What Type of Traffic Does My Automotive Device Use?

Your Garmin automotive device uses a mobile app called Garmin Smartphone Link to receive traffic information near your location or along your route. This free-to-download app uses a small amount of cellular data to gather information on traffic and transmits it to your device over a Bluetooth connection.

The vehicle power cable included with these models will be a vehicle cable labeled Car Charger. The label for the cable can be found on the bottom of the portion of the cable that connects to the 12-volt outlet in your vehicle. 

For instructions to set up Smartphone Link traffic on your device, visit the Support Center, enter your product name, and search for “Setting up Smartphone Link Traffic."

NOTE: Your phone must be in a coverage area for your carrier for the Smartphone Link App to provide traffic. This coverage varies by the cellular provider.

You can view compatible external traffic receiver cables if you prefer to use an external traffic cable rather than Smartphone Link.

NOTE: External traffic receivers are no longer available for purchase through Garmin. See GTM 60 and GTM 36 Cables are Discontinued for more information.

To View Compatible External Traffic Receivers for your Device: 

1. Go to Garmin.com
2. Locate your device model
3. Click Accessories on the device's product page
4. Click Traffic Receivers

This will expand a list of external traffic receiver accessories compatible with your device model. These receivers come with a lifetime traffic subscription. No additional purchases are necessary.

See Activate the Free Navteq Lifetime Traffic Subscription that Came with My GPS Device to activate the traffic subscription on the receiver.