You don't have to be connected to WIFI to use the WIFI Positioning System - WPS - to determine your location. The GPS app on your phone can determine how far you are from a WIFI hotspot and use a database of WIFI locations to determine where you are.fansounds said:I use waze and/or googlemaps to navigate. When I plan a route I 1st turn GPS on on my phone. Phone then always asks me to also turn on WIFI, but I always ignore this and leave it off because I thought its pointless if you're not actually connected to wifi. But does WIFI being on (without being actually connected) actually help pinpoint your location? How does it do that? My phone loses my location about 25% of the time, and I'm wondering if this is why? thanks!
Android phones and tablets periodically check to see what wifi access points are visible to your device (the SSID & MAC address of the access point). This information is recorded. If your GPS is also on, then the location of your device is also recorded. This data helps accurately map the location of all the WiFi signals around. With every android device doing this, google (and every other provider) already has an accurate location of all the wifi in cities using this technique.fansounds said:I use waze and/or googlemaps to navigate. When I plan a route I 1st turn GPS on on my phone. Phone then always asks me to also turn on WIFI, but I always ignore this and leave it off because I thought its pointless if you're not actually connected to wifi. But does WIFI being on (without being actually connected) actually help pinpoint your location? How does it do that? My phone loses my location about 25% of the time, and I'm wondering if this is why? thanks!
Unconnected WIFI can help pinpoint your location by using a process called triangulation. This involves measuring the signal strength of nearby WIFI networks and using that information to determine the approximate location of the device.
No, unconnected WIFI cannot track your location if you have location services turned off. Location services use a combination of WIFI, GPS, and cellular data to determine your location, so if any of these are turned off, your location cannot be tracked.
The accuracy of unconnected WIFI in pinpointing your location depends on the density of WIFI networks in the area. In areas with a high concentration of networks, the accuracy can be within a few meters. However, in areas with fewer networks, the accuracy may be lower.
No, unconnected WIFI cannot be used to track your location without your knowledge. Your device must actively scan for nearby networks in order for unconnected WIFI to determine your location. This process can also be turned off in your device's settings.
There are some privacy concerns with using unconnected WIFI to pinpoint your location. While the process does not use any personal information, it can still reveal your approximate location. However, this information is only accessible to authorized apps and services and cannot be used to identify or track you without your consent.