Can I use a phone for GPS to Gia on a WiFi only tablet in offline mode?

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pat

I want to buy a WiFi tablet to use for Gia even in no cell areas. I have an android phone, which has GPS. Can I use a no-GPS tablet + GPS phone in this config, even when offline? I use only the phone now but want the screen size of a tablet and don't want to buy another cell line.

I will install Gia GPS on both machines but want to understand if it should work before I buy the tablet. If this works, how does the location get communicated from phone to tablet? Bluetooth or WiFi hotspotting the phone?

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    Walt Knapp 
    You would be better off just getting a pad that has cell phone capability. I have used a iPad like that without activating any cell account on it and the GPS worked fine for Gaia. Note if you are planning to use it with CarPlay that Apple modified CarPlay so it does not work with iPads, only works with iPhones. Gaia works fine on my iPad Pro but I had to update to a new iPhone 13 pro just to use CarPlay with my Ranger with Gaia.
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    pat

    Paying more for hardware not to mention an unused account with monthly payments forever, when I have one already in my cell phone? Not sure why it takes a sim to activate the GPS receivers in a tablet but it does--I think. I resist all monthly fees, they stack up--especially when I already have the capability on my cell phone, which will be my backup gai device anyway.

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    Walt Knapp 
    My point was that a iPad which contains the internal circuits for cell service does not have to have a sim installed for it’s built in gps circuits to operate. So, since you were buying the pad to get the big display the real difference is the price of a pad model with the gps chip which is part of the cell capable model and the price of a pad without that. No monthly charge for cell needed.
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    Walt Knapp 
    The bigger price difference for me was the cost of storage space for the maps I needed. To be safe I ended paying for 1TB of storage which definitely added to the cost. Right now a portion of Georgia already uses 289 Gig of map storage in mine and I have more map area needed.
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    pat

    You are saying a tablet with cell/gps doesn't need cell service or a sim to provide gps? That is new to me. 

    I have an ipad with WiFi only and it seems to have gps, or at least tracks very well on google maps. Now I wonder how you tell if gps is functional on any tablet?

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    Walt Knapp 
    I have used several iPads that were cell/WiFi models but no sim or installed cell service which got gps data fine. If you can get a latitude/longitude reading with error reading on it then I’d think it has a gps chip in it.
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    pat
    • Edited

    Aha, WiFi only Apple tablets need Wifi connections to provide location but they don't use GPS. For Apple you need to be cell capable but no sim is required.

    For Android many tablets DO have gps without regard to cell capability. Also many allow plugin storage via inexpensive microSDs, where Apple must have it built-in adding a lot to the cost.

    It looks like the best budget offline gia gps model is a WiFi only Samsung Tab with a 1TB microSD. This gives gps and is far (far) cheaper than a similar Apple tablet.

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    pat

    This one is on sale at Amazon for $119, with GPS, WiFi only. But only allows 64G of microSD

    https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_tab_a7_lite-10933.php

    Some variation of this maybe with greater microSD might be the answer.

    Thanks @Walt Knapp

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    Walt Knapp 
    Just make sure you are completely out of WiFi and cell range when testing for gps capability. Google might be using cell tower locations or something else. 
    Look up specs or discussion groups. I am only familiar with Apple pads on this, not android.
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    pat

    That $119 Galaxy A7 Lite has GPS and can take up to 1TB of microSD. It's also about the right size--smallish.

    https://www.samsung.com/levant/tablets/galaxy-tab-a/galaxy-tab-a7-lite-lte-gray-32gb-sm-t225nzalmeb/#:~:text=Galaxy%20Tab%20A7%20Lite%20comes,storage%20%E2%80%94%20up%20to%201%20TB.

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    Walt Knapp 
    You really need to study how much map storage space you will need, not just now, but future. My reaction to only 64g of space is that would hardly only be enough for day trips, and no satellite or such like. Storage space is critical.
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    pat

    true but at 1TB this option has as much as any tab will allow--gotta love microSD. 

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    Walt Knapp 
    It is a bit awkward to use micro sd for map storage with Gaia app.  Gai uses a pretty buggy method of storage, I find it quaint enough without that extra, not tried that.
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    Walt Knapp 
    I actually use 4TB disks external for backup of both my iPad Pro and iPhone 13 pro and that works fine though Gaia’s map storage can not use that.  Works with waypoints,tracks, routes and such. iOS file system supports that.
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