Ionic GPS stucks at "Connecting" state.

[SunsetRunner]

HI,

i bought Ionic couple of months ago, and was working fine. All of sudden last night i started RUN mode manually which i do every day and GPS was stuck at "CONNECTING" state. GPS connection does not gets established now any more. i have tried to reset and restart ionic but all of no use.

will appreciate if some one comes up with same experience or solution.

[New_Jen]

Thanks for this info.! I was wondering if that’s what happened. So now that it dowmloqded last night, it should work correctly if I walk today? Or does it need to download every time?

[SunsetRunner]

In my case it gave me long wait times like upto 15 mins a couple of times from same location where i use to start my run. And then it went normal. So i think u would be fine. But cant assure u. 

[SiegelRacing]

I also had the "it connected in under 10 seconds for the first 3 weeks and then suddenly tried to connect for 20+ minutes and failed"... after trying tons of things I was about to send it back when I realized that my issues started near when I swapped in a stainless band. This morning I put the original rubber band on and it connected before I even left my garage... YMMV. Good luck 🙂

[Jonty-123]

Hi I know this thread is a few months old now! But I’ve just come across it while googling solutions to exactly the same problems you were having! I’ve been in touch with Fitbit & done the reset etc but still having problems. My watch is only 5 months old! & they won’t replace it😡so.... just wondering were you able to solve it?? Many thanks. 

[dezsantos]

I have had a Charge, a Blaze, and an Ionic.  The Charge stopped counting steps correctly within six months and I had the pebble to my Blaze replaced only to have the exact problem as the one replaced.  Now, my Ionic won't connect to GPS.  I haven't had one product from Fitbit that didn't stop working properly within a year of purchase (or being gifted, as is the case).  I've been actively looking for a different brand, which is a shame bc I really do love their software.  The hardware needs a lot of help.

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey everyone! I appreciate the time that each one has took to share your experience and letting me know about the troubleshoot that you've performed.

When you're having connected GPS issues, it's always recommendable to check this article Why isn't GPS working on my Fitbit device?. There you will find some steps that you need to try, if you're getting any error message while using it. 

Also, there are some things that could affect the accuracy of the GPS, you can learn more about it by checking this article How accurate is GPS?. 

In case, you have contacted Customer Support, just remember that each solution that they will provide is always based on the Fitbit Warranty.

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[Colinm39]

@SilviaFitbitFitbit have been excellent in replacing my Ionics but I'm now approaching the 2nd year..

I notice in your warranty link it still doesn't reflect Australia having a 2 year limited product warranty as per this link..

My first Ionic was replaced because of the GPS and the second a few weeks ago, was because of the intermittent battery sudden loss..  So based on this I should be covered until November 2019.

Please pass this on to the powers to be and have the warrant document changed..

Many thanks... Colin

[thompsondc]

Should it take longer than an hour?  What about continually having the same problem (stuck in "connecting...") in the same area, over and over?  It used to immediately find a GPS signal after a hard reboot (press & hold left button and bottom right button).  Now, even the reboot doesn't work.  It also used to have problems connecting to bluetooth headphones, but would recover from them after a reboot.  It seemed that the GPS trying to connect would draw enough power to cause the bluetooth to not have enough power to stay connected to the headphones; unless it has <2 ft of line-of-sight distance.  It would cut in and out with music as I swung my left arm (bluetooth connection in headphones was in the right earpiece).

[SantiR]

@thompsondc I hope you're doing well! Thanks for taking the time to post the situation you are experiencing with your Ionic's GPS and Bluetooth connection. 

It should not take an hour to connect.

Is this only happening at an specific location? There are some situation that may prevent the GPS to get connected. Check them out here.

Are you still experiencing trouble to connect your watch to Bluetooth headphones? If you are, please try unpairing, restarting your watch, and pairing them back.

Thanks for sharing all of those details about this situation. I'm sure it will be helpful for other users too.

Keep me posted! 

[SunsetRunner]

My ionic’s connecting to GPS problems have been getting steadily worse - sometimes it’s not keen to connect, other times it connects but stops recording halfway through my run. Now it won’t connect at all. I’ve been on to Fitbit - I’ve done the factory reset and all the turning off and on they suggested - still not connecting - I was offered a replacement - the watch is 4 months old, I want my money back and I want to put Fitbit behind me - not possible - happy to send a replacement - probably only for the same thing to happen again in 4 months time!! 

[SunsetRunner]

Well customer service cannot do much help. As far as my experience with fitbit, i am amazed how they are still in a business.
I bought 2 ionics and at the moment both have issues. Tech support usually has no answer or they jusy keep asking me to reset, change login device. Its pretty much same drill for every issue. I was lucky enough to have resolved gps issue by tweaking a little bit. But this time i deleted my login account and boooom here goes my watch too...wtf!!! I came to know later the account i deleted is some how still linked to watch hardware ID and is not permanently deleted from fitbit servers. And so now i can not use any other account on that ionic. And fitbit team is working really hard day and night to delete my account from servers.

And then google became my friend and let me know that i am not alone. if not thousands but there are hundreds of ppl with same issue with their useless 200$ gadget. Its been a month now. The only kind of emails i recieve from fitbit are, 1)- appolo fukin g and 2)- re-fukin-set.

So my friend at least you got replacement. Hope this will help.

Regards

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[fgr62]

hi,

 in my case GPS lost connection during a run, my usual run, never managed to reconnect and now does not find signal even in I stand around for 10 minutes outside my house ( i.e. it's not a new location ). Very disappointing. Should I really go through a factory reset ?

[SunsetRunner]

Hi
I did a factory reset as requested by Fitbit support but it made no difference.
I now have a replacement

Sent from my iPhone

[SPAT2961]

I am also facing similar problem, starting from same location it takes few minutes to start. At new location it did not connect for 25 mins kept searching .... During swim it is counting wrong lap nos... Totally disappointed with the Ionic

[MummyPig]

I've had the same problem for months now. Walked a mile this morning and it failed to detect a GPS. No good the"help desk" saying to wait until a signal is detected before setting out. Could be waiting all day!!!

[SPAT2961]

Help is no good
They say wait till gps connectivity

[thompsondc]

So after doing a full factory reset, removing all devices from my account, and setting everything back up from scratch (including all ionic settings, music downloads, clock face install, app installed, etc...), It worked for a little while.  I went in a run, and it found a gps for about the first 15-20 minutes.  After that it started to lose its connection and reconnect 2 or 3 times, before perpetually saying it was trying to connect.  Since this was an hour+ run, to prepare for a 5k; it's a complete disappointment.

[VinaySimha]

@Sunsetrunner, worked perfectly fine. Thank you !

[S_Herrin]

Due to one comment in this thread I decided to test the connection issue that I was having and found that there does seem to be a dependency on the watch band. Wearing a new leather band with a stainless connector to the watch seems to make gps connection take significantly longer and I also lose connection. I had not thought of my problems coinciding with the new band, but they did and switching back seems to have resolved the issue. At least for one day. 

[IonicLizz]

Hello - can I just check - having read the article you suggested - do I have my phone with me when I run? I thought the built in GPS meant I could run without my phone and then it would sync afterwards? Thank you.