DS51 traffic unreliable, should have kept Nuvi!

[marksfish]

My old Nuvi had almost faultless digital traffic by the time I retired it for an upgrade. Sily me thought all Garmin digital traffics would be equal, they are however not Take Thursday for example (can only remember crystal the last 2 journies, but have had bead results many times recently). My journey normally would have been M1/ M6 to St Helens, which is the route I was given. As soon as I was off the M1, there was a matrix sign that the J2 exit was closed. Not a problem, I wasn't using it. After J1, the traffic stopped for about 20 minutes, before slowly crawling along to the roadworks. At no time (even when stationary) did my Garmin notify me of a delay, really? If the traffic had been accurate, I could have chosen the M1/ A50/ M6 and saved me a long(er) day.

Yesterday, traffic delays all along the M62 with no notifications. Matrix stated long delays of 40+ minutes on A1 J38 to J35, Garmin was quite happily going to route me down the A1 I decided to continue down the M62 to the M18 and use Waze as well. Waze wanted me to go down the M180 towards the A15, but I stupidly trusted my Garmin. Bad move. Result? 25 minute delay to the A1, where it was closed Northbound, and once again, nothing on my notifications .

Really wishing I had never swapped out for the crock of s**t I have now, Confidence has been lost
_________________
Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D Europe

[Kremmen]

Which traffic is this, Inrix via cable or ViaMichelin via SmartLink ?

My DS61 traffic is just as good as all my previous TA10/TA20 cable units.
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[toyracer69]

[Kremmen]

The TA cable traffic via Inrix

I tried Smartlink ages ago and it was dreadful. From what I could determine ViaMichelin via Smartlink has a 200 limit database, if you count the entries in the unit 'list'
In and around London that limit is soon used up with roadworks delays so when proper normal traffic delays occur they have nowhere to go and they aren't displayed so no warning and no yellow/red bars in the display.

When I investigated further most of the local roadworks in the database had long since cleared but were still there.
I remember one set of 3 day barrier roadworks on the M4 that were still being shown 3 months later.

I looked at the ViaMichelin site to see if I could report them gone but there was only an option to report mew ones.
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[marksfish]

Hmmm, I did reply to your post earlier, but it isn't here. Traffic is by cable and Inrix.
_________________
Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D Europe

[Kremmen]

In that case check the cable is actually receiving all the time. There is a separate screen which shows the traffic reception strength in bars.

I had to play with my cable location and I now get 4/5 or 5/5 bars reliably.
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[marksfish]

I have never been able to find the signal strength for the traffic (I remember posting similar with my Nuvi and comparing it to the ease with which you could tell if TomTom traffic was receiving). My old Nuvi struggled for ages in my Fiesta van due to the heated screen, moving to a Transit cured all the reception issues. The cable for the DS51 is routed in exactly the same way the Nuvi was, so not sure why the reception would be so impacted?
_________________
Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D Europe

[Kremmen]

I think the route is Apps - Traffic

Been a while though
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[M8TJT]

Nope. It's Settings ~ Traffic. Top left hand corner

[Kremmen]

_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[marksfish]

I shall go and look, thanks. If I remember, it isn't something that can be shown permanently on the home screen, so no way of knowing throughout the journey what the signal is like and if up to date
_________________
Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D Europe

[Kremmen]

Correct

I checked mine in the garage and got 4 bars. I then went out for a short trip just showing the bars screen for testing and it flicked between 4 and 5 bars for the journey.

That's all you can do.

What I did, against all the advice and instructions, was I coiled my cable and cable tied it to my internal dash metal supports and it seems to have worked as a signal booster. Before I did that I was only getting 1 or 2 bars and traffic reception wasn't updating properly.

When I'm next at the PC I'll pop up a picture as I photo'd it before I put the dash side piece back on.
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[Kremmen]

This is how I'm wired.

Honda supply an 'option connector' so you don't need to piggyback. I've got my Garmin wired to Ign Pos 1 and my Viofo dashcam wired to Ign Pos 2.

The 2 red wires are only a few inches , terminated with bullet connectors for easy wiring:



The Garmin TA wire is then coiled and cable tied to a metal bracket and that seems to be a signal booster:


_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

[marksfish]

TA signal at full strength and "Traffic info up to date" message displayed on drive at home. Same at Mansfield industrial area. Same in Northampton, Swan Valley. Same on M1(S) before Milton Keynes, but...... 25 minutes stuck in unreported traffic

Whilst stationery, I also checked Waze and Google maps, where the hold up was reported. They can do it, why can't Inrix? About 0.3 miles from the issue, a "5 minute delay" traffic warning appeared. No sh*t Sherlock!!!

Less than impressed.
_________________
Garmin Drivesmart 51 LMT-D Europe

[Kremmen]

Very odd

I'm finding it difficult to see how the traffic reception has changed between units.
_________________
DashCam:
Viofo A119 V3

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!