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iPad 1 wifi - 'Cannot Determine Location'

  • 07-05-2012 11:14am
    #1
    DRose1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 265 ✭✭


    Hi, got an iPad at the weekend and all is working well except for one very frustrating thing:

    No matter what I try, the iPad 'cannot determine location' from my house. I have googled this and probably gone to over 50 different websites to try and find a solution. Most of them involved some combination of reseting network settings, hard resets etc etc... None of them worked.

    Why is this an issue for me? I don't care about mapping etc on the iPad... what I do care about is using some apps that require a somewhat accurate fix on my location - Specifically the NBA.tv app. I have the playoff league pass subscription and everything works fine on my PC, android phone etc. However, when I go to play a NBA game on the iPad, it says I am in a blackout region and the game cannot be played - I would not be getting this error message if the iPad was picking up my correct location (in fact, any location in Ireland would do the job)...

    So what are my options?

    1. I went into the local McDonalds in Drogheda yesterday and used the free wifi. I set up my location and it picked it up fine. I was then able to access NBA.tv etc without any issues. However, I got home and mistakenly clicked locate me on the app and of course I got 'cannot determine location' and the app would not work again.

    If I do the same process as above again and do not press locate me again, should the app continue to work long term?

    2. If the above is not a good solution, what about changing my MAC address to something that Apple has stored in this mysterious database of theirs? I found a program called SMAC 2.0. It looks fairly easy to do something stupid on it and mess up by broadband so this will be my last resort...

    3. Any ideas to get the iPad to pick up my location from my house other that the above?

    Any advice would be appreciated...


Comments

  • #2
    BrianD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    I thought the iPad wifi model had no GPS and can only discover it's location if the wifi service it's using is in a location database. It's quite possible that the locations you tried are not in any location database.


  • #3
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Yeah, if the nearby routers aren't in Apple's location database I don't think there's anything you can do. However, if somebody with an iPhone is around it may eventually get updated.


  • #4
    BrianD
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,221 ✭✭✭BrianD


    Does Apple have it's own or does it use Googles?


  • #5
    DRose1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 265 ✭✭DRose1


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    Yeah, if the nearby routers aren't in Apple's location database I don't think there's anything you can do. However, if somebody with an iPhone is around it may eventually get updated.
    That is what I feared. Complete joke, but doesn't surprise me when it comes to Apple.

    1. I went into the local McDonalds in Drogheda yesterday and used the free wifi. I set up my location and it picked it up fine. I was then able to access NBA.tv etc without any issues. However, I got home and mistakenly clicked locate me on the app and of course I got 'cannot determine location' and the app would not work again.

    Would the above process work out for me long term?

    Will probably still hold onto the iPad until a quality Android tab that ticks all the boxes is released (I had hoped the Asus Transformer Prime would be it, but it has the well publicized Wifi and GPS issues).


  • #6
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    BrianD wrote: »
    Does Apple have it's own or does it use Googles?

    They their own database now. Since iOS 3, I think. Before that they used Skyhook.

    And OP, if you wanted GPS on your iPad you should have got the 3G model. I don't see how this is Apple's fault.


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  • #7
    Duggys Housemate
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,298 ✭✭✭Duggys Housemate


    DRose1 wrote: »
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    Yeah, if the nearby routers aren't in Apple's location database I don't think there's anything you can do. However, if somebody with an iPhone is around it may eventually get updated.
    That is what I feared. Complete joke, but doesn't surprise me when it comes to Apple.

    1. I went into the local McDonalds in Drogheda yesterday and used the free wifi. I set up my location and it picked it up fine. I was then able to access NBA.tv etc without any issues. However, I got home and mistakenly clicked locate me on the app and of course I got 'cannot determine location' and the app would not work again.

    Would the above process work out for me long term?

    Will probably still hold onto the iPad until a quality Android tab that ticks all the boxes is released (I had hoped the Asus Transformer Prime would be it, but it has the well publicized Wifi and GPS issues).

    ?. You don't have an GPS chip. Apple can't know every server in the world , nor can google. An android device without gps would have similar problems. It's not magic, the server or router has to be in the database. I am amazed how many it actually knows.


  • #8
    DRose1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 265 ✭✭DRose1


    Duggys Housemate wrote: »
    ?. You don't have an GPS chip. Apple can't know every server in the world , nor can google. An android device without gps would have similar problems. It's not magic, the server or router has to be in the database. I am amazed how many it actually knows.
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    They their own database now. Since iOS 3, I think. Before that they used Skyhook.

    And OP, if you wanted GPS on your iPad you should have got the 3G model. I don't see how this is Apple's fault.

    I think you are missing my point or I didnt explain it well enough.

    I don't care about location services etc on the iPad, that is why I did not go for a model with GPS on it. I don't expect them to have every server/router in the world.

    The issue is this; there should be an alternative solution for people like myself who simply want to confirm to the iPad where they are located* - This is important to such apps as NBA.tv as I mentioned in the OP - The NBA blackout games in a number of regions where a local broadcaster is showing the games... This is not an issue in Ireland (ESPN do show games, but it still does not blackout any games) and was one of the major reasons I subscriped to the NBA league pass service.

    I am now unable to watch any games through my iPad, even though I am located in Ireland... This restriction is not something that is listed anywhere in Apples spec sheets etc...

    * Alternative solution - Connect your iPad to your main computer where iTunes is installed and that will confirm where abouts you are located.


  • #9
    Duggys Housemate
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,298 ✭✭✭Duggys Housemate


    DRose1 wrote: »
    Duggys Housemate wrote: »
    ?. You don't have an GPS chip. Apple can't know every server in the world , nor can google. An android device without gps would have similar problems. It's not magic, the server or router has to be in the database. I am amazed how many it actually knows.
    Sad Professor wrote: »
    They their own database now. Since iOS 3, I think. Before that they used Skyhook.

    And OP, if you wanted GPS on your iPad you should have got the 3G model. I don't see how this is Apple's fault.

    I think you are missing my point or I didnt explain it well enough.

    I don't care about location services etc on the iPad, that is why I did not go for a model with GPS on it. I don't expect them to have every server/router in the world.

    The issue is this; there should be an alternative solution for people like myself who simply want to confirm to the iPad where they are located - This is important to such apps as NBA.tv as I mentioned in the OP - The NBA blackout games in a number of regions where a local broadcaster is showing the games... This is not an issue in Ireland (ESPN do show games, but it still does not blackout any games) and was one of the major reasons I subscriped to the NBA league pass service.

    I am not unable to watch any games through my iPad, even though I am located in Ireland...

    Apple allow the app developers to use their location services , but have nothing to do with how the app uses that API or not. The app can have a fallback , like enter your postcode, but there are fairly obvious reasons why they mostly don't do that.

    It's an NBA app issue, but even then they can't allow people to just say Dublin, as anybody anywhere can.


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