Routing Question (3597)

I'm just wondering if trafficTrends is enabled on your GPS ?

From the user manual: "When the trafficTrends feature is enabled, your device uses historic traffic data to calculate more efficient-routes. Note: Different routes may be calculated based on traffic trends for the day of the week or the time of the day."

I would clear the travel history & insure that trafficTrends is disabled (Settings, traffic, trafficTrends)

Good luck & please let us know if this helps any

Sorry, I should have said this in my original post:
trafficTrends is disabled.
For what it's worth, this behavior happens when trafficTrends is enabled as well (I had tried both ways to see if that was the culprit).

Avoidances specified?

... are you able to post details of the route? That way others can check it out to see if it works the same for them?

Pretty generally I'm quite pleased with the routing proposed by my 3597. However I do agree on both this unit and the predecessor in my possession 3790 unit, that if you ignore the suggested route by making a "wrong turn" that the first reaction by preference is for the unit to propose that you get back on the previous route. Possibly it prefers this option in order to get a recalculated suggestion up for you more quickly than would a completely de novo calculation.

In my experience this is actually less of a problem on 3597 and on the 3790.

The computational task of actually finding the exact fastest route across all possible routings is far too large to be accomplished by the processor at hand in a timely way. In my personal experience the 3597 routings proposed to me are usually pretty good, and rather often point out to me something better than I would've done on my own.

I have this problem with all 3 of my 3597's and I agree with your routing theory. The workaround I use is to enable "My Trends"( "Travel History" on the 3597) and do not clear travel history. After navigating the same route to your POI several times, the unit will learn it and eventually route that way. Doing this still allows you to use smartphone link and live traffic with detours when recommended.

I suspect but can't be sure that these routing inconsistencies have worsened with successive firmware updates. I don't remember having this difficulty when my first unit was new. This is especially true with the Fastest vs Shortest routing option which now, seems to make little difference.

I did an experiment earlier this year using 5 different 3597's. See this post if you're interested:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/47001

Routing issues have been a thorn in the side of many 3597 owners here at the factory. The thing you have to keep in mind is ALL the routes produced by the unit, even though not the most efficient, will get you to your destination eventually.

I will try the myTrends (I didn't even know the 3597 had this by another name). I clear my travel history from time to time and I believe the last time I cleared it was about a month ago.
I also agree with you that I have not had this issue really until recently. I don't know if the firmware update made this worse.

I understand that the GPS won't recalculate the whole route every time, but this is ridiculous. Here's another one that happened this morning while driving to school:
At an intersection the GPS wants me to turn LEFT (ETA 9:26AM) and this was after SEVERAL recalculations over 4 miles or so. But I know I need to turn RIGHT, so I do. GPS says Recalculating....and then *BOOM* ETA is now 9:05AM. Over one simple turn.
The point I'm trying to make is that if the GPS is this bad at guiding you on the fastest route, I don't know if I can trust it to route me with any sort of efficiency.

A GPS is good gadget but like a watch that at times will run a little fast or slow, it’s certainly not perfect.

When I know where I’m going, 99.9% of the time my GPS won’t route me the fastest way & that’s perhaps because it favors right turns over left turns.

When I go to Florida on holidays, I preview the route beforehand & when I see the unit wanting me to take a different itinerary, I add a shaping point in order to force it so that it uses the path I’ve chosen.

I create several routes in trip planner & this particular method works really well for the entire 1625 mile trip without one single route deviation.

Now when I’m in an area unknown to me, I’ll follow the GPS directions to get to my destination. As far as I’m concerned, a GPS that costs +- 100$ is a great device/tool when driving in unfamiliar territory to get from point A to B.

Please post you’re starting destination/coordinates & arrival destination (a few blocks away from your home) as Sussamb has suggested to see if other 3597 will route you the same way.

Cheers

There is still uncertainty, at least in what I've read, regarding what will reset myTrends which requires a full relearning period of time. It's fairly certain that a hard reset will erase myTrends data on a device but it remains unknown, I think, if a firmware update or map update will do so as well. Some earlier discussion:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/45662

For folks using myTrends (I do on the devices I have which offer myTrends), remember that myTrends requires the destination to be saved in Favorites or Saved Places which I assume means that a destination selected from a Custom POI will not activate myTrends' learning:

https://support.garmin.com/faqSearch/en-GB/faq/content/hGV4x...

In any event, users like me who enable myTrends must be sure that routes are created with the destination being a Saved or Favorite in the Garmin device, and that when myTrends resets due to a hard reset and maybe other activities, myTrends will have to relearn your desired routes and this can take many days to weeks depending on your usage and consistency in routing. Although not a problem for me, I expect myTrends will take longer and become less sure of itself when multiple users with different goals, driving habits, etc. use a single device.

And for all devices, even those without myTrends, remember that Garmin devices do learn driving habits over time based upon road types and the speeds at which you normally travel and anything that resets this memory (hard reset/firmware_update?/map_update?) also will affect routes when choosing Fastest Route and routes' ETAs after its "memory" is reset.

I omitted this from my earlier post.

For routes I know and travel frequently, I create in Basecamp using trip planner and save them in the 3597. This eliminates routing inconsistencies made by the unit itself.

It seems silly to follow a route on a GPS when you know where you're going but IMO, the traffic avoidance feature makes it worth the effort.

Have you tried to put the college and home address in manually and bump it against the Routes Button for route selection.This is from Garmin support.

Routes button on automotive devices
A button labeled "Routes" will appear when you touch an address or Point of Interest (POI). When you touch the Routes button, the device will display the map screen and calculate multiple routes to your destination.

The device will calculate routes in this order: Faster Time (blue route), Shorter Distance1 (yellow route), and then Less Fuel (purple route).2 The box on the right-hand side of the map will only allow you to preview each calculated route by using the right and left arrows. The box will also display the details about each route option, including the estimated driving time, the total driving distance, fuel cost,2 and any known traffic delays.3

Once the desired route option has been selected, touch Go! to activate that route. Selecting a calculation mode other than the one in the device's navigation settings does not permanently change this setting and will only affect the current route.

1If the route for Shorter Distance is the same as the route calculated for Faster Time, only Faster Time will appear.

2Less Fuel calculation mode and fuel cost are only available if the ecoRoute HD accessory is active on your device and you have completed a vehicle profile.

3Traffic delay information only appears when using a traffic receiver in a traffic coverage area on a compatible device.

Okay, so just confirming. myTrends was enabled the whole time. The last master reset may have messed with the data though.

Previewing the route is the same wrong route.
Also, using myTrends it will say "Home 133 minutes" when I leave school, and that is 20 minutes too long than it actually is, so that too is using the wrong routing.

For those who want to test the routing on their units, start at
287 Rivers St, Boone, NC
and go to
1 Tunnel Rd, Asheville, NC

The actual fastest route is to take 105 to 181 to 221 (Linville bypass), to 183, to 221 to Marion, and then either get on 70 or I-40.

I suggest you add a waypoint near Ashford and create a route.