Excluding travel routers
I travel a lot and use a wireless travel router in my hotel room. I was concerned that this router would screw up my (and maybe others') position, since it would pop up in different locations at different times. The Skyhook support people assured me that they had algorithms to weed out travel routers, but I found on a recent trip that mine was causing my iPhone to locate me in Florida (where I live, and where this router must once have been detected) even though I was in Japan and Hong Kong at the time. In fact, when I was in Hong Kong recently my iPhone would locate me sometimes in Hong Kong and sometimes in Florida, depending on where in my hotel room I was standing.
It seems that if I were to use this router in an as-yet unscanned area, it might cause Skyhook to add other routers seen in that area as being near where it thinks my router is in Florida. For example, I was using my router in Shanghai recently, which I don't think Skyhook has scanned yet; would Skyhook then think that other routers my phone can see are located near my Florida home?
Perhaps, in addition to letting us to add a MAC address location to the database, Skyhook could let us add the MAC address of travel routers that should never be considered.
It seems that if I were to use this router in an as-yet unscanned area, it might cause Skyhook to add other routers seen in that area as being near where it thinks my router is in Florida. For example, I was using my router in Shanghai recently, which I don't think Skyhook has scanned yet; would Skyhook then think that other routers my phone can see are located near my Florida home?
Perhaps, in addition to letting us to add a MAC address location to the database, Skyhook could let us add the MAC address of travel routers that should never be considered.
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Inappropriate?Hello Chris, I can answer your question for you. We do detect routers that show up in different areas, and then ignore them. However these would have to be in areas that were scanned. If you move your router to a new location we haven’t scanned it would locate you back in FL. As far as altering data for other users you don’t need to worry, they might have an issue near your hotel room. But its not a long term issue. It would really only matter if we scanned your router by one of our drivers. But at the point our algorithm would ignore your router.
We do not have any immediate plans to add updates for traveling routers/APs. But I will bring this up to our engineering team to see if this is something we could add.
I hope this cleared up some of you concerns, please feel free to write back on any questions you might have.
P.S. Submit to me your routers MAC address and i can update your router in our database. -
Thanks for your response! I'm headed out on a trip, and I'll be using the router both in places you have scanned and places you haven't. I'll see what happens. -
Right now I'm in Japan, in an area where there are no access points but my own travel router visible to my iPhone. The maps program has located me in Florida based on my travel router, and I don't seem to be able to persuade it to use the GPS to figure out where I really am. I'd like to use the phone to update my position on Loopt, but it zeroes right in on Florida based on the one wifi signal it sees, and there doesn't seem to be any way to make it reconsider.
The router's MAC address is 00-11-24-00-40-31. Can you delete it from the system manually? If you do, will the iPhone then be able to use GPS to locate itself, even though it might take a long time since it won't have any idea where it is (the way a normal GPS would when it starts cold at an unknown location)? -
Inappropriate?If you hit the “locate me” button again it will activate the GPS. That if it is the 3G model.
Totally based on the fact it sees your router, and it has nothing else to go on it will place you in Florida. I will try and get your MAC ignored. This may take a few days to reflect the change. -
I have a 3G phone, but which locate me button are you referring to? I can't find any way to shake the phone from this notion that it's in Florida. I turned the phone radio on (I had been using just wifi) in the hope that it might learn more about its location from cell towers, but it's still stuck on Florida. -
Inappropriate?I'm having a similar problem. Moved from VA to FL for a few months and my MAPS says I'm still in VA. Filed a change with Skyhook, and their response was that it would take a "few weeks" to enter my router's new location. In one of the many resets I have done, MAPS asked me to select a WiFi network from a choice of two, with the other one being a nearby FL protected network. Since I couldn't join the protected network, Skyhook thinks I am in VA. This is really very frustating. Applecare says there is nothing they can do.
Jhop
I’m ticked off...
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Do you still have this problem? -
Inappropriate?Chris are you still having this issue? I just checked and we havent got an update to your APs location. If you want I can quarantine your AP so it doesn't get used.
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I got a new router and haven't used that one in a while. As of the last time I used it (which was several months ago), I was still having the problem, but I don't know whether it'd still be a problem. -
Inappropriate?ok let me know if you do end up having any issues.
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