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iPad GPS

Why can’t I get the GPS to work? I think I have tried everything I have read online!

iPad Pro 12.9-inch, 3rd Gen, Wi-Fi

Posted on Feb 14, 2022 12:22 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 14, 2022 2:14 PM

That model number corresponds to a 2020 iPad Pro 4th gen, WiFi ONLY model.

There is NO GPS capabilities in a WiFi ONLY iPad.


Sorry.


WiFi ONLY iPads do not contain any of the cellular service or GPS antennas needed to use an iPad as a true GPS device.


Sorry.


ONLY WiFi AND Cellular data service iPad models have the necessasry cellular service and GPS antennas built into them.



Sorry.

9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 14, 2022 2:14 PM in response to TamaraJ0

That model number corresponds to a 2020 iPad Pro 4th gen, WiFi ONLY model.

There is NO GPS capabilities in a WiFi ONLY iPad.


Sorry.


WiFi ONLY iPads do not contain any of the cellular service or GPS antennas needed to use an iPad as a true GPS device.


Sorry.


ONLY WiFi AND Cellular data service iPad models have the necessasry cellular service and GPS antennas built into them.



Sorry.

Feb 15, 2022 3:33 PM in response to TamaraJ0

The GPS/Maps functionality may work over WiFi using something loosely called WiFi signal/network/service triangulation averaging method/solution.

If you leave your WiFi active on your iPad and take your iPad out and about with you, IF you live in a area that has a large population with lots a WiFi signals being generated from all sorts of surrounding locations ( moving snd stationary locations ), in any maps apps, like Apple Maps or Google Maps, your WiFi ONLY iPad will use nearby WiFi signals/services/networks and use a three point signal triangulation averaging to closely approximate your actual GPS location.

The more local WiFi accesss points the iPad and the Maps app/s can recognise, the more accurate the GPS positionng in any Maps apps will be.


If you end up in a more rural and isolated area, with that WiFi ONLY iPad, where WiFi service signals are of a much lesser amount/density per area, the less accurate/inaccurrate your actual GPS location will become.

Possibly to a point where NO WiFi signals will be present and there will be no way for your WiFi ONLY iPad to make any WiFi signal triangulation solutions possible to get even an approximate GPS location.

Feb 15, 2022 4:28 PM in response to TamaraJ0

TamaraJ0 wrote:

Why can’t I get the GPS to work? I think I have tried everything I have read online!


Unlike your iPhone and WiFi & Cellular models of iPad, WiFi Only iPads do not have any GPS location capability with which to directly determine their location - and as such are completely reliant upon their network connection to infer an approximate location.


Without benefit of GPS, your approximate geographic location is inferred from a “database lookup” of (a) your WiFi Network Name (SSID) or detected neighbouring WiFi networks - and (b) the “public” IP Address provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP).  This technique is known as “geolocation”.


If the mapped WiFi network name or IP Address are not available within the applicable databases, or if this information substantially differs between sources, then your approximate location may not be computed - or may wildly inaccurate. This situation often occurs if you are in a remote/rural location where neighbouring WiFi networks are scarce - or if connecting over satellite or VPN connections.


Network IP Addresses and WiFi networks are frequently mapped in urban and cosmopolitan areas (including “crowd source” techniques) and as such approximation of your location from lookup against these databases can be provide relatively high accuracy. As population and network density diminishes, this mechanism becomes progressively less reliable.


iPad GPS

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