Navimow lost satellite signal: what RTK actually needs

What Segway means by a weak signal

Segway's clearest published account of degraded positioning sits in its Navimow H series article on how the mower behaves when the satellite signal is weak. It lists two light states while mowing: a flashing blue ambient light for a satellite signal that is not ideal but can be used, and a flashing yellow light for a poor satellite signal. It then splits behaviour by whether VisionFence is fitted. With VisionFence not installed or installed but turned off, the article says the mower returns to the charging station automatically if the weak signal lasts for more than one minute, keeps searching for signal on the way, and comes back to resume mowing if the signal recovers. With VisionFence installed and turned on, it says the mower keeps mowing the planned path and only starts moving randomly to retrieve the positioning signal after sustained poor accuracy.

The same article names the symptoms that follow rather than the light itself: the mower running into an off-limit island or outside the boundary, location-related error codes including 6010, 7006 and 6002, and unexpected zigzags in a map that was built while the signal was unstable. That last one matters more than it sounds, because a map drawn under a bad signal keeps producing bad runs after the signal recovers.

Segway's separate article on a mower flashing yellow adds a calibration owners often skip: an occasional flash that clears by itself is described as an occasional issue that can happen during daily use and not something to worry about. The article is written for the case where the mower constantly has trouble with satellite signal reception.

• Flashing blue: signal not ideal but usable (Navimow H article).
• Flashing yellow: poor satellite signal.
• VisionFence off or not fitted: automatic return to the station after more than one minute of weak signal, resuming if signal recovers.
• VisionFence on: mowing continues on the planned path, with random searching only after sustained poor accuracy.
• Named downstream symptoms: off-limit island incursions, boundary exits, error codes 6010, 7006 and 6002, and zigzags in a map built under unstable signal.

The numbers Segway publishes for sky view and placement

RTK is a differential technique: a receiver whose position is known corrects a receiver whose position is being solved, and both have to be watching enough of the same satellites for the correction to apply. Segway does not explain it in those terms on its support pages, but every placement number it publishes follows from it. Its Navimow H article on the ideal location for the charging station and GNSS antenna states that the antenna should have a clear sky view of at least 110 degrees unobstructed, and that the charging station and GNSS antenna should be in an open space with no obstacles within a 2 m radius.

Segway's own Navimow Academy article on weak GPS, RTK and positioning signals, published on navimow.com on 21 July 2026, repeats the 110 degree figure and adds distances. It states the antenna should be at least 6.6 ft away from walls, dense trees, houses and fencing, and that the charging station should also sit at least 6.6 ft from trees, walls and houses, out of shade, on a flat surface, with 1.6 ft of clearance on the left and right and 6.5 ft of clearance at the front. It also gives the reason for the station distance in Segway's own words: the mower knows the exact position of the charging station and compares it with the GPS location value to find the error, so a station the mower cannot connect to well degrades navigation, not just charging.

Where full openness is not achievable, the H series behaviour article publishes a hemisphere rule: keep at least the southern sky clear in the Northern Hemisphere, or the northern sky in the Southern Hemisphere, with east and west clear where possible. If that cannot be met it points first at the antenna extension pole and then at roof mounting with the Antenna Extension Kit. For the X3 series, Segway publishes a range figure as well: in an open area the mower should be no more than 200 metres (656 ft) from the antenna, a single antenna covers a 200 metre radius from its centre, and a Signal Enhancement Antenna is recommended for larger lawns or where a front and back yard are separated by heavy tree cover, because the RTK system requires the mower and antenna to share visible satellites.

• Antenna sky view: at least 110 degrees unobstructed (Navimow H installation article and Navimow Academy).
• No obstacles within a 2 m radius of the charging station and GNSS antenna (Navimow H installation article).
• At least 6.6 ft from walls, dense trees, houses and fencing, for both antenna and charging station (Navimow Academy).
• Charging station clearance: 1.6 ft each side, 6.5 ft at the front, flat surface, no shade (Navimow Academy).
• Hemisphere fallback: southern sky clear in the Northern Hemisphere, northern sky in the Southern Hemisphere.
• X3 series: mower no more than 200 m (656 ft) from the antenna; one antenna covers a 200 m radius.

The i series and the X3 series are not the same installation

This is where generic Navimow advice goes wrong. The Navimow i110N is published by Segway with RTK GPS plus vision over Network RTK, with no base antenna needed. Segway's Network RTK page describes that service as network-based GNSS positioning that reaches centimetre-level accuracy by taking GNSS correction over internet connectivity rather than from a local station, eliminating the need for local stations or external antennas, provided at no extra cost with the required cellular data included, and automatically connecting to the nearest and strongest of several certified providers. The same page carries a postcode checker, because coverage is not universal, and Segway's Academy article lists an NRTK coverage gap as one of its named causes of weak positioning.

The Navimow X350 is published with wire-free RTK plus vision using EFLS 3.0, combining RTK, VSLAM and VIO. Segway's X3 troubleshooting articles describe a Primary Antenna included in the package and connected to the charging station, plus an optional Signal Enhancement Antenna that plugs into its own power outlet and operates independently. Segway's Network RTK page also lists the X3 series among the models that now feature Network RTK access as standard. So an X3 owner can have both a physical antenna and a network correction source, which is why its yellow-light article starts by asking whether the antenna or charging station has been moved.

The practical consequence: on the i110N there is no antenna to reposition, so the sky-view logic attaches to the mower and the charging station and the failure mode shifts toward network coverage and cellular connectivity. On an X3 installation, antenna placement, the cable to the charging station, and antenna-to-mower distance are all live variables. Our guide to mowers without a perimeter wire sets out which navigation stack each model we cover publishes.

