I got an iPad the other day, and have been using the tethering ability of N1 with CM6.1rc1 while at work. I have the basic wifi iPad,that does not have gps built into it, but it is able to pull location data from wifi. While on my homes wifi, google maps shows my location about 300 Feet from my actual location, but while at work using my phone for wifi, it's much more accurate, only off by about 30 feet or so. So does my N1 share the gps location over the wifi when tethering is turned on?
Nope... Just means that the location services being used by the ipad know what wifi is near your office better...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
My Guess is that its based on your external IP. Something like this http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp
Google actually records the location of your wifi network, when you use things like latitude.
When I moved from Australia back to New Zealand for about a month whenever I was connected to my home wifi router, google said my location was in australia (because that was the same router I was using in australia).
Even though I had changed the ssid etc, I still had to wait for google's servers to realise I had moved. So I guess they record the location along with the mac address for the router.
britoso said:
My Guess is that its based on your external IP. Something like this http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp
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Just gave that a try, and I'm guessing that's not it. It shows my location 10 or 15 miles away from my actual location.
daijizai said:
Nope... Just means that the location services being used by the ipad know what wifi is near your office better...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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Is it able to pull location data from wifi networks that are not even visible to me?
I used to tether my iPod Touch to my Androids before it was stolen. Same idea, I think it just looks for all the wi-fi MAC addresses nearby and triangulates a probable position. If the network you're connected to is not in its database (and inevitably, the MAC address of a tethering phone won't be), then it just sniffs out all the other surrounding wi-fi networks. So whatever networks are visible from your office, they are already in the Skyhook database.
Related
I went on google maps today with my wifi on and it found my position to within about 30 meters!!!!!!!
So i turned wi-fi off and it found my position to within 500 meters!
i didnt know google can locate your position through the WI-FI network that you are connected to? or is something else in play here because the GPS was not on and it only found me that close when i had my wi-fi on!
Confused!
As far as a have red Google Maps can locate you on all three GPS, mobile phone connection and WIFI, thought i fail to see how they do it with WIFI...
Also i still don't know how they do it with mobile phone connection either.
I mean i understand technicaly, but does googlemaps make request to mobile provider for location data, or just send normal data packaged and finds out by those? I would realy like to know...
Google Maps has access to the phone, it's not Google who's finding out where you are. 3G connection and GPS should be clear. WIFI might work using the IP Address, but I don't think you'd get such an accuracy. Strange!
Firefall! said:
Google Maps has access to the phone, it's not Google who's finding out where you are. 3G connection and GPS should be clear. WIFI might work using the IP Address, but I don't think you'd get such an accuracy. Strange!
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Yea i am baffled and slightly scared! If people can get my position that exact with my ip address!! Plus i always though it found ur location with cell towers by known which towers u were connected to and where they are located
comeradealexi said:
Yea i am baffled and slightly scared! If people can get my position that exact with my ip address!!
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It shouldn't be possible. Maybe it was coincidence.
comeradealexi said:
Plus i always though it found ur location with cell towers by known which towers u were connected to and where they are located
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That's what "they" can do. Actually your phone does it. Google doesn't know unless you send them the information.
I don't think its your ip address, coz my isp uses transparent proxies yet google can still trace my location
so how does it do it then! lol
comeradealexi said:
so how does it do it then! lol
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Was it a public hotspot?
Firefall! said:
Was it a public hotspot?
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nope just my home router - looked up ip on ip finder and that was miles and miles away
http://mashable.com/2009/07/09/google-maps-location/
They actually drive around scanning for Wi-Fi networks and plot their location, and that way your location can be determined by the available Wi-Fi networks.
To pinpoint location, XPS uses a massive reference network comprised of the known locations of tens of millions of Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers. To develop this database, Skyhook has deployed drivers to survey every single street, highway, and alley in tens of thousands of cities and towns worldwide, scanning for Wi-Fi access points and plotting their precise geographic locations.
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[http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/coverage.php]
Not sure if the Google Maps application uses Skyhook's database, but it basically works like this.
jjm34 said:
They actually drive around scanning for Wi-Fi networks and plot their location, and that way your location can be determined by the available Wi-Fi networks.
[http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/coverage.php]
Not sure if the Google Maps application uses Skyhook's database, but it basically works like this.
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wow - thats kinda scary! Too bad it doesnt work on the desktop version! So if i changed my SSID would it stop being able to find me or does it do it through ip or summit - still thanks for the info! Thanks harveydent for the link too
I try to find location and it says enable location, but you cant in tnt lite settings I'm pretty sure I can load regular android settings and enable it but have yet to do so...has anyone tried it?
