MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
scrapperoni
Newbie

I have tried without success to get the GPS function to work on my Mifi 4260L. Their is no indicator on the device to say whether it is working or not. I have it turned on in the settings menu and I have installed the proper driver on my computer. The application I am trying to use can see the COM port listed but it does not receive any GPS data. Does anybody know how to fix this problem or what I am doing wrong? Thanks in advance.

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

Which application are you trying to use?

The manual mentions setting up an NMEA port where you post describes a COM port.  In the printing world a COM port is a USB physical port or oldschool Serial port.  These may not be the same thing which might explain why your app is not working. 

Lookup your installed ports (WinXP):

1. Navigate to Start > Run

2. Enter "cmd"

3. Click OK

4. Enter "netstat -a"

5. Scroll through the list and review all available ports

If your port is not mentioned above by the port number you selected from the Wi-Fi over GPS screen then it is not active and will not be useful for your apps.  From the manual it looks like the default port number is 10110.

I would check the support site for your application to see if it is compatible with NMEA.  They might have more steps for you on how to configure your app to utilize the GPS over WiFi feature of the MiFi.

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
scrapperoni
Newbie

Thanks for the reply.

NMEA is the language that is used to send GPS data. What the application looks for is a port that is sending this data through. When I installed the GPS to Wifi driver it added a virtual COM port on my computer which is what my application is looking for. I can see the COM port listed in my device manager as "Novatel Wireless Virtual Communications Port (COM 9)". My application also sees COM 9 when it looks for available ports. When I connect the GPS window says "waiting for data" and never does anything. I have an identical setup when I share GPS through my phone and that works fine.

I am not sure about the port 10110 thing. This is a bit unfamiliar to me. I ran netstat -a and it gave me a bunch of information that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I didn't see any reference to port 10110 anywhere.

I wish their was a way to see from the device if it was working or not but so far I can't figure out how to do that.

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
John_Getzke
Champion - Level 1

What OS are you using?

Which application are you referring to?

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
joes8888
Newbie

In the WebUI, make sure you have turned NMEA streaming ON.  It seems you have, but it's not explicit.

Also, it can take some time for your device to acquire satellites, especially the first time.  This throws people every time.  Everything is set right, still no position data.  Even worse, indoors.  It takes a few minutes -- it's just the nature of GPS time-to-first fix on a cold start.  Once you've acquired satellites the first time, it's a lot faster after that.  Allow the system 5 minutes or so to start streaming data, then continue your troubleshooting if that doesn't fix.

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
scrapperoni
Newbie

In the WebUI router settings under "advanced" tab and then under "settings" tab I have "GPS over Wi-Fi (NMEA)" checked. I have waited a long time for GPS data to show up in my app but it still says "waiting for data" and shows 0 as the number of satellites.

My OS is Windows Vista. The application is GRLevel3 which is a radar program that can also plot your location via GPS.

Thanks for the replies so far.

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Re: MiFi 4620L GPS over Wifi doesn't work
BlakDrgn
Newbie

I'm kind of curious, as I cant find any port speed settings, etc. I cant get Putty to connect to the unit, just to get it to dump raw data.

I've let the unit sit for 5+ minutes as well. I find it odd thi, as I have a Bluetooth GlobalSat unit, and on cold start it maybe takes a minute to lock.

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