Telus time - Inaccurate

I'm surprised Telus can be so far off, as they run a CDMA network which requires very precise timing. In fact, CDMA time is so precice that it can be used as a stratum 0 time source. My Nexus One, on Rogers, is very close to the exact time, according to a NTP clock, whereas my old GSM phone could be several seconds off. 3G phones also use CDMA, although different from the 2G CDMA used on Bell & Telus.

I installed a NTP clock on my Nexus One. Is similar available for the iPhone? This applet has a display that shows both NTP and phone time. However, it won't set the phone time unless I root the phone.

^^^^
That makes me wonder if perhaps the fault is with the iPhone. What about someone on Rogers or other network with an iPhone? Do they also experience this?

BTW, if you're using a computer to check NTP time, you'll find Linux tends to be more accurate (within a small fraction of a second) than Windows (2-3 seconds).

Network Time Protocol

Not very impressive, Mr. Rogers!

Click to expand...

As I mentioned, it's likely to be due to the device. I have another example. PBS used to include an accurate time signal on their analog signal. I have a JVC TV and Panasonic VCR that could use that time signal to set their clocks. While the TV was very accurate, the VCR could be off by almost a minute! CDMA, as used in 3G and also 2G CDMA phones, requires very precise timing, but it's up to the manufacturer to use that accurate time in the clock display. As far as I'm concerned, there's no excuse for that clock to have anything less than perhaps 0.1 second accuracy while the phone is connected to the network.

As mentioned, it's possible to install an NTP clock app on smart phones to get accurate time. At the moment, my phone time is identical* to NTP time on the display and both match the NTP time on my Linux computer.

*As close as I can tell with my eyes. There is an offset of -0.327, according to the display. This in on a Google Nexus One on Rogers.

^^^^

My phone, plugged into the Rogers terminal, is about 10 secs slow. Again, the error is likely due to the device, rather than the service.

The best way to get accurate time is with NTP (preferably with Linux) or one of those radio clocks that syncs to WWVB. As you mentioned, the Rogers STBs are also very close. If you're *REALLY* worried about missing your bus, you can always buy your own
cesium clock.

^^^^
ClockSync on Android phones can sync the phone to NTP, but only if the phone has been rooted. As I mentioned earlier, my Nexus One is already very accurate, within a second of NTP, so I'm not that worried about syncing it.

^^^^
Car clocks are not allowed to run right. ;-)

^^^^
My previous phone was a Motorola V180 and, IIRC, it changed automatically without having to make a call. However, it was often off by a few seconds. This is also with Rogers. With wired phones, the time, date & caller ID are only transmitted in between rings, so they need an incoming call to update. Cell phones can send & receive data anytime they're on, so don't have that limitation. In fact, the 2G CDMA phone network can be used as a precision time source without making a call. There are receivers available just for that purpose.

the difference between GPS and UTC (currently 15 seconds)

Click to expand...

Any GPS receiver should be adding the appropriate offset to accurately display the time. That offset is included in the GPS data.