There is no GPS in the unit so it couldn't find location even if you enabled it.
u can find location with wifi...
You need GPS or aGPS which the device has neither.
aGPS can use cell towers and WiFi points to help triangulate your location.
It would use router as location like a computer
The Original Poster is asking how to enable WiFi based location.
The option does not exist in the TnT settings, but it does in other devices.
It works fine on my cheap Augen Gentouch, which definitely does not have GPS.
You also do not need a cellular radio in the device.
For those that do not understand how this works, it has been in the news recently how Google drives around logging WiFi access points. They also have GPS in the car. From this they have created a data base of where your AP is located.
If you are connected to the internet via Wifi router <router name /MAC>, then you must be geographically near that router. Assuming that the location of that router/internet route has not changed since they drove by, then your location is known down to the range of a typical Wifi access point (within about 300 ft Max, assuming a network with a single AP.).
Linuxslate said:
The Original Poster is asking how to enable WiFi based location.
The option does not exist in the TnT settings, but it does in other devices.
It works fine on my cheap Augen Gentouch, which definitely does not have GPS.
You also do not need a cellular radio in the device.
For those that do not understand how this works, it has been in the news recently how Google drives around logging WiFi access points. They also have GPS in the car. From this they have created a data base of where your AP is located.
If you are connected to the internet via Wifi router <router name /MAC>, then you must be geographically near that router. Assuming that the location of that router/internet route has not changed since they drove by, then your location is known down to the range of a typical Wifi access point (within about 300 ft Max, assuming a network with a single AP.).
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Exactly...I need a vanilla settings file I can push to enable that setting
Does anyone know how Google Maps knows my location on the NC? I thought the NC did not have a GPS. Perhaps, Maps could use my IP address, but it seems really accurate, within 10 meters.
Google collected wifi access point names and locations while driving around to build Streetview. If your wifi is turned on, they can use your list of visible hotspots to approximate your location.
Do you see that white unmarked cargo van parked down the street from your house?
This works with both Wi-Fi Tether and tethered with Barnacle. That would rule out using Wi-Fi data as a locator. I did however, use the locate button on g'maps using the LAN connection before I tried it with wireless tether. Maybe its showing a cached location.
I'll test the location feature with a wirless tether somewhere else tomorrow to check this.
~/dev/nook using Tapatalk
esskayess said:
This works with both Wi-Fi Tether and tethered with Barnacle. That would rule out using Wi-Fi data as a locator.
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No, it does not rule it out.
Is your tethered hotspot the ONLY access point in range? The location via wifi is NOT based on the network you are connected to, it is based on comparing the relative signal strengths of ALL visible access points. If there are three visible WAPs with known locations, it's fairly trivial to plot your position with high precision. Even just one or two visible access points can yield a pretty accurate location.
Determining location based on other access points makes sense. I see 4 or 5 access points quite often. Thanks!
sent from my NC
No its not the only access point. The area is saturated with 12-15 different WAP at any time. You are probably right. I know a spot nearby which shows no access points, will try out g'maps with a Wi-Fi tether there sometime this week.
If Wifi is on, it'll do the Wifi location stuff. It goes off ESSID, ie: router MAC address, so even if all of your neighbors are stupidly all using "linksys" as their SSID, they're all unique regardless.
I've only had it find me at the house, so far nowhere else, but it's handy that it does have a starting reference when I'm using it at home.
There is also network location lookups it COULD do based on your IP address, but I'm not sure how those services work... i'd assume it has to ask a service "Where is my IP located?" and if it's behind a NAT it won't know obviously. It could however use the outgoing connection (your internet connection), although in that case it would be potentially many miles off if it worked, certainly not accurate.
When it locates me at my house it shows me right in my front yard.
This technology is awesome. But, it only seems to work with stock rooted. I haven't been able to get nookie Froyo or HC to determine my location via this method.
So I use my girlfriends comcast Wifi because its in her neighborhood when I go to her apartment. Its great, its fast, it works all the way down the street and to the train station and then some.
Now that my phone has remembered that I connected to the Comcast Wifi there, its EVERY comcast wifi hotspot around my phone will automatically connect to. And on top of that, If I try to voice text, or navigate, and im either driving ir standing in the area with COMCAST wifi, it won't connect unless I go to the browser, and reenter in all of the information. Is there a way to keep her login information saved so that it just connects when I go to an area with comcast wifi?
justinisloco said:
So I use my girlfriends comcast Wifi because its in her neighborhood when I go to her apartment. Its great, its fast, it works all the way down the street and to the train station and then some.
