Tomtom GO Essential showing wrong location

[HaniM]

Hi, I have a GO Essential 6" which, until about a year ago, regularly received firmware updates. Occasionally the satnav will display the vehicle position incorrectly while driving. The error is usually by only a few meters. For example, if there is a slipway or a road running parallel to the road I am on and I am travelling slowly in traffic, it will wrongly position my vehicle on that road. Also, when on a multi-level road interchange, the map display will sometimes rotate rapidly in all directions. All of this makes navigation totally impractical when this occurs. The only way to correct it is to factory reset the device. My initial thoughts are that this is likely to be a firmware bug, since it can be temporarily corrected with a factory reset. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if it can be fixed? Many thanks.

 

[Willy875]

Hi

I think your GPS is not correctly receiving the position of the satellites

Is your GPS connected to a smartphone?

Sometimes resetting the device to factory settings can solve your problem.

 

[HaniM]

Thank you for your reply, Willy875. Yes, it is connected to my smartphone and receives traffic updates. Resetting the device to factory settings resolves the problem temporarily. The GPS works fine for several journeys (my journeys are typically less than 1hr and infrequent). But eventually, the problem returns and usually I will be aware that the position information is wrong fairly soon after starting a journey. My GO 500, which I used for many years during my daily commute to work, has much better satellite reception than the Essential. Also , the quality of the voice is much better.

 

[Willy875]

Have you checked the position of the GPS in your car the windshield may prevent good satellite reception.

 

[HaniM]

That's a good point, thank you. It is true that the windscreen may effect reception, although mine is not heated. Also, with the reception on the device being a little weak, is it also possible that the availability and angle of the GPS satellites at a given time of the day may influence signal strength and hence positional accuracy. I'll need to investigate that more.

 

[canderson]

I wish TT hadn't dropped the satellite reception screen from these last two generations of devices. It was sometimes a very useful debugging tool - as it might well be now. One more feature lost. Sigh.