Why is GNSS accuracy lower than expected?

Symptoms

• —Reported accuracy is metres rather than centimetres.
• —Positions drift or jump between readings.

Likely causes

• —The position is coming from the device's internal location hardware rather than from an external receiver. The internal receiver is not a survey-grade instrument.
• —The external receiver is not connected, or its correction stream is not active.
• —Site conditions — tree cover, cut walls, structures — are degrading the fix.

Step-by-step checks

1. 01Confirm which position source ARKAK is using.
2. 02Confirm the external receiver is connected and reporting.
3. 03Confirm the receiver's own solution quality at the receiver.
4. 04Move to a location with a clearer view of the sky and compare.

Recommended solution

For survey-grade work, use a connected external receiver and confirm its solution quality before capturing. ARKAK reports the accuracy it is given; it does not improve upon or smooth the position it receives, and it does not claim an accuracy the hardware has not reported.