Samsung Galaxy Note 3 GPS Issue

Funny anecdotal evidence...  Every once in a blue moon, I will have an error free ride on my bike.  yesterday was one of these rides,  35 miles in fact, without error over the same route that might typically get many errors.  This is pretty much a fluke for me.  The only thing I can correlate over the last 2 or 3 times in the last month or so that I went without errors is that the temperature was rather warm on all occasions...  >65° or so.....  Go figure... Whats even stranger is that I didnt stary having these issues until last fall, having ridden error free, all last summer with a Note 1, then started having these issues on the Note 1 then Note 3 after I upgraded.  My insticnts tell me I'm clutching at straws but perhaps it's a wear GPS receiver which is more easily tripped up by either cold weather or satelite angle during fall/winter...  

Just thinking "out loud"...  I even admit it's a bit of a stretch...  LOL..  But if it holds water, this means things should start getting better for a while!!  lol

So it looks like ATT is to blame for the OS not being updated.  Per Samsungs website we are all running on 4.4  take a look at this link to the note 3 and look at the specs.

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SM-N900AZKEATT

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@tnerb123 wrote:

So it looks like ATT is to blame for the OS not being updated.  Per Samsungs website we are all running on 4.4  take a look at this link to the note 3 and look at the specs.

 

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones/SM-N900AZKEATT

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I posted that about a week ago (to here and elsewhere), and the community confirmed to me it's been that way for quite some time. We do know AT&T is the one responsible for and delaying a fix

I personally believe that the developers or programmers at AT&T have come up with several beta releases of the the kitkat update for the Note 3 but upon testing they are finding out that it's not fixing the GPS problem.  This is more than likley why the update hasn't and may not be sent out for this phone.  I have several friends and family members who write code for CISCO and the like and have advised that more than likely they are finding that they have a much bigger problem on there hands then just a simple update.  The update for kitkat for the Note 3 is typically about 400 to 430 mbs.  I would presume that if and when they ever release an update for this phone the file will be much bigger only becuase of the massive change in the code that needed to corrected for this paticular phone on the AT&T network.  This is not a Samsung problem AT&T tampered with or manipulated the files on the phone once they recieved the phones

The scary thing is that they have screwed up the phone so bad that when you plug it in you loose GPS reception.  No other carrier has tampered with the phone like this...hence thats why they are recieving there updates and we are not.  I don't know how much knowledge my friends who actually write code and do programing really know about this but a couple of them have played around with development of the android code which is basically glorified linux script and they say that the Note 3 on ATT has a much bigger problem to the point that it may be now a hardware issue that will be the fix.  I wouldn't hold my breath for AT&T to do a mass recall of there flagship phone.

Now its even gotten worse because AT&T are continuing to sell the phone to unsuspecting customers knowing that the GPS is flawed due to there own manipulation of the files on the phone.  The ethical thing to do would be to admit the issue pubilically and pull the phone off the shelf and stop selling it until its fixed.   But this is 2014 and business ethics ara a thing of the pass...the almighty dollar is the bottom line and with T-Mobile expanding and basically buying AT&T's customers im sure they are starting to feel the heat and maybe actually starting to question there future in the phone biz once again...remember the whole cingular ATT mess?... uh...yeah.

I called technical support this morning. The "tech" seemed completely unaware that the note3 has gps issues. He searched his computer, then put me on hold before telling me Samsung has to issue a fix. According to him, AT&T has nothing to do with the software on the phone. I am pretty sure he really believed [what] he was feeding me, or he was an excellent actor. I've been a loyal customer for 15+ years. I bought myself and my wife the Notes in February on the next program, so I'm paying almost $900 over 20 months for both. No one mentioned any defects with the phones, even though they knew at that point. I'm not a lawyer, but that seems fraudulent. I'm pretty disgusted at this point.

[word filter avoidance]

Well the person you talked to on the phone is considered there first line of defense when they start getting calls about a major known issue with there flagship phone.  The fact that you bought the phone in February and it is a well known fact that they phone has had this issued since day one back in November but yet they still sold you the phone amounts to deceptive busisness practices at the least.  There is no use in calling AT&T as your going to get a scripted response from a rep who has been trained to deflect the issue back to Samsung.  If this was a Samsung issue..why aren't the other customers from other carriers complaining? Not to mention the others have rolled out there Kit Kat updates and everything is working just fine.  This is proof positve that this is NOT a Samsung issue.  Not sure why AT&T would not catch that before training there reps to respond with that answer.  That response is more like an insult to the intellegence of there customers.  But on the other hand most of there customers won't even use the GPS anyway or notice that its broken...or more than likely they will just brush it off as a glitch in the phone and buy a garmin or just not use the GPS feature.

At the end of the day...AT&T is aware of the issue and are more than likely hoping we will just go away as many of there customers may very well do that....T-Mobile is looking more and more tempting with every dropped GPS signal.