Satnav takes me down country lanes

jk0

My Garmin Nuvi has an annoying habit:


It takes me down single track lanes. I have it set to 'quickest routes', but I don't believe these can possibly be quickest.


Would any other settings help, or can someone recommend a satnav that doesn't do this? (Mine will no longer update, so I would not be too sad to say goodbye to it.)

jimbo6977

Wait til it sends you down a railway line, up a goat track or through sawmill yards.

Are you sure it’s on “fastest” setting rather than “shortest”?
The “shortest” setting is usually what causes all the trouble.

Have you set it to avoid motorways or low bridges or anything that you could in fact negotiate?

Tigsteroonie

The number of times I talk back to my satnav with "Nope, I'm not going down there" I've found the trick with mine is to look at the route on Googlemaps beforehand, decide the acceptable route, remember the start of it, and wait for the satnav to realise I was right all along recalculate

Carrot007

I thought everybody just used google maps o nt he phone these days?

Why pay more for a lesser piece of hardware? (you really want the paid aapps they are on google too).

Yes it does that too. However it at least point out alternate routes and tiem differences as you move! S oyou then look before you turn and decide if you want to chance a dodgy looking single lane that is 1 minute faster (as long as you meet no other traffic) or just go one of the other ways.


That or just ignore your current one and let it recalc too.

jk0

Thanks guys. No, it's definitely on 'quickest'. I could understand if I'd set it to shortest.


Today I've been from RG5 to OX18 and back. On the way there, it used M4, A34, A415, etc.


On the way home, there was no motorway at all. We crawled through Benson and Henley on Thames where they were holding the Regatta.

Aretnap

+1 for using Google maps on a smartphone. Haven't felt the need for a dedicated satnav for the better part of a decade.

chrisw

The quickest route is calculated using the speed limits of the roads and also the traffic info if available.

The trouble is, it assumes you can do 60mph along the narrow lanes which is rarely the case. The traffic info is often incomplete on the minor roads so Google is not immune to being fooled also, although it would probably have used the live traffic to avoid the town centres on your way back.

They are still only aids, it's up to the driver to decide which route might be quickest.

lister

Aretnap wrote: »

+1 for using Google maps on a smartphone. Haven't felt the need for a dedicated satnav for the better part of a decade.

Not felt the need for a satnav or smartphone ever (other than the fact that as an ADI I have to teach people to drive with one). I follow a simple three step system:

1: Check road map or google maps (other providers are available) before trip
2: Have road map to hand in case required
3: Drive - allow memory to work to my advantage.

How on earth did we manage in the past?

glennevis

OP if you want the latest maps on your Nuvi, check out the OpenSourceMaps Wiki (google it) and see if your model is supported. Using the info there I was able to update my 'ancient' Garmin 2610 to the latest maps (June 2019). My satnav is over 12 years old and still going strong thanks to open source maps.


I don't know about the Nuvi but on my Garmin you can not only choose fastest/shortest etc. There is the option to set a weighting for various types of roads: motorways (I set to 100%), A roads (ditto), minor roads (25%) etc. which has tamed its routing algorithm a little. You still have to use your own 'skill and judgement' and ignore it sometimes. After a few junctions where it persists in attempting to send me down minor roads, it eventually recalculates then sticks to the main road.


I went abroad with a fellow biker once and although we had the same Garmin on both bikes with the same firmware and the latest maps, the two satnavs would be telling us to go via different routes. Go figure.

AdrianC

You do not have to blindly follow it.

If you think you'd prefer to follow motorways, follow motorways. If you really, really need the satnav to help you do that, then set a waypoint at or near the junction you'd be getting on at.

"Fastest" is rarely a sensible route, though. I've just looked at Google Maps.
RG5 to OX18 - "fastest" is via M4 to Swindon, A419, A420. Just take a passing glance at an actual real-world map to see how ridiculous that is.

Adding Wallingford as a waypoint to nudge a more sensible route. The "fastest" route saves just a couple of minutes, but adds about 50% more distance - taking a 40-odd mile run to 60-odd.

parking_question_chap

I know this idea might seem a bit out there, but what about looking at the map beforehand and picking the roads you want to take, and then following the road signs. When you are nearing your destination then by all means use the sat nav to finish the journey.

RG5 to OX18 looks like a pretty simple route to plan yourself.