Help Skyhook map WiFi hotspots, make iPhone Google Maps My Location more accurate
By Will Park on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 pm PST In Announcements, Apple, Developer, Mac OS, iPhone
Are you the giving-type? Do you like to help others for the betterment of society? Well, you might be interested to hear that you can help Skyhook Wireless map WiFi hotspots in your area. If you’ll recall, Skyhook is the company that provides the iPhone’s v1.1.3 Google Maps’ My Location feature with WiFi hotspot location data, so contributing to their database should make the iPhone’s Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps My Location position-data more accurate and useful.
Here are the instructions on how to go about adding your positional data to Skyhook’s database (from iPhone Central):
1. Find your location as latitude, longitude
First we need to determine the location of the AP. Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com) and find the location of your access point on the map. Center the map (double-click on it) on the location and then enter the following into your Address Bar:
javascript:void(prompt(”,gApplication.getMap().getCenter()));
This will open a prompt giving you the latitude,longitude of the center of
the map. Copy and paste that into an email. If you are having problems there is a little more detailed tutorial here.2. Find the MAC Address of your wireless access point
Next we need to get the MAC Address of your AP. This can be tricky, so its best to use software to find it. We recommend NetStumbler and iStumbler on Windows and Mac respectively. You can download the programs at the following links:
Windows: http://www.netstumbler.com/
Mac: http://istumbler.net/Find your AP in the list and the associated MAC address for it. Now paste the MAC address in the email.
Now you should have a MAC address, latitude and longitude. Its good to recheck the location by pasting the latitude, longitude back into Google Maps to make sure its the right location. Once you verify it, send us the information and we’ll add them to the database. It may take up to a week before the AP is available when using your iPhone or iPod touch.
Just make sure you add accurate data, okay? It would be ashame to actually lose positional resolution because a bunch of dimwits decided it would be funny to add inaccurate WiFi hotspot data.
[Via: iPhone Central]
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
[...] benwilson: [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Not going to work. It’s just stupid to try and create navigation system based on WiFi routers MAC-addresses. What Google (NSDQ: GOOG) does with GSM however is very brilliant but with WLAN…come on!?! Those networks each have so small range, they tend to change bretty often and there’s jsut too many of them around…those databases will always be out-of-date.
Offtopic: It’s actually a bit funny that the N95 (and other GPS 3G phones) users using Google Maps with GPS who generate the GSM-cell database for Google and thus for the iPhone
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
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January 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 am
Note to Kalle,
Actually, using Wifi for location has already been done. I’m sure you would have also been a naysayer a number of years ago about using a satellites to find your position — I mean come on, those things are ALWAYS moving…they are some 20,000 KM away…that’s just crazy. But it works, as does Wi-Fi positioning.
Happy to have a more scientific debate on the qualities and capabilities of WPS, the life cycle of an AP, the value of redundancy, signal propagation, anti-entropy mechanisms for stabilizing the system, etc., but to state that it is “Not going to work.” … well, that’s just crazy talk.
Kipp
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Heh..actually, those GPS satellites aren’t moving…they’re on geostatic orbits.
But anyway, I’m 100% sure no-one will talk about WiFi navigation two years from now on. First of all you can’t even expect to find enough WiFi hotspots anywhere else than in the cities - when GSM/3G cells are practically everywhere…and very static. So I say again, it just won’t work
January 23rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Once again, I would ask you to look at facts…GPS satellites aren’t actually in geostationary orbits (GPS satellites are positioned closer to earth and travel about 3.9km/second relative to the ground: http://www.kowoma.de/en/gps/orbits.htm). In addition to standard motion, they have to compensate for relativity, atmospheric conditions, gravitational changes, etc.
But that’s neither here nor there wrt your point on WPS. I’ll let time and the jury decide as to the veracity of your other statements. My point is you seem to be arguing without the benefit of facts. Also, please note that I’m not taking away the value of other location methods, each type of location technology has some advantages and some disadvantages across a number of different attributes — and these different attributes are more important or less important based on the application, mode of transport, visible skyline, etc.
If you are really interested, I could point you to a healthy body of research that would argue quite strongly that it DOES work, and to a growing number of commercial deployments that may detract from your point.
Regards,
Kipp
January 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Kalle,
You say it won’t work…based on what? Do you have any technical points to bring up as to what makes it completely infeasible technically to do accurate wifi positioning? It seems like all you are doing is trashing an idea without explaining why…
-Mike
January 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Um, let’s just end this debate.
IT DOES WORK. I have used the WiFi positioning feature from Navizon to incredible effect (I would say the accuracy was down to 200ft.) Navizon combines a WiFi dbase with cell-tower triangulation - so when WiFi hotspots are available, positional data is spot-on.
WiFi positioning works well, as long as there is a hotspot nearby.
WiFi positioning combined with cell-tower triangulation can prove to be quite accurate at times. The Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps My Location uses (I believe) Skyhook’s WiFi dbase in conjunction with cell-tower triangulation (like Navizon), so the results should be quite accurate.
Offtopic:
Um, uh, thanks all N95 users?
January 24th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Um, you just don’t understand what I meant before…
maybe it’s because I’m not native english speaker (swedish)… But anyway, my point was that the WiFi navigation is useless and there is more stable alternative, the GSM/3G, navigation available. I know it works _technically_ but it just does not “work” as reasonable navigation method. I don’t find WiFi APs stable and widespread enough - you can only use WiFi navigation in cities where also gsm cells are smaller, thus providing greater accuracy.
And thanks Kipp for clearing that GPS thing…I’ve always thought those satellites are geostationary and quick googling also seemed to implicate so… but maybe you’re right.
willpark: ..the N95 was just an example…not to be taken literally. I bet google (NSDQ: GOOG) itself also records cell tower coverages but at least some of the work is done by users with GM and GPS on their mobile.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
I understand what you meant. I agree that WiFi hotspots are transient and not as reliable as GSM cell-tower triangulation.
The argument is not wether WiFi positioning is a viable solution in itself, but when paired with cell-tower triangulation, it’s a fairly accurate combination.
Cell-tower triangulation can approximate your position. If there’s a WiFi hotspot nearby, and it’s in the database, then you’ll get an even more accurate positional information.
The point is that combining the two technologies is the key.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:56 am
macstumbler has gps support, tried it tonight to map wifi on my drive in to work. But for some reason it didn’t get the gps data right. had me about 10 miles off. Not sure if this is a problem with the program or the blue tooth gps antenna I was using. But if I can get this fixed, then it’s a great way to drive around, map the data, save it to a log and send it in. It will map the gps coordinates to the wifi hotspot, with SSID MAC address, etc.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
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July 15th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
MAC: 00:18:F8:37:45:4E
Lat/ Long: 33°42′41.06″N 116°18′59.79″W
Router B, G , N
Please register my WiFi Location.
November 8th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Haaaar Captain,
Register your address directly with Skyhook Mobile here:
http://www.skyhookwireless.com/howitworks/submit_ap.php
Takes between a few days and two weeks (apparently) to kick into use. Just registered mine and will report back on how quickly my router lets my iTouch be found.
November 16th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Evening time on Sunday 16th and the lumbering series of updates through the parties has made the link and Google Locate can now find my iTouch. Eight days, not too bad.
No triangulation of course so there’s a 100m radius on the location ring, but it is centered perfectly.
Must try some tests at work and add 3 overlapping APs. See if the accuracy will tighten.