4 is having the same issue...

An youre to sigh because what I said could be the fact... I never find iPhone gps to work the best unless youre in a heavily populated cell area....

Think about it..

An youre to sigh because what I said could be the fact

Except that it is not fact.

The iPhone and iPad 3G have GPS and pick up GPS data from GPS satellites with no cell or wifi.

How do you know the GPS is not working with no cell/wifi?

Maps will not get downloaded unless you have a cell/wifi but there are apps that allow you to download maps and save them in the app for the GPS to use when there is no signal.

Because I have a xoom and when I enable airplane mode on xoom and iphone4 the iPhone 4 map stops while the xoom doesnt the blue dot is still there unlike iphone4 it's not unless airplane mode is disabled. Also when I start maps on iPhone it never mention gps xoom does, oh while Im typing now I tried the same on my torch and gps works in airplane mode and it also says acquiring gps satellite I never remember seeing that on any of my iPhones I have owned all models.... Torch and xoom have a setting the disable actual gps radio iPhone doesn't which proves it depends on the cell towers....

not ignorant just that it doesn't work right...... should be able to you gps in air plane mode, gps should have its own switch.... and lastly no reason why wifi models shouldnt have gps unless it relies onthe 3G radio...

"and lastly no reason why wifi models shouldnt have gps unless it relies onthe 3G radio..."

Seriously?

"shouldn't"?

So manufacturers cannot design products without your approval?

Apple did not install a GPS chip in the wifi only model.

You iPad and iPhone are broken.

GPS is just the ability of a device to receive signals from the GPS satellites in order to determine position. It is not really the ability to display ones location on a map. Using an app like MotionX GPS HD will show the source of the location data and with that app you can actually switch between the different modes of determining the device location. I suspect the GPS receiver is included mainly to support 3G operation and is not really meant to be a standalone device feature.

It is not clear what you have but MotionX is showing that you are receiving GPS data. The app would show GPS Searching or Wi-Fi Triangulation if you did not. I do not have a GPS dongle but my understanding is that such a device may update Location Services to reflect that you have a GPS receiver and that it is collecting GPS data.

I have ipad 32 WiFi only and have been upset that teh maps program, urbanspoon and FindiPhone couldn't locate me. Even when I was connected to the internet. I recently ordered a DualGPS150 to use with my iPad since I read good reviews.

Funny thing happened playing with my iPad. I went to Settings and found out my time was set to Central instead of Eastern. Switched it to Eastern, since I live in Detroit area. Low and behold the GPS (assisted or not - who cares) was working. I can be driving down the street and I am located on the map as well as Tripadvisor, etc.

I guess I will be keeping the Dual GPS150 to see how that works. I now love my iPad more than I did before.

richfromberkley wrote:

I have ipad 32 WiFi only

...

Low and behold the GPS (assisted or not - who cares) was working.

The wifi only iPad has no GPS to work.

You mean Location services is working.

If you had the DualGPS connected, it was geting GPS and passing this to Location services info to the iPad.

I haven't gotten the Dual GPS yet! I don't know why, but Location services worked until a mile away from the office and then again a couple of miles away from home!! Don't know why, but it makes it more convenient.

Anyone know of a good mapping program to use with the Dual?

"Funny thing happened playing with my iPad. I went to Settings and found out my time was set to Central instead of Eastern. Switched it to Eastern, since I live in Detroit area. Low and behold the GPS (assisted or not - who cares) was working. I can be driving down the street and I am located on the map as well as Tripadvisor, etc. "

If you are seeing the map in the Map app, you have an internet connection.

If you have a wifi iPad and are seeing a location, you have an Internet location.

There are plenty of wifi spots around. The iPad Map app can easily pick them up and show your location.

Glad things are working a bit better for you on your iPad. Thanks for the post. It is pretty easy to over look the time zone settings during trouble shooting. It is possible location services is dependent on having close to the correct time setting. There may be some sanity checks that are going on. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

richfromberkley wrote:

Anyone know of a good mapping program to use with the Dual?

Using the Navigon GPS mapping program and it works incredibly well with the Dual. Tried some of the others but they didn't work as nicely or as smoothly as the Navigon does.

Interesting thread ... can any of you tell me if I take my Wi-fi only iPad2 to the UK, is there any way I can get internet service while driving so I can use an App ly Sygic for GPS? I plan to buy a phone over there from carphonewarehouse.com to use while there -- perhaps I could pick one that would serve as an internet hot spot? Or, is there some other way I can use my iPad as a GPS while driving in UK or not near a wifi hotspot? Any advice would be appreciated.

Interesting thread ... can any of you tell me if I take my Wi-fi only iPad2 to the UK, is there any way I can get internet service while driving so I can use an App ly Sygic for GPS? I plan to buy a phone over there from carphonewarehouse.com to use while there -- perhaps I could pick one that would serve as an internet hot spot?

Yes, you could get a phone capable of serving as a hot spot.

Or, is there some other way I can use my iPad as a GPS while driving in UK or not near a wifi hotspot? Any advice would be appreciated.

Yikes, the WiFi-only iPad does not have GPS capability. It estimates its location from a database of wifi router MAC addresses (these are unique for each router made) and their last recorded location. When you are near a wifi hotspot which is correctly in the database and your iPad has wifi-access so the location software can access the the router-MAC address vs location database then you will get a position. I believe that the location software does maintain a local cache of found MAC address/locations so it does not always need Wifi access to get a location for a known router MAC address.