Stratus 2s - GPS problem

Aviator1213

Aviator1213

Filing Flight Plan
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Aviator1213
Any users of Stratus 2s (or any other versions of Stratus ADS-B receivers) experienced problem with its GPS function?

I've noticed my Stratus 2s' GPS would stop working after about 1 hour of continuing usage...the receiver would have 3 green lights (meaning I have GPS signal, good power, and 2+ ads-b towers), but the little plane on Foreflight map would disappear and won't come back unless I turned Stratus off then back on...and the track log would show only 1st part of the flight, presumably the part when the GPS was still working.
 
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Aviator1213 said:
Any users of Stratus 2s (or any other versions of Stratus ADS-B receivers) experienced problem with its GPS function?

I've noticed my Stratus 2s' GPS would stop working after about 1 hour of continuing usage...the receiver would have 3 green lights (meaning I have GPS signal, good power, and 2+ ads-b towers), but the little plane on Foreflight map would disappear and won't come back unless I turned Stratus off then back on...and the track log would show only 1st part of the flight, presumably the part when the GPS was still working.
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Do you ever hotspot the device to your cell phone? I have noticed that my phones hotspot will override the stratus after a short amount of time, I have to shut it off and leave it off whenever i'm using the stratus, This is using an Ipad Mini. Next time it happens open device in foreflight and make sure the stratus is active. If not check the WiFi and see where your signal is coming from, If it is than the next step is to contact stratus.
 
That is a good thing to check, but is not the cause in this case...the personal hotspot setting is turned off on my phone. It happened again today (this time it resolved after I turned wifi off and then back on). I've contacted Appareo regarding this issue.

I also remember when I first received the unit, I saw in Foreflight settings it didn't think the unit is genuine Stratus...I got mine directly from Appareo so I paid no attention to it :-/
 
I believe I have identified the issue - I use WPA2 encryption, which likely most don't do. I reported this to Foreflight - they think it's a good lead; WPA2 is a new feature and many probably don't use it.

I tested without WPA2 encryption, and the GPS issue is largely resolved - I still occasionally see "Genuine Stratus: No" show up, but it then resolves quickly and doesn't seem to affect the GPS function.

Until Foreflight fixes this, I suggest turning off WPA2 encryption...otherwise be sure you have backup GPS devices or good pilotage/navigational skills!
 
Thanks for sharing your findings with respect to the WPA2 encryption - I too was using that and had the same loss of GPS and ADSB issues.

In one of my former jobs I did a lot of work on WiFi authentication. I saw this key issue on the WPA (1 not 2) when using TKIP - as in it would time out at the 3600 second point - which equates to an hour. Never saw this with WPA2 (typically AES) - but this is a start.

Do you have a reference at ForeFlight (case # etc) - if so, I could share my info with them too.

Thanks
 
Hi 6Pilot,

I will send you privately. Thanks for sharing your experience!
 
New firmware will come out to fix this issue...will take more than a couple of weeks.
 
I have just checked my personal hotspot settings. Its WPS 2 PSK. I usually use wifi and connect cell phones as I have 2 cell phones for network sharing purposes, but I am recharging on only one.
 
This is the first reference to this I have found. I just got the Stratus 2S and am seeing the same behavior. I am also using a password so after reading this I will turn that off and see if it helps. After all this time, however, I am surprised there has been no update to the firmware that can resolve it.
 
What would be the reason for using a password on the 2s? I don't have one on mine and I don't see why I would need one...but maybe I'm missing something.
 
tawood said:
What would be the reason for using a password on the 2s? I don't have one on mine and I don't see why I would need one...but maybe I'm missing something.
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I can't think of one either. If they offer a security function why not use it? Unless of course it doesn't work...as in this case
 
JerryRaia said:
I can't think of one either. If they offer a security function why not use it? Unless of course it doesn't work...as in this case
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But security from what? I can't see how you need security for Wifi flying along...maybe they're using it on a passenger jet?
 
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tawood said:
But security from what? I can't see how you need security for Wifi flying along...maybe their using it on a passenger jet?
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Maybe but even then there isn't much you could do with it. One would have to know what it was when seen as a network and have some kind of app to even do anything. You can also just hide the SSID and that would be enough. Curious why it was offered as an option.
 
JerryRaia said:
Maybe but even then there isn't much you could do with it. One would have to know what it was when seen as a network and have some kind of app to even do anything. You can also just hide the SSID and that would be enough. Curious why it was offered as an option.
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Because hiding an SSID adds essentially zero protection and can cause other connectivity issues/concerns.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk
 
Hi Jerry,
Mark here.
Thank you for your email. You are correct. If you are using WPA2 security on your Stratus, you will want to change that to not use that security protocol.

The above from Foreflight
 
I asked if there was a fix planned and got this response:

Hi Jerry,
We do have an engineering case open for this issue and in reviewing the case, it appears that we are having to work with Appareo on the issue. I am not sure if the fix would come from us or them. It does appear that it is not a simple fix and there is no estimated time for resolution at this point. Unfortunately, I am not sure if/when a resolution may come about due to the complexity of the issue.
 
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