nRF Cloud MQTT multi-service location

[sam4]

I am testing out the nRF Cloud MQTT multi-service example on my nRF9160 DK board. When looking at the GPS data on the cloud it is not very accurate and does not track my location. Is there any particular reason for this? I ran the example as is, and I connected an external GPS antenna and LTE antenna to the development board, whilst testing as I walked around my city.

[Charlie]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for inquiring with us. GNSS location tracking is a big topic, there are many factors that may influence your results and many solutions to achieve better accuracy. It is a balance of your application needs, power consumption, cost, and so on.

For your testing on this example, I am not sure how you define “it is not very accurate”. There are some descriptions mentioned around 20 meters for mobile phone GPS in [Find & improve your location’s accuracy - iPhone & iPad - Google Maps Help](https://support.google.com/maps/answer/2839911?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS#:~:text=GPS%3A Maps uses satellites to,to a few thousand meters.). Generally speaking, the device can achieve better accuracy in open space compared to cities with buildings blocking GPS signals. Searching “GPS accuracy” in Devzon will help you find more discussion on this topic. nRF9160DK above V1.0.0 has a fairly good TAOGLASS GNSS ceramic patch antenna on board, which should be enough for test purposes.

You can watch the following webinar to learn how to achieve better accuracy using cloud-based solutions.

How cloud helps your IoT devices to get location data - Nordic Semiconductor

Best regards,

Charlie