Lifetime traffic

Joe, I can't really tell by reading Amazon reviews if the Garmin GTM-25 lifetime traffic cable comes with ads or not. One guy says it does, and it well may just be a replacement for the original cable that comes with the 1450LMT.
Just having bought a 2460LMT, I can honestly say that the traffic ads aren't a factor for me. They generally occur when you first turn the GPS on, or when you are stopped, or you push the traffic icon. Haven't seen them while driving/navigating.

Larry

are not any bother at all. I wouldn't even factor it in to the decision to buy or not to buy the LMT model.

The pop up ads only happen when you are at a complete stop.

pop ups are taking over the world

The ad's are only in major cities. I don't get any ad's at all in my city but when I drive to major city I get ad's and usually when you turn on the car or stop somewhere..

To be honest; ad's are not that annoying to me but some people find it very annoying.. Plus the Garmin traffic is not as good as Google traffic. You will be in stuck in traffic and after 5 mins you will see RED SIGN saying "5 mins delay"... Garmin only covers the major roads/highways (not everything)..

I really wish Garmin starts to take traffic from Google (instead of Navteq) or use similar technique as Google to collect traffic information throught GPS devices of users...

Thanks all. I won't worry about the ads!

POP-UPs are not a problem but so far (9 months) traffic has been 100% wrong and is useless.

The accuracy of the traffic is different everywhere. To know if the traffic reporting and accurcy is any good in your area ( Wash., D.C.) you need to hear from users in that area.

In Pittsburgh the accuracy doesn't seem too bad but the problem north of the city where I live is reception, or lack of. There are hills up here.

The hills also limit detour routes sometimes when I do run into traffic.

Yet again....today, a bridge had all but 1 lane closed going westbound. Garmin traffic? Green light baby. Delay? 1 hour. Luckily I saw the backup and exited. AM radio is aware, as is the Droid X. Then, WTF (excuse my French). Press go home and unable to calculate. Reboot, and now it calculates. This btw is the 2nd 2350 LMT, the first did the same. That one locked-up, didn't respond to the power button or unplugging the lighter adapter, and finally drained its battery, at which time it rebooted. 2012 map updated by me, and it wants me to make an illegal right turn. Having to go through the intersect cost another 20 min (when it's metro traffic, accuracy matters).

There will come a day when these issues are unacceptable. That day obviously hasn't arrived yet as Garmin keeps selling this stuff. Call GARMIN I'm sure they'll say user error.

I have yet to see the traffic information be of any use. It has always been wrong.

I am realy surprised as to how accurate it is up here in Toronto. I used to use the traffic with my old 265t a couple of years ago but could not trust it as far as I could throw it so I stopped using it. Now that I am using my 2360LMT I had to use the car charger/traffic cable a few times and started to notice how accurate it was so now I use it all the time. Its far more accurate then the overhead traffic signs. Went down to Buffalo NY last week and sat in traffic without moving for twenty minutes and the icon was green the whole time. I guess it comes down to it is only as good as the info Navteq gets. If nobody sends them the info then they cant send it out.

I drive drive 72 miles round-trip to work 5 days a week.

Sometimes I get to my truck before the Traffic report gets on the radio at 6 mins after the hour. Many times the Garmin "Dings" and the Traffic Alert icon pops up, right after I hit the Home icon - before the radio reports it. Sometimes the reverse is true.

Don't blame Garmin. It's all in the speed of the system and most of the info is supplied by the State DOT. Radio stations have a slight advantage here as they can use the Traffic Cams (owned by the state) to check for conditions and the radio has a call-in number to report directly to them. They also listen to the State and Local police frequencies.

Most of the traffic info goes through a Central office somewhere (speed, density, etc.). If there is a semi laying sideways somewhere other than your route, they may be slow reporting the minor fender bender on your route. They relay important info to the State Police about the incident. Although, I'm sure that the State Police dispatchers have access to the cams as well.

All I know is that it has saved me many an hour of sitting in traffic, because I knew to take an alternate route before I got to the log jam.

On our last trip to the Preakness (Baltimore), the Garmin was alerting me about back-ups in DC, while we were still in Richmond. They were gone, by the time we got near DC. If they were still there when we got closer, I would have had plenty of time to get off on an alternate route.

I like it and am glad I have a lifetime subscription, because it has kept me from being frustrated by being "stuck in traffic".

If it upsets you that much return the thing and buy a TomTom then you can have it tell you to make a right turn off the main road and onto the main north/south runway at Tampa International. It just could not tell me how to get over that big ditch and thru the fence without trashing my car.

Next time I go to our offices in Toronto, Ajax, and Pickering, I'll see how it does. Everything is better in Canada right now, probably gps as well. Except you haven't got LTE except in Ottawa. Eventually you'll surpass us there as well.

Here in Dallas/Fort Worth it seems to be pretty accurate so far (I've had my 2460LMT for about a month now). In fact, there have been quite a few instances where I wonder why my Garmin is routing me a certain way and I ignore it (and keep going my normal route), only later to find out that there is traffic ahead.

Regarding Ads, I dont find them all that bothersome -- as I understand it, they are only suppose to come up when stopped, but I've had quite a few instances on mine where if I'm moving under 10 MPH (stop and go traffic) they will pop-up. As soon as I get over 10 MPH, they disappear

-T-

Rogers just started it there, and more cities to come. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver this fall.

Plans start at $45 per 1.5 gig though. Insane pricing! BTW, no LTE phones as yet, only the computer modem so far.

I'll have to check it out if I make it to Mississauga in August. In the past, the reports have been pretty good for the QEW/403 stretch between Hamilton and the Ford plant. On trips twice last year, it was correct about heavy traffic heading toward Toronto north of Hamilton. It was rather annoying getting a bit north of Grimsby and seeing the red traffic icon come on saying 14 minute delay (which usually means twice as much) and knowing you were heading into the equivalent of a brick wall.

The free traffic around Boston took a sudden huge leap in accuracy a few months ago. Now it beats out the Google traffic and myTraffic alerts consistently. It's been scary-accurate on 90 and 495. It's picked up at least 4 huge jams that the other two missed completely, and I went around.

If you pay for the traffic service then the ads go away.

I think you need to pay for the right service, though. Navteq is the free service which is ad supported (I think). Pay for Navteq through Garmin's site and the ads should disappear.

Check with Garmin to be sure. You can pay for both, have move coverage city-wise and not have ads at all for just over $100. Then you don't have to call Garmin to find out which they're using.

I don't think I've ever seen an ad on my Nuvi. Maybe they haven't invaded up north yet.

Have Lifetime Traffic on my 765T. Use it every day (Baltimore Area) mostly on my return trip going home from work. I find the traffic information to be extremely accurate. Pop up ads only appear when car is at a standstill.

I've used my 1490LMT in most of major cities in Western Canada, but haven't seen a single ad to-date. I don't even know how they look like.
I'm getting more and more impressed about the accuracy of traffic info. It improved a significantly over the last 4-5 months.

I only see the ads when in the US. While traveling the major interstates you might get one for a nearby hotel when you stop for fuel. I have yet to see any up here in Canada.

very small and don't get in your way, but try not get too excited about the traffic feature. For me, the traffic feature has been hit or miss and mostly a day late. The icon turns red when you see brake lites, but that is life in NYC...