Now that my phone has remembered that I connected to the Comcast Wifi there, its EVERY comcast wifi hotspot around my phone will automatically connect to. And on top of that, If I try to voice text, or navigate, and im either driving ir standing in the area with COMCAST wifi, it won't connect unless I go to the browser, and reenter in all of the information. Is there a way to keep her login information saved so that it just connects when I go to an area with comcast wifi?
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Sounds like she has some default SSID that everyone else uses, too. Just change it to something unique. Then, when you're out, ever other Comcast router with the default identifier won't fool your Bionic.
Like like LinkSys routers default to the name "linksys". Just change it to something else that nobody will have and you shouldn't have that problem anymore.
Sorry I should have been more specific...
she is actually using the outside wifi at her apartment. she doesn't have a router at her house. is there a way around this
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
justinisloco said:
Sorry I should have been more specific...
she is actually using the outside wifi at her apartment. she doesn't have a router at her house. is there a way around this
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
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I suppose that you could try an app like Locale that can automatically turn on WiFi when you are at home and turn it off when you leave.
https://market.android.com/details?...SwxLDEsImNvbS50d29mb3J0eWZvdXJhbS5sb2NhbGUiXQ..
Verizon has a free app on the market tobtirn wifi on or off depending on where you are
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
Does the N1 have 5GHz wifi like the Samsung?
My home LAN is 5GHz only, so I don't disturb the neighbors with my video streaming.
No, 2.4 only...
Ugh.
OK so I turned on the router's 2.4GHz, but with broadcast SSID off. My N1 wouldn't even try to connect. So I turned on router SSID and it connects AES.
I do -not- want SSID broadcast on, as Windows machines' lazy active scan will find me. Sure they'll never get in, but I do not want broadcast on.
Has anyone succeeded in connecting with it off?
When I am connected wifi and open a website on the phone, does it go over wifi preferred over 3G?
I want to share the SD card with a machine on the LAN. What's the best way to do this? FTP? Reverse SSH tunnel? Is there a sshfs for Android? EDIT: NM on this one.
Yes, I remember connecting to a WiFi with SSID off, when I had Nexus.
It is pointless to keep SSID Broadcasting off. It is super easy to find your SSID anyway, and it causes all sorts of additional problems (like the one you are seeing above). Just keep the network secure and it makes life a lot easier.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/2865...hiding-your-wireless-ssid-really-more-secure/
http://blogs.technet.com/b/steriley/archive/2007/10/16/myth-vs-reality-wireless-ssids.aspx
Ok, but sure passive scanners like Kismet will still see me, however 90% of scans are done with an active scanner like Winduhs. Of course I'm using WPA2-AES, but I want to take every measure possible.
Now I find that whenever I have the phone connected to wifi, I lose -all- internet access. Just times out. 3G is still on and wifi is showing connected, but I can't get to websites. As soon as I turn off Wifi I can access the internet again through 3G.
With wifi I -can- access the wireless router's setup webpage from my phone, which tells me I am working through wifi, and I can remotely mount the phone filesystem on a LAN machine using sshfs, but I can not reach anything outside. Any idea why?
Does anyone know whether, when it's working right, it uses the wifi connection in preference over 3G?
The WiFi is ALWAYS preferred to 3G, which means - when you're connected to WiFi, all the internet traffic is routed through WiFi.
I don't understand then, why all data traffic stops to the outside when wifi is connected. The rest of my LAN gets outside fine, just not the phone.
If you can see LAN computers and exchange data with them - it's not the phone that's making problems. See if you have any restrictions in your router.
Oh FFS, my fault...
I set my IP statically for my LAN, and through some alert troubleshooting I found I can ping IPs outside but not DNs. I'd mis-set the DNS server in wifi settings. Now it works great!
I can now use sshdroid to mount my phone's filesystem on my LAN securely. Now, if I could only get it to wifi associate with beacon off...
It would also be nice to mount a filesystem on my LAN to the phone, although I consider the phone unsecure and question the wisdom of that, even with DroidWall running.
There is a market app that lets you connect to a hidden ssid
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
Cool, but Market is FCing on me. I did a complete reinstall of the newest MIUI.us, and now Market's FCing again. So can't install any Market apps.
As someone else said, turning SSID off is pointless. It's like taking the numbers off the outside of your house and thinking people driving by won't see your house sitting there.
Apparently you didn't understand what I said here:
Quantumstate said:
Ok, but sure passive scanners like Kismet will still see me, however 90% of scans are done with an active scanner like Winduhs. Of course I'm using WPA2-AES, but I want to take every measure possible.
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If nothing else, please just respect my decision in this regard, or give valid proof that active scanners are not the preponderance.