Unable to Connect to GPS Reliably

[gimball]

I've been trying to use my Sense for workouts for the past week and have been met with frustration.

The first time I tried using it on a run I waited 10 minutes for GPS to give it time to get it's bearings (though I would think it would lean on the mobile phone for help with this) before giving up and just running with it trying to connect. It ended up connecting and disconnecting a few times during my run.

The second time, it was able to connect 5 minutes after being turned on and stayed connected almost the entire time.

The 3rd time, it connected quite quickly (within a minute or so) but lost connection during my run and was trying to connect during 70% of it. This is in the suburbs with clear views of the sky.

My 10 year old Garmin smart watch had less trouble connecting than this and didn't have the benefit of being connected to a cell phone which has location information consistently. Is this performance expected? Should the Sense not fall back to A-GPS or connected GPS when unable to get a lock and connected to a phone?

With the GPS being unreliable, and not being able to listen to Spotify offline I don't see any benefit of using a smart watch over a heartbeat monitor.

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @gimball, welcome to the community, it's a pity you are having a problem with the GPS on your Sense. I have to admit I've not had any problems since I got mine in January, you may find this article How do I use GPS on my Fitbit device? is useful, at the least you can review your settings, one of which may have been inadvertently changed.

Cheers

[zacman83 · Accepted solution]

I've never had a Fitbit before, so I didn't know how disappointed I'd be with it. Do you have charging issues with your sense, also? I figured out how to fix my sense, finally; the Garmin instinct solar I ordered to replace it should be here this afternoon. I'm so excited to actually have something that works! 

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @zacman83, welcome, If you have a different question it's a good idea to start a fresh thread so more people can see your question in the heading. I've not had any problems charging my Sense, you may find this article of interest Why isn't my Fitbit device's battery charging?  . A common issue is a dicky USB socket, if you do experience a problem try charging something else with the socket you are using to ensure it has "juice". 

Cheers

[Converse]

My GPS took a few minutes to sync in it disconnected a few time the very first time I used it & about ten minutes latter I tested the GPS it connected with in a minute it occasionally said it dropped but when I looked at the maps of my tracking workout all the route was there no missing info. Please check your maps and see if the route got broken at any point if not then don't worry about the disconnects as it still collecting the correct data. This is new series of FitBit it it going have glitch's issue and problems like all products. so far my sense is living up to what it supposed to do. YES i want my music storage back I shouldn't have to pay for a service to listen to music but so far my GPS been pretty rock solid as far as the data it shows on maps.

Side note if you just want a watch to track your runs of course there is better watches just for that as they souly focus on running and tracking those runs.

[zacman83]

I've tried different sockets, different chargers, took it over to my sisters place in the next town over, nothing. I'm over it, I dont mind paying through the nose for stuff, but I better get what I pay for (i.e. for $300 I better get a watch that AT LEAST, AT A BARE MINIMUM, charges reliably out of the box, which fitbit does not). I ordered a replacement sense through amazon (arrived yesterday, haven't bothered to even open the package), but quickly came to my senses and ordered an instinct solar from garmin (will be here this afternoon). Then I can send the 2 fitbit senses (and the aftermarket charger, protectors, etc.) back and not have to worry about charging any more, let alone the other issues that are starting to develope (sp02 not reading reliably, etc.)