Garmin Forerunner 255 – GPS Issues

DoDo 5 months ago

Hi everyone,

I’ve been having trouble with my Forerunner 255’s GPS for the past week. It suddenly stopped finding satellites when starting outdoor activities like running or walking. Until then, it worked perfectly.

I tried restarting the watch, syncing with Garmin Express and Garmin Connect to refresh satellite data. Oddly enough, it worked yesterday and I completed a run. But later in the day, it failed again.

During today’s workout the signal even dropped mid‑activity and hasn’t come back since.

Now, it just keeps searching without locking onto GPS – even after 30 minutes under clear sky. It’s very unreliable and I can’t figure out any pattern. I’ve tried everything except a factory reset.

Anyone else had similar issues? I'm on software version 23.20. Would really appreciate any suggestions!

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0 6125703 1 month ago in reply to chocorello

You can check the status of the "ephemeris" in the System -> About menu. It is one of the later screens in the loop, so I go through the list backwards with the UP button.

My FR255 will show "missing" after about 1 week, and goes back to "current" after I let it sync with the phone app for about 10-15 minutes. When I am charging it once ever 2 weeks, I sync when charging and a second time in between.

I also think that the GPS does better when I am using it daily, and takes a bit longer if I skip a day, even when it shows "current".

0 ovekvam 1 month ago in reply to 6125703

I mostly sync by wifi (FR255 Music), and that seems to keep the ephemeris up to date.

0 3732614 1 month ago

This issue is unresolved. My F255’s problem with finding satellites started around when this forum was created. It never could not find satellites within 1 or 2 minutes, irrespective of the settings eg. GPS or ALL plus multi-band at my home. The solution is not to follow Garmin’s fix. I went as far as doing a factory restart, but it does not help. My F255’s Ephemeris shows current when this happens. Leaving it outside does not seem to help if the problem appears.

I was on the way to buy a new watch and read the forum in September 25 and realised it may not be the hardware. I also do not use an iPhone as it appears from this forum it is a possible solution for some. I have an Android phone.

What works for me is to connect the F255 to Garmin Connect for a long period eg overnight, as I only connect the F255 to the phone to sync my data and then disconnect it again. I have been doing this since I bought the F255 in August 2022. The period the F255 is connected to the Garmin Express app to sync and charge does net seem to solve this problem reliably.

My first GPS watch did not require a look-up table or what ever the problem is. It would lock to satellites sometimes inside the house. Garmin watches should be able to lock to satellites from just “listening” to the satellites. This is unheard-of that Garmin watches require regular connection to the internet to find satellites. The watch has become “reliant” on this cheat used by phone manufacturers.

Come on @garmin fix this as this functionality is fundamental to a multisport watch.

0 Guijcm 28 days ago

I have been having trouble with my watch for the past month. For the past year I had absolutely no issues connecting to GPS. Doesn't matter what I try, it just won't connect whatsoever. Connecting to Garmin Express works every now and then, but it still takes like 5 to 10 minutes to acquire a signal, if it even does. It's like if you connected everyday withing less than 24 hours of each connection, it will connect just fine; but if more than 24 hours pass from its last connection to GPS then it will not connect again. Last time I had this issue it finally connected 10 minutes into my run.

I had the issue this morning and had a chat with them. I started an activity hoping that it would connect within the 15 minutes that it takes me to stretch, but it did not. I ran for an hour and a half straight hoping that it would connect at some point in it didn't. This watch is basically useless.

Their solution was offering a replacement for the exact same watch, no fee. They offered to have me send mine, and then send one when they receive it; or pay a $240 upfront, they send the replacement, once I get it, I send mine back, and they refund the money once they receive it. 90 day warranty only, which is ridiculous. I told them I'd think about it, because I'm seriously considering switching to Coros.

Still furious, I decided to go out for my run without GPS connection, and it finally connected 10 mins into my run. I'm not sure if just standing still for 10 mins waiting for it to connect would have worked, or if the running did anything to help, but I'm hoping it'll keep working. I might just have to remember to start an activity on my rest days just to have it connect quickly and then discard the activity to make sure it'll connect consistently.

I did bring it to their attention that there's several other people with the same issue [here ](forums.garmin.com/.../1987343, but I'm not sure if they really care or check those forums. Honestly disappointed. I told them I'd rather upgrade if anything, but they just offered the replacement. Scared to buy something more expensive to just find myself dealing with similar issues down the line.

This has to be some kind of software issues with this specific model because there's no way it's pure coincidence that everyone started to have the issue with the same exact model at the same time. I think it's best to either chat with them or give them a call to report the issue and hopefully someone will do something to fix it.