How to Track a Cell Phone by Satellite

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Track your cell phone with a satellite.

Maybe you like keeping track of your friends and family during the day. Perhaps you frequently misplace your mobile phone. Whatever the case, using a GPS tracking program that is connected to a satellite is a good way to to keep track of your cell phone. It's not as complicated as it might sound to install and if you choose the right programs it is completely free.

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Step 1

Find a GPS application online. Several free applications are available, including Google Maps for Mobile, Instamapper and Buddyway. Any of these will turn your web-enabled cell phone into a tracking device. Once installed your phone will send a signal to a GPS satellite, which will then send the signal back to a receiver that will put your location on a map through the Internet.

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Step 2

Get Google Maps for Mobile. This is the most thorough of the three programs mentioned. It not only turns your phone into a tracking device, but a complete navigation system as well. Google Maps for Mobile offers you audible turn-by-turn directions just like the GPS systems that are available for cars. In addition, you can add the service to your Internet browser if you use Google Chrome so that you can track the cell phone whenever you open it up.

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Step 3

Try Buddyway. This uses Google Maps as well, but it is a much more basic system. While it does have some navigation features, it is best used for recording your path during a road trip and sharing it with friends. It has a 30-day history so that they can see the course you took and it also has a feature that allows you to add your friends and family members to your maps. That way you can track each other with your GPS phones.

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Step 4

Get Instamapper. This is very similar to Buddyway, but provides a bit more data. For example, it gives you the speed that the phone is moving along with the latitude, longitude and altitude. This is a very easy system to use and allows you to toggle back and forth between map view and satellite photo view. You can see a map that is labeled with street names, or you can see the actual satellite images of the area that the phone is in. If you click on "hybrid," you will get both satellite images labeled like a map.

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