FitBit Surge - GPS Not accurate this morning

[jflyn]

Hi, I did a 5k (3/3.1 Miles) Parkrun this morning but my surge GPS said it was only 2.85 miles - any idea how I can resolve this? Used strava on mobile before and was accurate but part of the reason I bought the Surge was to save having to use my mobile. Thanks

[YojanaFitbit]

Hope you are doing great and enjoying some healthy activities @jflyn, welcome to the Forums! 

Thanks for the details! Let me give you a hand with this. At least two dozen GPS satellites are constantly in orbit around the Earth and broadcasting data. All GPS devices, including your Fitbit Surge requires a direct path to these satellites in order to receive their radio transmissions. If the signal is being blocked either because you're underground, near many tall buildings, or as a result of atmospheric effects GPS will not work. Thus, whereas GPS gives you a more accurate measure of distance than step counting alone, the actual accuracy depends on both your environment and the weather. 

If the GPS signal is lost, rest assured that your Fitbit tracker continually  will search for a GPS signal as long as the exercise is in progress. You might have to take in count that the environment you are in can affect the signal strength of GPS. For example, if you are running in an urban environment with many tall buildings (as you already know), it may take your Surge tracker several seconds to get a fix. 

For best results, wait for your Fitbit to find the signal before you start your workout. However, if you don't want to wait you may be able to use the Quick Start option with the Fitbit Surge. Quick Start begins tracking your workout without GPS until it finds the signal. Keep the following tips in mind:

• Quick Start is not available if you're tracking a bike ride because cycling requires GPS to track distance. 
• If you see the Quick Start option and want to use it, press the Select button and then press Play. 
• While Surge continues to look for the GPS signal it will use your step count to calculate distance traveled. In this scenario you can expect that your total distance calculated for the workout will be slightly less accurate than if GPS data was available for the duration.

Hope you find this information useful, I'll be around in case you have any other questions!