The published fix sequences, by series

Segway publishes a different ordered sequence per series, and they do not fully overlap. For the Navimow i, the yellow light article asks first whether this is initial deployment or an installation that has been running, and if the latter, whether the charging station or antenna position has been adjusted or the lawn layout has changed. It then has owners confirm the cables connecting the charging station and the antenna are securely connected, relocate a station or antenna placed against a wall to an open area using the Antenna Location Finder feature, and reassess antenna placement where tall trees or walls obstruct the signal. Its companion article on poor antenna reception adds two measures: install the GNSS antenna upright and unobstructed, and use the Satellite Signal Analyzer in the app to assess the satellite distribution map before committing to a location.

For the Navimow X3, the sequence is the same shape with two extra steps that exist only on that hardware. Segway has owners confirm the Primary Antenna is securely connected to the charging station and, if a Signal Enhancement Antenna is fitted, that it is powered and correctly positioned; then use the Antenna Location Finder to find the optimal position; then reassess both antennas where tall trees or walls block signal. Its separate article for no GPS signal showing in the Satellite Signal Analyzer starts at the cable between the Primary Antenna and the charging station, tells owners to try disconnecting any extension cable to see whether that resolves it, and points at the dual antenna management feature in the app to confirm both antennas are connected and online.

For the Navimow H, the flashing yellow article names three causes with their own remedies: satellite signal blocked in the scene, for which the published fixes are to check the antenna is in an open unshaded space using the satellite signal thermogram in the app and relocate to the recommended green area, and to set an off-limit island where the signal is severely blocked; firmware too old, for which the fix is a firmware upgrade; and a faulty GNSS antenna, identified by the antenna light effect not being displayed, which routes to the dealer. Error code 7006, which Segway defines as a localization recovery error, has a single published cause, a weak signal from a non-ideal antenna location, and two steps: relocate the antenna to a recommended location and rebuild the map, then set off-limit islands anywhere the error recurs.

• i series: check for moved station or antenna, secure the cables, relocate away from walls with Antenna Location Finder, reassess for trees.
• X3 series: as above, plus verify the Primary Antenna connection to the station and the power and position of any Signal Enhancement Antenna.
• X3 with no GPS in the Analyzer: check the Primary Antenna cable, try removing the extension cable, use dual antenna management in the app.
• H series: blocked signal (thermogram plus off-limit island), old firmware (upgrade), faulty GNSS antenna (no light effect, dealer).
• Error 7006 (localization recovery): relocate the antenna and rebuild the map, then set off-limit islands where it recurs.

Reading the app before you move anything

Segway publishes two in-app views that turn this from guesswork into a placement decision. The first is the post-mapping signal check, documented for the Navimow H: after a map is saved the app prompts a satellite signal check and draws the map in colours, green for strong, orange for not good enough, red for weak. Segway's published responses are specific to what the colours show. A red antenna signal indicator means finding another antenna location or mounting the antenna on a roof or wall with the antenna installation kit. A continuous large area of red, or red and orange, along the boundary means removing whatever blocks the signal, editing the boundary, or setting an off-limit island. A continuous red area on a channel means removing the obstruction or relocating the channel away from high trees and walls.

The second is the Satellite Signal Analyzer, reached in the Navimow app under Settings. Segway's Academy article explains the plot: a blue dot is a satellite visible to both the mower and the antenna, an orange dot a satellite visible to the antenna only, and the advice is to move the antenna to a location where more satellites are available. For a Network RTK installation the article restates the same plot with the network base station in place of the local antenna, and says the view will tell you which area of your lawn does not lock in GPS signals.

Blue dots are the ones that count. They are the co-viewed satellites, the shared observations RTK needs to cancel out atmospheric and orbital error, which is why Segway frames both the X3 second-antenna advice and the analyzer reading around satellites the mower and antenna can see together rather than around raw satellite counts.

Where the record has gaps

Three things are worth flagging so this reads as no more complete than it is. First, the deepest published account of weak-signal behaviour, including the one-minute automatic return and the VisionFence distinction, is a Navimow H series article. Segway's i series and X3 series articles are shorter and procedural, and we found no equivalent behaviour article for either. H series owners are reading documentation written for their hardware; i and X owners are extrapolating. The same article's sentence describing VisionFence behaviour ends at poor accuracy for 15 consecutive, with no unit published, so we do not restate a threshold we cannot read.

Second, the i series articles still describe cables connecting the charging station and the antenna and a GNSS antenna to reposition. That matches i series units fitted with a local antenna, not the Navimow i110N as Segway publishes it, with Network RTK and no base antenna needed. Segway has not rewritten the i series troubleshooting set around the antenna-free configuration, so on an i110N several of the published steps have nothing to act on and the live variables are network coverage and cellular connection instead.

Third, nobody publishes the numbers that would let you predict this. Segway states a 110 degree sky-view minimum and a set of clearances but no accuracy-versus-sky-view curve, no minimum satellite count, no time-to-reacquire figure, and no success rate for any of these steps. Network RTK availability is published only through the postcode checker on Segway's Network RTK page, not as a coverage map or a list. If the symptom persists after the documented sequence, every one of these articles ends the same way, at Segway support or a dealer, which is where this guide stops too. If your machine is stopping mid-lawn rather than reporting signal trouble, our Navimow stuck and stopping guide walks that branch, and for the equivalent diagnosis on Mammotion hardware see LUBA stuck or offline.