Geo Fence issues

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Geo Fence issues

Postby rayzor » Tue Jun 17, 2014 11:33 pm

I know that it is probably only as good as wifi signals and what not, but I think this is so far out of the expectation that I am worried if there is a bug.

I have geofence setup for home.
It is setup for 100 m (the minimum I can put it).
I double-checked the latitude and longitude with google maps, and my home is setup within 10 feet of my house.

As I am going to work, I get a notification on boundary when I leave.

However, while continuing on my way to work, I sort of circle back toward home, but on the other side of a lake. Every once in a while I will get a notification that I have entered the Home boundary.

At this point, I am slightly more than 2000 meters away from my home.

I am not sure why it would be triggering so far away.

Thanks
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby AdminWes » Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:36 am

Hi rayzor,

That is an interesting scenario. I, too, am not sure why it would trigger that far away. We added the Notify on Boundary crossing option so that you would know exactly when and where iOS tells MobiLinc that a boundary has been crossed. If this is triggering it's because iOS *thinks* the device has crossed a boundary.

We've documented all the ways to ensure the best possible results on our website here: http://mobilinc.com/features/geofence/ under "How can I tell if it's working?"

Another suggestion is to leave Google or Apple Maps running in the foreground as a test, for your scenario. This will force iOS to use your GPS position instead of Wi-Fi and cell tower signals for geo-fence triggering.

If you find that it does not trigger with GPS ON, but does with GPS off, then iOS is making a determination based on Wi-Fi and cell tower data it has for your area.

Wes
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby rayzor » Wed Jun 18, 2014 8:37 am

Just curious, would it be possible to add an option to only trigger 'home' when connected to the wifi network specified (or when it is in range)?
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby AdminWes » Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:58 am

Technically possible once you are connected to your home's WiFi, but difficult to add that kind of restriction. Plus, the trigger wouldn't happen until the iOS device has logged into your WiFi which may be several minutes even after arriving home. From what I've seen, I don't think that will be a reliable solution here for this issue.

Give the maps/GPS a try and let me know the results.

Wes
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby mclegry » Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:56 am

Hello,

I was reading this post and could relate to the issue that rayzor was having. My problem is a little bit different. I'll be sitting at home watching tv or something and I will hear my phone beep every so often. Basically a notification that I am either "Entering" or "Exiting" the region (without the phone moving at all). This sometimes happens several times through the evening.

When I initially setup the new "geofence" region and selected "Location", I noticed that the map that came up initially did not have my correct house co-ordinates. Slowly the map adjusted the setting to where it was fairly close to where my house was situated (took about 10 seconds). It was almost as if Mobilinc (or the Maps) was adjusting based on the wifi signal or cell towers. The initial spot on the map was probably over a Km away. I suspect that Mobilinc uses this initial location when trying to determine the location of the phone. If the Mobilinc would wait a few seconds before reporting the phone location then maybe a more accurate co-ordinate would get used.

I am in the process of testing a larger radius. I was still having this issue when I was using 500 metres. Tonight I will try 1000 metres to see what happens.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks...

Greg
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby AdminWes » Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:29 am

Hi Greg,

Unfortunately this is all iOS making these decisions. Once you set the geofence location in MobiLinc, MobiLinc tells iOS to monitor this spot. iOS then determines when you are in or out of that area.

It sounds like there might not be enough Wi-Fi or cell tower signals for iOS to get a reliable and consistent fix on your location which would explain the entering/leaving issue you are seeing.

Unfortunately I don't have any other suggestions on how to make iOS work better here aside from making sure that Wi-Fi is turned ON. Other than that, you'll be at the discretion of iOS.

Wes
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby klebel » Sat Aug 29, 2015 8:02 am

I have exactly the same problem as Craig. Unfortunately it makes the geofence almost useless if it isnt consistently accurate. I have it do things like shut off every light in the house when I leave and adjust the thermostat. I have it open the back garage door when I arrive home so I dont have to get off my motorcycle to park it inside on the way home from work. Things like that. I dont want my garage door popping open when Im not home. Or everything shutting off while I am cooking dinner (which is has). Any other suggestions?
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby AdminWes » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:53 pm

Hi klebel,

Unfortunately, no other suggestions. My response to Greg is still the most accurate comments on this issue with iOS reporting geo-fence status to MobiLinc.

Wes
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby Baabmartin » Thu Sep 24, 2015 10:02 am

I am new to mobilinc and so far really like it, but am having an issue with how geofence works. I set up a geofence that tells the ISY that I am away from home, which turns on cameras and does some other stuff. Then when I return home, it turns the cameras and other programs off. This works great except when I left home one day and my iPhone battery died (it's actually happened more than once). Arriving home obviously didn't trigger the "arriving home" program but even after the iPhone charges up "inside the geofence", it doesn't trigger either. So the cameras and other programs stay on as if I wasn't home. Is there a quick fix for this situation?
Thanks
Bob
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Re: Geo Fence issues

Postby AdminWes » Fri Sep 25, 2015 6:14 am

Hi Bob,

This is a side-effect of how iOS tells it's apps about registered geo-fences. How you describe it, iOS will NOT trigger the geo-fence. It's only on the edge transition of the geo-fence will it actually fire.

The quick solution is to create a program that toggles the variable from 1 when TRUE to 0 when FALSE and select "Toggle True/False" for the program in MobiLinc. You can then place this program on the Dashboard, Today View, or your Apple Watch to quickly toggle your geo-fence variable.

Wes
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