iPad2 GPS

I keep forgetting that. Can you link them for GPS purposes if you're beyond range of cell signals (i.e., in the ocean)?

Can you link them for GPS purposes if you're beyond range of cell signals (i.e., in the ocean)?

Heck if I know. Oceanic marker bouys are not also cell towers?

Dah•veed wrote:

Can you link them for GPS purposes if you're beyond range of cell signals (i.e., in the ocean)?

Heck if I know. Oceanic marker bouys are not also cell towers?

Naah. Cell towers connect the wireless signals to the landline network which, of course, isn't exactly practical with buoys.

So, the reason I found this thread is because I just set up "Find My iPad" and tested it. It is an iPad2, WiFi only. Naturally, I expected it to locate the closest demark my provider (Comcast) has to my house (static IP). Normally it shows Tacoma WA area (I'm in Seattle) but every once in a while it shows me in Arkansas. That's normal for dynamic infrastructure routing.

However, the Find My iPad app precisely pinpointed my position as if by GPS. Looking up my static IP maps somewhere in proximity of my house as it normally does.

The question is, if the iPad has no GPS and no 3G, HTF did it know my precise location?

T

I don't know, but mine does it as well here in Monterrey, Mexico. If i go to street view the camera is looking right at the front door to the building in which I live (3rd floor.)

It likely found your precise location because your router has been tagged by your ISP, which mapped you precisely.

No, as I said before, the geo-tagging to the IP itself only resolves to what the closest demark is, which is typically Tacoma. I've tested that multiple times. Comcast does not associate the IPs of customers to their service address insofar as public geo-tagging is concerned.

There's no 3G, so it can't be cell tower triangulation. My guess is that there IS a GPS in the iPad2’s, though it is only available to specific Apple applications unless the 3G component exists. I’ll find out today for sure, either by calling Apple or just taking the iPad out to a different wifi (Starbucks, etc.)

Any "real" yacht is going to have multiple GPS nav systems on it already. It's actually quite common for even small boats to have them these days. There are no cell facilities embedded in buoys.

You are incorrect. The wifi-only iPad does not have GPS or GPS functionality. GPS does not require 3G or wifi connections. GPS is an independent satelite system. Cell towers are only used to assist GPS in getting its initial fix. But if there are no cell towers GPS will still get a fix.

Location services on a wifi-only iPad depends on the connected router being listed in a location database. If the router is not in a location database then the location will be wrong. Router location is reported by router owners and by war drivers seeking wifi signals. Google may even do this when driving the neighborhoods for image/mapping info, but I'm not certain about Google doing this.

I know how GPS works. My statement was “I guess” in regard to the functionality, as it is quite common for manufacturers to include full hardware support for multiple functions but limit access based on enabled features. If you are certain this is not the case, then my question goes unanswered.

Location services MUST work differently than what you state as my IP is *not* mapped to my physical address anywhere, only to the closest Comcast facilities. I’ve stated this multiple times, and verified with Comcast.

As such, the question remains, how can the “find my iPad” and “Map” applications pinpoint my precise location if there is no GPS? It is *NOT* by geotagging of IP (not in this case, anyway).

You can guess all you wish but Bob is correct. The WiFi-only iPad does not have GPS hardware. Period.

I find it interesting that you people are so concerned with being "right" that it prevents you from answering the question.

Not sure why I bother with these public forums - this is always the type of response I see. But let's try again. My iPad2 "Find my iPad" and "Map" show my precise physical location. All I have is WiFi. It is not because of geo-tagging of my IP - this has been tested and verified by Comcast.

All information I have found inidcates geo-tagging on WiFi-only systems is accomplished through reverse lookup of IP to physical address via a geo-location db. This is not so in my case. Given this, how does it know my precise (within feet far offset from where the street actually is)?

t

I find it interesting that you people are so concerned with being "right" that it prevents you from answering the question.

So you would rather have a wrong answer to the question? Being right doesn't seem to be that important to you, but to properly answer the question, one would need to be right.

No, I was looking for an answer to the actual question I asked, not hardware configurations and other people confirming hardware configurations. And, of course, you've contributed nothing either.

This is clearly the wrong place to be; my apologies for assuming otherwise.

Well, the correct answer is rather straightforward but you've already made up your mind. You've stated that multiple times.