Your Garmin automotive device is compatible with three types of traffic information:

An embedded traffic receiver built into the device
Live Traffic, which uses the Smartphone Link App on a phone paired with the device via Bluetooth
A non-embedded external traffic receiver built into its vehicle power cable

Embedded Traffic Receiver

Your device includes a traffic receiver embedded into the body of the GPS itself. The vehicle power cable included with these models will be a vehicle cable with the model number TA10 or TA20. 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.

Although the vehicle power cable does not include the receiver, it is still necessary to connect the device to the vehicle power cable in order to receive traffic. Using the GPS device without the vehicle cable, or with a third-party vehicle cable, will result in no traffic information.

To activate the traffic subscription on the receiver, see null

Live Traffic

Your device may also receive traffic information from an App called Smartphone Link. This App may be downloaded free of charge from the App Store or Google Play Store onto a compatible smartphone, which is paired with the device via Bluetooth.

In order for the Smartphone Link App to provide traffic, your phone must be actively connected to cellular data within a coverage area for your carrier. This coverage varies by the cellular provider.

Steps to set up Smartphone Link can be found at the following links, depending on your phone's operating system:

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Adding an External Traffic Receiver

If you prefer to use a traffic receiver cable rather than a mobile App, and the embedded traffic service is not functioning, follow the steps in Troubleshooting an Automotive Traffic Issue to try to resolve the problem. If your device is still unable to acquire a traffic signal after troubleshooting, you can purchase an external traffic receiver as an optional accessory.

To view compatible traffic receivers for your device:

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

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

Since the traffic receiver is built into the vehicle power cable, your device will not receive traffic information unless the cable is connected to your device and vehicle. Using the GPS device without the vehicle cable, or with a third-party vehicle cable, will result in no traffic information.

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