loss of infotainment traffic

[Frenchy]

I've never used Sirius XM, either. Apple Maps has traffic embedded in their app. It gives traffic speeds using a colored band on your route, and It also has alerts for speed traps and major road incidents. All I do is plug in my iPhone, select Apple maps from Car Play, enter my destination via voice, and all the features boot up with the map display. Google Maps does the same thing, and also displays your true speed along with the speed limit on the route.

Something to keep in mind. Using your phone for Android Auto or Apple Car Play to use maps is ok as long as you have reception. Go somewhere where reception doesn't exist and you will be in a world of hurt.

Does Sirius XM Traffic give you what you need for general Traffic? Of course it does and it does an excellent job at it. Does it give you speed limit information? Nope, But the Factory GPS should be able to give you that and you should be paying attention to the road signs for that anyway. Does it tell you about speed cameras and red light cameras? Nope, but then again if you are watching how you drive then it won't be a concern.

Am I saying that the Factory Navigation is the best thing ever? Not necessarily, but I do feel it is much better than Apple Car Play and Android Auto for navigation especially with how clunky the two are. In reality it all depends on what you are doing. In my 2012 Frontier I have the Factory Navigation from a 2021 in it now(I just put it in on Monday) and I have my Garmin Tread Overland as well. Both are excellent units and have their strengths and weaknesses and I will be revealing them in another thread at a later time. The results will be similar to using the Factory Navigation in the Ranger vs the Tread Overland or any other GPS that is similar in operation.

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[Frenchy]

Not trying to force you to use AA, but, if there is an icon you are navigating to constantly in the menu - it's possible to customize the toolbar in Android Auto so that the "Ford" icon is nested in the bottom row of icons and is always present. You can customize the toolbar either in the Android Auto app, or from the Sync head unit when the phone is plugged into the truck.

Understand this is not an ideal scenario, however, I also assume that spending $60/yr for something your phone will do for free is also not an ideal scenario.

Good luck! The community will help you work through AA headaches should you choose to use it.

I still remember when I had the Ranger and I know exactly what you are talking about. The problem I ran into with the Android Auto was when I went back to the Ford screens and went back to the Android Auto and would loosey.maps because the reception sucked where I was(or better yet was non existent). As much individuals like to claim Android Auto and Apple Car Play is far superior, I disagree quite a bit.

 

[JoeC]

The Navigation that our vehicles use from the Factory is not by Sirius XM at all. What it does is use Sirius XM to give you live Traffic Data along with Weather Information close to you or anywhere that you want to be curious about if you have the Travel Link as well.

No, I'm still confused.
My question is: Does the Ranger's Sync Navigation get it's traffic info from Sirius Traffic Link/with
Traffic+ ($50-70/yr) to reroute us due to delays ahead, or does it get it's info from somewhere else, like my wife's Tom-Tom does.
It's a handy benefit of these systems, and they've rerouted me many times around traffic delays, I just don't know what I need to do to keep it working in the Sync system in my truck.
Do I NEED Traffic Link/with Traffic+ ?
Thanks for any clarity.

 

[Frenchy]

No, I'm still confused.
My question is: Does the Ranger's Sync Navigation get it's traffic info from Sirius Traffic Link/with
Traffic+ ($50-70/yr) to reroute us due to delays ahead, or does it get it's info from somewhere else, like my wife's Tom-Tom does.
It's a handy benefit of these systems, and they've rerouted me many times around traffic delays, I just don't know what I need to do to keep it working in the Sync system in my truck.
Do I NEED Traffic Link/with Traffic+ ?
Thanks for any clarity.

Sirius XM Traffic can work with the Factory Navigation to reroute you due to heavy traffic and it does well at it. I know because I had this happen years ago with a Sentra I used going to California and it had it active at the time. You should be able to go into the settings on the radio in the Navigation section to tell it how you want to adjust. For example you can set it to automatically adjust or even ask you if you want it to.

How does it get this information? If I had to guess it is Sirius XM getting the information from any vehicle on the road that has Sirius XM(even just the radio alone and it doesn't have to be active) and transmits that information to the Navigation via satellite.

 

[lobsta11]

Thank You, I was not aware of that.

 

[JoeC]

Sirius XM Traffic can work with the Factory Navigation to reroute you due to heavy traffic and it does well at it. I know because I had this happen years ago with a Sentra I used going to California and it had it active at the time. You should be able to go into the settings on the radio in the Navigation section to tell it how you want to adjust. For example you can set it to automatically adjust or even ask you if you want it to.

How does it get this information? If I had to guess it is Sirius XM getting the information from any vehicle on the road that has Sirius XM(even just the radio alone and it doesn't have to be active) and transmits that information to the Navigation via satellite.

Thanks for the reply Frenchy.
But it really doesn't answer my question.
Let me put this another way.
Garmin & Tom-Tom & others get traffic data over the air from some national broadcasting entity that updates them about traffic delays, etc (I don't know who); and they'll generally ask if you want to reroute, due to delay. And, I agree, they work great.
My question is does my Factory Navigation do that, or do I need to subscribe to SiriusXM/TravelLinlk/Traffic+, to get that capability.
Does it get that info 'over the air' like everyone else, or does it need SiriusXM/TralelLink/Traffic+ (at $50-70/yr)?

 

[Frenchy]

Thanks for the reply Frenchy.
But it really doesn't answer my question.
Let me put this another way.
Garmin & Tom-Tom & others get traffic data over the air from some national broadcasting entity that updates them about traffic delays, etc (I don't know who); and they'll generally ask if you want to reroute, due to delay. And, I agree, they work great.
My question is does my Factory Navigation do that, or do I need to subscribe to SiriusXM/TravelLinlk/Traffic+, to get that capability.
Does it get that info 'over the air' like everyone else, or does it need SiriusXM/TralelLink/Traffic+ (at $50-70/yr)?

You need Sirius XM Traffic for that. Travel Link is for Weather, Sports, Stock and other jass. The Radio is also a separate service.

 

[JoeC]

You need Sirius XM Traffic for that. Travel Link is for Weather, Sports, Stock and other jass. The Radio is also a separate service.

OK.
So, I have to PAY for SiriusXM/Traffic+ for my factory Sync Navigation to help me out with traffic delays, where with every other offering in the market I get it for free.
Got it.
Thanks for clarifying this for me.
(The other options are looking better all the time)

 

[Frenchy]

OK.
So, I have to PAY for SiriusXM/Traffic+ for my factory Sync Navigation to help me out with traffic delays, where with every other offering in the market I get it for free.
Got it.
Thanks for clarifying this for me.
(The other options are looking better all the time)

Keep in mind that the biggest advantage to using the Sirius XM Traffic link over the Android Auto and Apple Car Play is you are not required to have the phone connected to the radio to have this work. If you are in a small town and go nowhere else then it can be useless. If you are in a big city and do a bunch of traveling to other places, the. It becomes worth it in the end. I also find it to be more accurate than the Google and Waze Maps.

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