GPS and GPS related devices are integral part of our daily life. The prime example is our phone which we use for navigation. Even though we are quite familiar with the term GPS, many of us don’t know how GPS works. There are so many misconceptions around GPS and GPS tracking. In this article we are trying to explain what GPS and GPS tracker is. Also, we will be discussing about whether internet is required for GPS to work.

What is GPS?

GPS the term stands for Global position system which include a constellation of satellites. These satellites help to geo locate any object on earth with the help of GPS receiver. GPS is a free service so anyone can harness the signals from the satellites using a receiver and pinpoint their location on map. According to the government website GPS consist of 3 segments namely space, control and user segments.
The space segment consists of constellation of 24 satellites which transmit one way GPS data. The control segment monitors these satellites and user segment capture the signals from satellites with the help of GPS receivers and calculate user’s position.

Does GPS require internet to work?

Absolutely not. GPS does not require any form of internet connectivity. As already mentioned, GPS dependent on the signals from satellites. Anyone can harness these signals using a GPS receiver. You can test this fact by turning of the internet connection on your phone and try to use google maps.

Can GPS Tracker device work without internet?

Before answering this question, one should understand the use of GPS tracker devices. GPS trackers are small tracking devices that can be deployed on vehicles for live tracking. This tracker device also comes with a tracking application. In this the user can be sitting on their home while vehicle is on the road travelling at a certain speed. 

Here the location data of the vehicle must be transferred to the mobile device of the user.  For that reason, GPS tracker does require the help of internet connection. To understand this a bit clearer, consider GPS on cell phone and GPS on a GPS tracker device. In the case of cell phone, the user is getting the location information right from the same device because the GPS receiver is pre-installed mobile device.

likewise in the case of GPS tracker the user needs to establish a connection with GPS tracker on a moving vehicle. So, for that reason GPS tracker and the Mobile/desktop device of the user must be connected to the internet.

Diagram showing the working of GPS on mobile phone and GPS tracker device

Questions 

1. My phone can access GPS without internet so why can’t the GPS Tracker device would also be able to perform without internet?

   Ans: Whether it is on phone or on a GPS device, accessing the location is completely free as explained earlier in this article. The GPS tracker require internet connection to transfer the location data of the remote vehicle into user device which is situated far away from the source. 

2. Does the car or the vehicle should have an active internet connection or hotspot for the GPS tracker to send data to the phone?

   Ans: The GPS tracker provided by PAJ GPS comes with preinstalled M2M sim card which can switch to the best performing network in any Geographical location. So, the tracker device will always have the best internet connectivity. It does not require external support.

3. Does the application for GPS tracking should always be running in order to receive alerts and store data.?

   Ans: The tracking application from PAJ will always store the location data on cloud server. So, you don’t need to keep your mobile/desktop application running all the time