daddy2coull

daddy2coull

Active Member
I'm looking for a Bluetooth GPS antenna so I can use sat nav etc in my apple devices when there is no phone signal. Can anyone point me towards a good one that's going to last?

Do these work in the same way a stand alone sat nav does. I've tried reading up a bit, but I'm baffled :(
 
Has your iPhone / iPad not got GPS built in. My iPad did not have it and I bought a Bad Elf GPS not cheap.
 
I was under the impression the gps on an iphone will only work with phone signal?? Regardless, my iPad mini doesn't.
 
GPS is totally different to phone signal. I done some searching for GPS for my iPad and Bad Elf seemed the only option, but at about £100 it ain't cheap.
 
For the exta few quid the bad elf plugs straight in to the iPad port and is only about an inch square
 
The only downside I can see would be the loss of phone charging. Plus I also use a brodit active phone cradle. Bugger
 
Before you go spending money, think this through.

Does your iphone satnav work when there is a phone signal?

Does it not work without a phone signal?

If the answer to both is yes, then there is nothing wrong with the GPS receiver. The problem, I suspect, is that the phone uses online maps, which it downloads in small areas as you drive around. Lose the mobile signal and it soon runs out of map information. Typically, the designers don't understand that even an iThing owner might just go somewhere there is no signal.

If I am right (and I don't actually have an iThing), then you cannot buy extra bits to solve the problem.

You may be able to download navigation software with maps to store on your phone - look in the app store.

Or buy a dedicated satnav, or a mobile that stores the maps locally (Nokia for instance). Hidden advantage to this is that if you get it on a different phone provider you will have enhanced security of being able to make a call.

Try here http://www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/112588/best-sat-nav-apps-2014 for more info on options.
 
Last edited:
thanks for the heads up fogey. luckily i'd already bought the tomtom app about five years ago and forgotten about it. it was ranked as number 2 on the site you linked to and has lifetime map updates which are stored offline. i just need a gps signal so i can also use it on my ipad mini :)
 
The old TomTom Navigator 5 and 6 were standalone GPS receivers with Bluetooth. Still use one with my HP Ipaq to run TomTom, old but pretty reliable, we've used it in Europe, UK and North America.

Peter
 
daddy2coull said:
thanks for the heads up fogey. luckily i'd already bought the tomtom app about five years ago and forgotten about it. it was ranked as number 2 on the site you linked to and has lifetime map updates which are stored offline. i just need a gps signal so i can also use it on my ipad mini :)
Click to expand...

I have the Tom tom on both my iPhone which has GPS and my iPad which doesn't that's why I got the bad elf one for the iPad works properly with out phone signal also use it for my memory map
 
A lot of modern 'phones with built-in GPS use the 'phone signal to locate the nearest mast, which it then knows the position of, as an aid to the gps part, giving a faster start time. If you're used to seeing your 'phone's gps initially showing the same 'wrong' place for a moment when you're at a known location (home/work), that's why.
 
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