Can a (wi-fi only) ipad be used as a road GPS?

JonH said:
@flyingcheesehead

GPS doesn't require a subscription? What the heck, the guy that sold it to me charges me monthly fees!
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Apple GPS is only in cellular models. So he set you up a data subscription tomuse it "cellularly" instead of buying the more expensive model and using it like the less expensive wifi only model.

I've never understood how apple gets away with charging $100 more dollars for each step up in memory. I added a 32GB card to my Tab A; the package had 2 carxs for ~$35 . . . .
 
pigpenracing said:
Really?
I have been flying with the ipad for over 4 years now. I have the the cellular version with built in gps. I DO NOT use a external GPS. I have never lost GPS signal. I used a Mini 1 first and now have a Pro 10.5.
So why does built in GPS suck? Did someone tell you that? Or have you got lost because your GPS went out?
My opinion is all that external stuff is dumb. More stuff to charge and to fail.
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My first iPad was gps capable. Yes I did lose gos signal in flight. It depends on where you keep the iPad.
My current iPad, Air 2, is non gps capable. The Bad Elf Pro works much better and not dropped the Bluetooth connection. Next will be to upgrade my STRATUX with gps.
 
JonH said:
@flyingcheesehead

GPS doesn't require a subscription? What the heck, the guy that sold it to me charges me monthly fees!
Click to expand...
The subscription is for a data plan. Data plan need not be active to get gps to work. Cellular data plan is needed to download google maps or waze map/data. ForeFlight you can download all the charts before leaving home, or if on an extended trip, get chart updates on the hotel or FBO free WiFi.
 
Guys, it was a joke. I definitely could have worded my first post in this thread a little better. Thanks for setting me straight.

Again, my point was that the GPS functionality shouldn't be coupled with LTE functionality. I know GPS doesn't need LTE, and I know GPS is subscription free, with the exception of paying income taxes.

It really doesn't make sense to me, and I know it's just the way Apple does business. It also doesn't matter, internal GPS sensitivity will never be as good as external GPS sensitivity.
 
JonH said:
Guys, it was a joke. I definitely could have worded my first post in this thread a little better. Thanks for setting me straight.
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I figured it was, but couldn't be sure. Luckily, everyone else answered first. ;)

Again, my point was that the GPS functionality shouldn't be coupled with LTE functionality. I know GPS doesn't need LTE, and I know GPS is subscription free, with the exception of paying income taxes.

It really doesn't make sense to me, and I know it's just the way Apple does business. It also doesn't matter, internal GPS sensitivity will never be as good as external GPS sensitivity.
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It's not "the way Apple does business" - Go back and read the big paragraph I wrote at the beginning of Post 37 which explains the technical reasoning behind it.

Now, I would bet good money that the "non-cellular with GPS" tablets from other companies actually do have the cellular chipset in them to make the GPS work without sucking horribly. Or, the GPS sucks horribly. There really is no other option.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I figured it was, but couldn't be sure. Luckily, everyone else answered first. ;)



It's not "the way Apple does business" - Go back and read the big paragraph I wrote at the beginning of Post 37 which explains the technical reasoning behind it.

Now, I would bet good money that the "non-cellular with GPS" tablets from other companies actually do have the cellular chipset in them to make the GPS work without sucking horribly. Or, the GPS sucks horribly. There really is no other option.
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LTE/Cell is not the only way to achieve faster GPS lockup. You can get similar position information, albeit in somewhat less locations, from WiFi. I don't know how non Apple Wifi only devices operate, but i can tell you that my WiFi iPad gets my pretty precise location without connection to internet. Often and quickly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_positioning_system.

EDIT: Also, while it is true that some of the older GPS units could take forever(and often fail) to lockup enough satellites if they are "lost" in space and time, the new units do not really suffer from that. My Dual finds position very quickly and i turn it on/off hundreds miles away from previous position. No cell or even wifi required.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Now, I would bet good money that the "non-cellular with GPS" tablets from other companies actually do have the cellular chipset in them to make the GPS work without sucking horribly. Or, the GPS sucks horribly. There really is no other option.
Click to expand...
They don't have cellular and they don't suck horribly. Look at an Android tablet teardown picture and you'll see they use dedicated GPS chips, no cellular. Which makes sense because antenna design and FCC approval adds way too much to the NRE to be worthwhile.
 
genna said:
LTE/Cell is not the only way to achieve faster GPS lockup. You can get similar position information, albeit in somewhat less locations, from WiFi. I don't know how non Apple Wifi only devices operate, but i can tell you that my WiFi iPad gets my pretty precise location without connection to internet. Often and quickly

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_positioning_system.
Click to expand...

You still have to have a non-GPS signal for this to work.

EDIT: Also, while it is true that some of the older GPS units could take forever(and often fail) to lockup enough satellites if they are "lost" in space and time, the new units do not really suffer from that. My Dual finds position very quickly and i turn it on/off hundreds miles away from previous position. No cell or even wifi required.
Click to expand...

asicer said:
They don't have cellular and they don't suck horribly. Look at an Android tablet teardown picture and you'll see they use dedicated GPS chips, no cellular. Which makes sense because antenna design and FCC approval adds way too much to the NRE to be worthwhile.
Click to expand...

What's to say neither of those is listening to a cell tower (or wifi) to help with the initial position? What "dedicated GPS chips" do the Androids use, and what prevents them from having a long time to first fix?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
What's to say neither of those is listening to a cell tower (or wifi) to help with the initial position? What "dedicated GPS chips" do the Androids use, and what prevents them from having a long time to first fix?
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Non-cellular Android tablets don't listen to cellular because they don't have cellular hardware. They can use wifi for assistance, though. One dedicated GPS chip that some Android tablets use is the Broadcom BCM4774. There is nothing preventing it from having a long time to first fix, such as if you were in the middle of Antarctic tundra but a cellular iPad would be in the same boat.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
You still have to have a non-GPS signal for this to work.





What's to say neither of those is listening to a cell tower (or wifi) to help with the initial position? What "dedicated GPS chips" do the Androids use, and what prevents them from having a long time to first fix?
Click to expand...


"Non GPS" <> Cellular. I'm not sure what you are trying to say, but all i'm saying is that it is not necessary to have a cellular chip to get quick GPS lockup. It can be done with only wifi chip and even with no long range wireless chips of any kind. So saying that Apple requires Cellular capability(not account) for GPS reception for the benefit of quicker sat. lockup is kind of a weak argument. Sure, it may lockup a little quicker, but it is not a requirement.
 
 
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