Comment on NASA has some explaining to do
Numpty@lemmy.ca 9 months agoGenerally, you use the radio network from mobile phone to cell tower, and then fibre optic to the switches. Sometimes they use microwave line of sight for surface-to-surface connections where fibre doesn’t make sense, or is unviable (terrain, distance, cost, difficulty of laying fibre, etc.). It’s possible that there could be a satellite connection in the process, but unlikely unless you’re on an airplane, a ship, etc.
The GPS on the mobile phone definitely does use satellite (receive only though, no transmit).
Serinus@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’m not an expert, but I believe the phone will usually start by geolocating your IP address, getting satellite positions based on your rough position and the exact time, and only uses satellites for precision.
frezik@midwest.social 9 months ago
There’s a few different techniques. The crudest is to check what cell tower you’re connected to and use its location as your location. Good enough to find what sandwich shops are in the area, but not precise enough for driving instructions. That takes GPS satellites.
Flat earthers sometimes confuse these modes to say your phone only connects to local towers. Most people don’t know the details and don’t know how to refute it.