Can't Save URL Parameters in HTTP Get Request PHP - php

Question

I'm working with Arduino and its GSM Shield. This is a hardware device that allows me to make an HTTP GET request to any IP address or web URL.
So we build a PHP script that reads URL parameters, and submits that data to the database. It will be saving our Arduino data when it pings our server.
Right now, when I visit the URL with the parameters in my browser, it works great. Everything saves and can be accessed via DB. But when the Arduino makes the request or I ping the URL with cURL, the record doesn't get saved.
The response I get shows that it is loading the page and spitting back the expected HTML. Why is my PHP not reading these URL parameters and saving them?
I've looked into sessions, etc no luck.
Thanks in advance!!
EDIT:::
handle_data.php (parses parameters, saves them to DB)
<?php
// Setup our DB login info
$servername = "localhost";
$username = "root";
$password = "root";
$dbname = "arduino";
if (!empty($_GET['lat']) && !empty($_GET['lon'])) {
function getParameter($par, $default = null){
if (isset($_GET[$par]) && strlen($_GET[$par])) return $_GET[$par];
elseif (isset($_POST[$par]) && strlen($_POST[$par]))
return $_POST[$par];
else return $default;
}
$lat = getParameter("lat");
$lon = getParameter("lon");
$person = $lat.",".$lon.",".$time.",".$sat.",".$speed.",".$course."\n";
// Create connection
$conn = new mysqli($servername, $username, $password, $dbname);
// Check connection
if ($conn->connect_error) {
die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}
$sql = "INSERT INTO gps_data (latitude, longitude)
VALUES (".$lat.", ".$lon.")";
if ($conn->query($sql) === TRUE) {
echo "New record created successfully";
// close connection
$conn->close();
} else {
echo "Error: " . $sql . "<br>" . $conn->error;
}
}
else {
};
?>
Here's the Arduino Code:
if(started) {
//GPRS attach, put in order APN, username and password.
//If no needed auth let them blank.
if (inet.attachGPRS("internet.wind", "", ""))
Serial.println("status=ATTACHED");
else Serial.println("status=ERROR");
delay(1000);
//Read IP address.
gsm.SimpleWriteln("AT+CIFSR");
delay(5000);
//Read until serial buffer is empty.
gsm.WhileSimpleRead();
//TCP Client GET, send a GET request to the server and
//save the reply.
numdata=inet.httpGET("http://cd5d6640.ngrok.io", 80, "/handle_data.php?lat=44.87654&lon=-88.77373", msg, 50);
//Print the results.
Serial.println("\nNumber of data received:");
Serial.println(numdata);
Serial.println("\nData received:");
Serial.println(msg);
}
Note - We're developing on localhost with MAMP, using ngrok to tunnel to localhost:8888. It works fine when you visit the ngrok url in the browser, but not when we hit it with a request. The url included is irrelevant and not active.