Ionic: GPS and Floors accuracy

[mgtsol]

My Ionic's GPS seems to be inaccurate. When my wife got one a few weeks ago, we'd regularly go on walks/runs together and found that for every 1 mile she'd log, I'd log 1.07m. I'm inclined to believe her Ionic is the accurate one of the two because her Nike+ app also logs pretty much the same distance as her Ionic. I also noticed this, from a there-and-back run earlier today.

This is me running on the exact same path in each direction, but the GPS is pretty different on the return leg.

Is there something I can do to improve the GPS tracking, like a setting within the Fitbit? Can I recalibrate it somehow? Is this maybe indicative of a hardware issue?

I've also noticed the altitude sensor is pretty wrong too, though I don't know if this would have anything to do with the GPS inaccuracy. I can sit still and my altitude reading will constantly swing between a range of about 4 or 5 feet. And that range is also wrong too. I live near the water, but it thinks I'm at 150' altitude. I'm losing confidence in this Ionic. Any advice?

Moderator Edit: Changed subject for clarity 

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello @mgtsol thank you for bringing this to my concern. I'll to give you a hand and a warm welcome to our Community Forums!

I'm sorry to see that yo're losing confidence with your Ionic, seems odd that your wife Ionic watch GPS data is different than yours, most because of the fact that you and her are walking/running together. As a side note, me share with you that at least 24 GPS satellites are constantly in orbit around the Earth and broadcasting data. All GPS devices, whether your phone or a Fitbit device, require a direct path to these satellites in order to receive their radio transmissions. If the signal is blocked—either because you're underground, near many tall buildings, or as a result of atmospheric effects—GPS won't properly work.

I recommend you to first restart your Ionic watch following these article instructions: How do I restart my Fitbit device? and check it's performance in your next walking/running activity with your wife. 

Regarding your floors accuracy concern, I don't believe that this is affecting your device GPS lectures. However, I recommend you to check our help article: Why does my Fitbit device count extra floors? for more details about this specific situation. 

Keep me posted!

[mgtsol]

Hey Ricardo,

Thanks for the reply! I'll restart the watch as suggested, but there's no tall buildings on this route since it's near the water. My wife's Ionic also doesn't have this "shaky" route on the map and we're together when we exercise so I don't think the external environment has anything to do with it.

I've also been reading a bit more about this subject on these forums and it seems the Ionic doesn't really use GPS anyway when calculating distance? It only uses GPS to show you the route on a map afterwards. The actual distance is calculated based on the number of steps x your stride length. At the moment I'm letting Fitbit automatically calculate my stride length (I guess based on my height) so maybe I need to manually define my the stride length to tweak this.

> Regarding your floors accuracy concern, I don't believe that this is affecting your device GPS lectures. However, I recommend you to check our help article: Why does my Fitbit device count extra floors? for more details about this specific situation. 

It's not really floors I'm referring to in my original comment. I don't really pay attention to how many floors. The clock face I've installed can show me the actual raw altimeter reading i.e. how many feet above sea level I currently am, and that's what constantly swings between a range of about 4 or 5 feet. Anyway, I'll restart the Fitbit as suggested and set my stride length manually, and see if the accuracy improves.

Thanks

[Colinm39]

@mgtsol   The Auto detection of stride (step) is

Men = 0.415 x Height and Women 0.413 X Height

Here is Fitbit's suggestion to measure stride..

Fitbit have stated in this community that the calculation they use to determine default stride lengths is proprietary and cannot be disclosed. However, others have reverse engineered their own data and come to a conclusion that the default walking stride is 0.415 x height for men and 0.413 x height for women.

[Osmar]

Did you fix it?

I am having the same problem.

My wife's ionic is ok.

Mine is chaos.

See the pic below from today's walk:

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello again @mgtsol thanks for your reply and the details provided, I'm glad to continue assisting you. Same for you @Osmar and @Colinm39, it's nice to see both of you participating in our Community again, welcome back.

@mgtsol I want to begin appreciating the details given regarding the location where you usually use your Ionic these details help me to better understand your situation. I'll be here if you are having the same difficulties after restarting your device and manually adjusting the stride length  Same for you @Osmar, can you please confirm if you already restarted your Ionic device and if the stride length information is set to auto or if you defined this information? Thanks for the screenshot that was attached. 

@Colinm39 thank you for your helping other users and for the details that were provided, I'm sure that this information will help other users with the same inquiry about default stride lengths.

I'll be here if you need anything else. Don't hesitate to ask any additional questions you may have.        

[Osmar]

Hi!

Thanks for the reply.

My stride length was manually set up.

I just changed it to automatic.

Restarted the ionic.

Tomorrow I will go for a walk and will give you some feedback.

Thanks!

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello again! Thanks for your reply and update @Osmar I'm happy to followup your concern.

Thank you for taking in consideration the steps that were previously mentioned, please keep me posted if you still experience difficulties with the GPS of your Ionic watch so I can further assist you.

I'll be around.

[Osmar]

Hi!
It was the magnetic band.
I changed the band and it went back to normal.

As you can see.

[Osmar]

Straight, precise lines.

How can a band interfere with gps?

I didn't imagine that was possible.

[Colinm39]

@OsmarGreat analytical deductions... Many will benefit from your "fix"... Well done.

[RicardoFitbit]

Hello again! Welcome back @Colinm39 I'm happy to see you again. Thanks for your reply and update @Osmar, it's a pleasure to continue assisting you.

I'm glad to know that your GPS difficulties were resolved, seems odd that the band was interfering the GPS connection of your device. That being said, can you please let me know if by any chance you were using a third-party wristband on your Ionic? I'll be looking to your reply.

@Colinm39 Thanks for your reply, it's always nice that you're here willing to help other users.

Let me know if you have any additional questions. 

[Osmar]

Yes.

It was a 3rd party magnetic band.

Bought it at Amazon.

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi again @Osmar, thanks for your reply and update. 

I'd like to let you know that we do not recommend our users to use third-party wristbands on our devices because these wristbands, such as yours that have a magnet, can affect how our devices measure data like GPS, heart rate tracking or even damage it's hardware. Also, these wristbands can affect warranty procedures. Please let me know if you still experience difficulties with your device so I can continue assisting you.

Have a nice Sunday!