Thinkpads Forum

How long does it normally take for ThinkVantage GPS to fix all the satellites?

On the picture below is what I got few moments ago, after 15 minutes of waiting. Weather is calm, sky is clear.
Tried to download XTRA data etc. Nothing.


I guess one of the best results so far.

Computer T400 and WWAN card Gobi 2000. I know originally it's not for this laptop model, therefore using whitelist-BIOS.
Can this be (one of) the cause why is it not locking or am I missing something else? WWAN itself seems functioning fine- mobile broadband, SMS- no problem.

Or is it worth messing at all? I mean service quality and usability or is this feature more like a toy? It's not vital for me but its the only thing I've not managed to get work on this computer.

I assume you know that these do not work like a phone with a GPS. You need to be outdoors with clear (no trees) line-of-site to the satellites. (not indoors or in a car) A phone "cheats" and approximates the location based on what towers it can talk to. The computer will work like a stand-alone GPS unit.

Stand-alone GPS equipment usually takes 90 seconds to find the coordinates when starting from scratch. I have never used GPS on a ThinkPad or the ThinkVantage GPS software, so I have no idea what it is supposed to do.

Yes, outside. I know people have got their Thinkpad GPS fixed in trains and cars.

In some of cards, GPS is not working without sim cards, even is not active, but have to be installed.