Rand McNally traffic anywhere???

I could not tell you the data amounts it consumed. I began with the RM and wifi traffic a few years ago. It was "ok" I guess, but it seemed to almost inevitably crash (freeze) the device if you were in a large metro area like Dallas or Chicago at 07:00 on a Wednesday morning, and there was "too much" traffic detail for the device to mange. I put up with that for a few months then went Garmin (with FM traffic) and never looked back. Like their traffic system much better, primarily because I don't have to worry about data consumption, maintaining the connection, etc, and Garmin traffic is free lifetime. You can enable/disable traffic on the RM if they're still having lockup issues, but it's kind of a hassle.

If you do go to Garmin, I recommend upgrading to the better "digital fm" antenna cord, as opposed to the "analog fm" antenna cord of the factory original (assuming things have not changed recently but they may have since phased out the analog corded antennas with their newer stuff)

 

+1 on the RM freezing up in metro areas when using traffic. Happened to me approaching NYC and it wasn't fun. Took it back to best buy and swapped for a garmin.

I could be wrong but they probably all use the same data.

 

Yes. I think Navteq provides the metro areas traffic data to both RM and Garmin. Here is a list of the approximate RDS (Radio Data System) network for the FM traffic used by Garmin

http://www.navteq.com/rdstraffic/index_150.htm

 

Best traffic update you'll ever get is on Google Maps. It works by collecting real time data from everyone with google maps on their phone

 

^^ Agreed. But I still like to have something "checking traffic" as a backup in the background. The GPS in the windshield is always visible and working (when/where service is available and such as it is) but I'm not constantly checking Google Maps.

Every now and then, the Garmin will alert me to a traffic issue I was unaware of. And, of course Google Maps is about the only thing worthwhile once you get outside of the metro areas.

 

That makes sense. The GPS traffic update probably works the same way as the google maps now that I think about it...

 

Actually Google Maps Traffic is a blend of conventional traffic/construction data such as Navteq, PLUS a system of tracking cell phones location and speeds (somewhat Orewlian, but extremely effective). This is why you can see red traffic issues in the middle of nowhere on Google Maps that conventional traffic systems aren't aware of because traffic flow sensors do not exist.

 

i use copilot. costs $9.99 per year. and works in the middle of nowhere. i use google also. it's more effective. copilot don't always keep up. both, however, require internet.