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AW5 LTE GPS accuracy problem
- Thread starter rbart
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Hello,
my wife is having the same issue with her AW4 with Cellular for some time.
The difference between my AW3 with Cellular and hers were 700m on a 10km track - reproducible all the time.
I worked with several Apple support colleague approx 11/2 years ago and uploaded gigabytes of log file for them.
At a certain point they did not come back to me and I was tired talking to new folks. During my talks with them the issue got better to a difference of 200m only, but this is also not acceptable in my eyes.
As you all confirmed, with LTE turned off all is cool.
I also tested different service provider -> O2 vs Telekom and having the same issue.
I noticed that the Watch works fine in areas were you have strong mobile connectivity, but we are running in an area where you might have no reception or very low.
Anyway, last week I tested the AW5 with Cellular and this device is showing also the same problems.
Also did reset the watches several times and setup as new, did run with a phone doing a new calibration. Tested the internal App as well as Runtastic and Strava......
I'm at a point to sell the AW4 and buy a AW3 for my wife as turning off LTE is not an option, especially when she is running alone she wants to be able to place a call.
The only thing I haven't tested yet is the new Watch OS7 and someone asked if someone already tested, but till now no one answered. I still doubt that this is 100% fixing the issue, because I assume that this is a HW problem that the cellular module create interferences to the GPS module or something like this.
I'm really disappointed how Apple is handling this issue as you are also reading it in the official Apple forums.
Best regards
my wife is having the same issue with her AW4 with Cellular for some time.
The difference between my AW3 with Cellular and hers were 700m on a 10km track - reproducible all the time.
I worked with several Apple support colleague approx 11/2 years ago and uploaded gigabytes of log file for them.
At a certain point they did not come back to me and I was tired talking to new folks. During my talks with them the issue got better to a difference of 200m only, but this is also not acceptable in my eyes.
As you all confirmed, with LTE turned off all is cool.
I also tested different service provider -> O2 vs Telekom and having the same issue.
I noticed that the Watch works fine in areas were you have strong mobile connectivity, but we are running in an area where you might have no reception or very low.
Anyway, last week I tested the AW5 with Cellular and this device is showing also the same problems.
Also did reset the watches several times and setup as new, did run with a phone doing a new calibration. Tested the internal App as well as Runtastic and Strava......
I'm at a point to sell the AW4 and buy a AW3 for my wife as turning off LTE is not an option, especially when she is running alone she wants to be able to place a call.
The only thing I haven't tested yet is the new Watch OS7 and someone asked if someone already tested, but till now no one answered. I still doubt that this is 100% fixing the issue, because I assume that this is a HW problem that the cellular module create interferences to the GPS module or something like this.
I'm really disappointed how Apple is handling this issue as you are also reading it in the official Apple forums.
Best regards
Thanks, Winni. Let uns keep in contact on this issue. Especially when you have updates on WatchOS 7.
Does your wife experience also these bizarre tracking in areas with obviously weak reception?
Btw, was involved in a conversation on Twitter lately and a guy running with an iPhone SE2 with Strava on it (no AW) showed a track that had exactly the same glitches (doing pirouettes like a dancer) and he compared the track to the track he recorded parallel with Garmin and iPhone over reported about 1km on 17km due to these bizarre artifacts.
Does your wife experience also these bizarre tracking in areas with obviously weak reception?
Btw, was involved in a conversation on Twitter lately and a guy running with an iPhone SE2 with Strava on it (no AW) showed a track that had exactly the same glitches (doing pirouettes like a dancer) and he compared the track to the track he recorded parallel with Garmin and iPhone over reported about 1km on 17km due to these bizarre artifacts.
Currently I cannot test the AW4 or 5 with WatchOS 7. Installing a beta on my wife's phone and Watch could destroy the private freedom;-) That's why I'm pushing the question again, if someone had tested it.
Maybe it wasn't clear in my comment: It looks like that the problems are only in areas where she has no reception or weak reception. We are usually running only two different tracks and the one in the forrest with the weak is the favourite.
Another track at the river within the city where reception is great, always looks good. Hope that helps.
In the past I had zig zags and circles when we had a track difference of 700m on the 10km track. Now with the 200m it is just not as sharp and going. Attached is a good example... sometimes it is more off track and sometimes less. Usually it is less off track, but a little bit and the sum is the problem.
Again, I cannot test the AW OS7 public beta!
Attachments
I told Apple that I would like to give back my AW4 and get my money back... my wife has now a AW3 with Cellular and everything works fine.
Read bad postings about GPS accuracy in iOS 14 getting worse. Yes, iOS is not watchOS. But as we see the same issues in iOS 13 and watchOS 6, I am not hopeful that watchOS 7 beta is fixing our problem.
By the way, the German guy who got his AW5 LTE exchanged by Apple wrote back that his new watch did not show the fault again. No idea what I will do with this information.
By the way, the German guy who got his AW5 LTE exchanged by Apple wrote back that his new watch did not show the fault again. No idea what I will do with this information.
I really would wonder if Watch OS7 is fixing it as Apple is on this for more than a year. For me it looks like that this is a HW architecture/design problem, which for sure could be "repaired" via software... but it seems to be not so easy for them. I also would wonder that a newer AW4 is not having this issue as I tested a AW5 having the same problem.
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btw. I mentioned that I reached out to Apple Support to reopen my ticket.... and talked to second level and they promised me to investigate and come back. Surprise surprise I have never heard back. The way how Apple Support handles it is not acceptable. I'm currently trying a different way to get someone to work on this and hope to have some updates soon.
could be, but why do the fixes of the newer potential revisions of the AW4 did not make it into the AW5?
Do you have a link on the forum where the German guy has posted ?
I will try to call apple support tomorrow
It is in the private German Facebook group „Apple Watch Deutschland“.
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I have called apple this morning.
Same "tips" as usual.
They told me to try with VoLTE disabled. I am not convinced at all.
But I will try and call them back ...
They also asked me to ask my phone operator ...
I won't do that, it's a waste of time !
Same "tips" as usual.
They told me to try with VoLTE disabled. I am not convinced at all.
But I will try and call them back ...
They also asked me to ask my phone operator ...
I won't do that, it's a waste of time !
Last edited:
Haha, what a joke. Asking the phone operator. I can not imagine a more useless thing to do. 20 hours on the phone - result less than nothing.
How do you switch off VoLTE on the watch?
I read a little. No expert on this. But what I found out: VoLTE is the only way an AW can be used as a phone. No GSM or 3G. So switching this off is almost equal to switching off LTE as a whole. Of course streaming data would still be possible, but the idea of being reachable is gone.