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Some drivers prefer dedicated satellite-navigation devices over mobile phone âappsâ because the dedicated devices are less likely to fall off the dashboard during braking.âBut you canât just buy the cheapest device and expect to succeed in updating it.
I think most people who search for âSatNav that works with Linuxâ or similar *really* mean âSatNav that does not require me to buy a new Microsoft Windows computer to update itâ and might not have considered units that can be updated âwithout any computerâ.âFor these you will usually require a Wi-Fi base stationâor a computer configured to act as oneâbut wonât need to run the manufacturerâs own software on it.
However, two further things are of note:
1. Not every unit advertised as âWi-Fi capableâ really can download and install updates *without* support from a Windows machine: some of them merely use home WiFi to communicate with a Windows box which must still be present.âSo before purchase, double-check the manufacturerâs website for PDF manuals and/or other update advice and be sure it doesnât instruct you to do anything âon your computerâ.
2. Updates are always at the manufacturerâs discretion.âThe shop might have a big shiny notice saying âlifetime updatesâ, but the small print in the manual will tell you that âlifetimeâ means only for however long they *provide* the updates, so itâs a meaningless circular term apparently meant to deceive customers into thinking theyâve bought support for life. (1990s floppy disk manufacturers used a similar trick with the phrase âlifetime guaranteeâ.)âIn practice the updates are likely to cease when the company feels it has to change its update servers in a way that no longer maintains compatibility with firmware on the device you bought, and/or their newest updates begin to require more memory than you have.âBut itâs still useful to be able to receive map updates *for a while*.
Immediately after logging in to the Wi-Fi hot-spot and entering the credentials for a newly-created âTomTom accountâ, the device said âwe are having trouble accessing TomTom servicesâ, which turned out to be because the firmware had somehow got itself into a state that treated the Wi-Fi access point as âout of rangeâ (even when placed just centimetres from the router).âThis could be worked around via power off (not sleep) and on again, but then the disconnected state repeated itself during the update.âThankfully, in our case, the update process *did* continue from where it left off after a second power-cycle: it hadnât left the system in an unbootable inconsistent state.
The update process of course drove the ADSL to its maximum capacity and thereby increased the probability of other traffic being dropped, but it *is* possible to tell the device to send its traffic through a proxy, which can limit the rate if desired.
We also found that, if you have a mobile phone capable of acting as a Wi-Fi âhotspotâ, and a data plan that permits it, you can have the Basic obtain realtime traffic updates via the mobile hotspot, which might be more convenient than sending them over Bluetooth from the proprietary phone âappâ.â(Traffic updates are not compulsory; the device can work entirely offline with only a GPS/GLONASS signal.)
In 2022 our TomTom Go Basic got stuck in a continuous loop of ânot enough spaceâ messages when trying to update.âWhen we power-cycled the device and went to Menu / Maps / Delete maps, it went back to an âupdatingâ screen (at 98%), then said we couldnât delete the only map, then allowed us to repeat the updates.
Obviously these notes are posted in the hope that they are useful but without any warranty, so if you brick your navigation device and arrive late for a million-dollar deal or something then donât sue me.
The Basic device has a âspeeding alertâ facility but itâs off by default.âIf turning it on, note that:
1. it does *not* issue an audio alert until you are driving at least 4mph over the limit (so donât rely on it to warn you about accidental *slight* speeding), and
2. its database has been known to hold outdated limits *even if you have the latest update*. For example we found a place in Cambridge which had been 20mph for 2Â years but TomTom still had it on file as 30mph (and itâs unclear how to report this on TomTomâs âMapShareâ service).âWe also found a road in Bury which they had at 30mph but was actually 50mph, which was a good place to discover how much you have to âspeedâ before getting the audio, but the reverse (map has higher limit than road signs) is more disconcerting.
It might be better *not* to enable these alerts if there is any danger of their giving the driver a âfalse sense of securityââdrivers should know to check the signage themselves.
A related concern is itâs too easy to turn off sound on this device.âThe âmenuâ button appears at the bottom left of the map screen, and, once pressed, is replaced by a âmuteâ buttonâmaking âmuteâ rather too easy to activate by mistake and without noticing.
All material © Silas S. Brown unless otherwise stated. Bluetooth is a registered trademark held by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group. DriveSmart is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Garmin is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries, registered in the USA and other countries. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. MapShare is a trademark of Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries *and also* a trademark and brand of TomTom International B.V. (does it depend on the font?) Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. TomTom is a trademark of TomTom International BV. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Any other trademarks I mentioned without realising are trademarks of their respective holders.