FindWhere GPS Tracking Device, or Mobile GPS Tracking

Since FindWhere™ supports both mobile phone tracking (Cell ID and A-GPS) and pure GPS tracking, the accuracy depends on what type of device you are locating. Generally, mobile phone tracking is accurate between 300 and 15,000 feet (100 and 5000 meters) depending on where the located mobile phone is at that moment. Tracking of GPS devices is typically within 15-30 feet (5-10 meters).

GPS device accuracy

The accuracy of a GPS device depends on the used GPS chipset in the specific device. Generally, when in clear view of the sky, the accuracy is 15-30 feet (5-10 meters)for all current GPS chipsets. However, when you go inside a building or put the device in an asset, there may be a decrease in accuracy.

More important is the so called "first time to fix" and the normal GPS fix time. When you turn on your device for the first time it always needs to acquire the GPS Almanac to find out where it is on the globe, a process that may take up to 15 minutes.

The normal GPS fix time is 10-120 seconds depending on how strong the GPS signal is at the current location of your device.

Always read the device specific manual for its exact technical specification!

Mobile phone tracking accuracy

The accuracy of a location is determined by the density of base stations and their respective cell size in the area you are requesting the location of a mobile phone. In Europe the level of accuracy will be about 300-900 feet (100-300 meters) in city areas and go up to 15,000 feet (5000 meters) in rural areas. In the US wireless carriers are using more advanced location technologies, such as A-GPS and AFLT, that increases the accuracy to 150-200 feet (50-75 meters). To inform our users of the specific accuracy of a position request, we have attached an indicator to each label pointing to a location. This indicator tells the maximum deviation of that specific request. Keep in mind that the average response time for a mobile phone position is 15 seconds. If no locations are retrieved, your account is NOT charged.

The technical explanation (See figure) is that the calculated location (Position X,Y) is extracted from the mobile phone network. To be more specific, from the base station the located phone is logged on to. Every base station has a radius determining its coverage which is called a cell. A cell is divided into slices called sectors. The position retrieved is the weighted center of the base station's sector you are in.

In specific cases accuracy can be influenced. Sometimes when the nearest base station has no capacity left to service the phone, it will automatically be redirected to another base station without the user knowing it. If a location request is done now, it would result in decreased accuracy. Another situation that can occur is when the phone is between two base stations. The phone can sometimes be logged on to one and sometimes logged onto the other base station resulting in different locations without moving the phone. Accuracy is around 750 feet (250 meters)on average.