MultiNav Pro+ GNSS - 1 second first fix claim, cold start or assisted?

Leonard Dominguez•June 15, 2026

Been integrating the MultiNav Pro+ GNSS module into a vehicle tracking build and the 1 second first fix spec caught my eye. I want to clarify whether that's a hot start / assisted GNSS scenario or if that's actually achievable from a cold start with no almanac data cached. Because in my experience most modules that advertise sub-2s TTFF are assuming warm start conditions with valid ephemeris already in memory, which is a pretty different situation than powering up fresh in a new location with no prior data.

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Adam•June 15, 2026

@Leonard Dominguez yeah you're right to push on that — the 1 second TTFF is a hot start figure, not cold start. Cold start from scratch with no almanac or ephemeris cached is a completely different story, and honestly any module claiming sub-2s cold start should get heavy skepticism from you.

What makes the MultiNav Pro+ stand out for your vehicle tracking use case is less about the cold start time and more about the 18Hz fix rate once it's locked — that's what actually matters for tracking fast-moving platforms, because you're getting position updates way more frequently than the typical 1-5Hz you'd see on commodity modules. For a vehicle tracker that's huge.

For the cold start scenario specifically, you'll want to look at whether you're keeping the module powered between sessions or at least maintaining a battery backup for the RTC and almanac retention — that's what keeps you in hot/warm start territory in real deployments and makes that 1s figure actually relevant to your build.

Joel Sanchez•June 15, 2026

Yeah that 1s figure is definitely for hot start with valid ephemeris cached, cold start on the MultiNav Pro+ is more in the 30-45s range under open sky which is pretty typical for the class. If you're deploying in scenarios where the module might be off for extended periods or moved significantly between sessions you'll want to look into the AGNSS assist option they have, it pulls ephemeris over your data connection and gets you back to near-hotstart perf even after a cold boot.