Google Navigation and Data usage in France?

[mecanician]

Hi Everyone
Can anyone give me some advice,I am taking a holiday to South West France(Nantes Area) in July and hope to use Google Navigation but I am a bit concerned about data usage,I am on t-mobile 3gb limit but that won`t apply as soon as I go out of UK coverage,bearing in mind

 

[tanbe174]

I would go for the 2nd option. Though i would call T-Mobile and tell them that you want to go to france and have mobile internet during your trip and how much they would charge you.

Though I don't see why you need to buy other sat nav as they also need internet so just stick with Navigation as it is also available in France.

Just call T-Mobile and state your case and see what they can do and what will fit you.

 

[digitalzico]

If you call T Mobile let us know how you get on. Planning to use Google Nav when driving through France in a few weeks.

 

[mecanician]

I am tending to lean to No2 myself I think I can buy a 200MB euro booster for

 

[APK]

Surely you would be better getting something like co-pilot, rather than pay

 

[nx1977]

I use google nav here, it seems to use about 1mb every 10 miles.

That's my experience as well

 

[tanbe174]

Surely you would be better getting something like co-pilot, rather than pay

 

[kboya]

work out how much option 2 will cost, then buy a roadmap. you're on holiday, getting lost means you visit different places! (but buy a roadmap anyway, it doesnt require connection or battery)

 

[biscuitlad]

Surely you would be better getting something like co-pilot, rather than pay

 

[APK]

As I said on another thread, this is not my experience. Return trip to Wales, 186 miles both ways. Loaded up map over wifi outward, used 3G on return.

15MB in total (according to 3G watchdog).

I didn't have anything installed on my phone but the apps it comes with.

Your usage is not too different to mine, assuming you downloaded most of the data on the outward leg by Wifi.

 

[mecanician]

Hopefully their will be WiFi on the ferry,
I must say that Google nav so seems the easiest to use had no problem finding the campsite in france.
As for the ones you pay for I don't know,I think I will try a couple of demos however living on the Isle of Wight I don't go that far!

 

[digitalzico]

Your usage is not too different to mine, assuming you downloaded most of the data on the outward leg by Wifi.

I've not thought of that. So if you download the router from home to destination in France in the UK over Wifi no data chargers are incurred?

 

[ifb-online]

That's my experience as well

That seems very excessive. I drove 200 miles on Saturday, composed of 80 miles each way, plus some smaller excursions, using Google Navigation exclusively with mobile data, and including all the other stuff I was using mobile data for (web, mail, and photos onto Facebook), the usage was only around 15MB for the day.

Ian

 

[wuthton]

I have just come back from France and I bought an Orange France sim (mobicart) from arrange shop, 12euro for 1 month unlimited data.

Just take a French address with you eg a hotel with you, the shop I used were very helpful. Check out the Orange France website.

 

[wuthton]

I have just come back from France and I bought an Orange France sim (mobicart) from an Oange shop, 12euro for 1 month unlimited data.

Just take a French address with you eg a hotel, the shop I used were very helpful. Check out the Orange France website.

 

[ifb-online]

I have just come back from France and I bought an Orange France sim (mobicart) from arrange shop, 12euro for 1 month unlimited data.

Just take a French address with you eg a hotel with you, the shop I used were very helpful. Check out the Orange France website.

I knew getting an unlocked Desire was a good strategy Will be on hols in France for two weeks in August. May well follow your example and use a spare phone for my T-Mobile sim card while there.

Ian

 

[400ixl]

No matter the sat nav, all of them use internet connection. Though I don't know how much the CoPilot uses.

Thankfully that statement is incorrect.

CoPilot does not use any internet connection unless you want to use live traffic service.

Basic navigation requires no connection whatsoever. The maps are locally stored on the device.

I have just been to France and used CoPilot extensively. The phone element was switched off and all worked perfectly well.

If it is going to cost

 

[digitalzico]

Looking on Vodafone website if you a Vodafone Passport for roaming abroad its

 

[ifb-online]

If the 12 Euro unlimited data option previously mentioned proves to be a red herring, we'll just use my wife's Nokia N97 Mini, which has Nokia's free Ovi Maps on it. Have been downloading maps to it at the weekend.

Ian

 

[digitalzico]

If the 12 Euro unlimited data option previously mentioned proves to be a red herring, we'll just use my wife's Nokia N97 Mini, which has Nokia's free Ovi Maps on it. Have been downloading maps to it at the weekend.

Ian

The Ovi maps does use GPRS for location based services but if you are just navigating I don't think it'll use data

 

[ifb-online]

The Ovi maps does use GPRS for location based services but if you are just navigating I don't think it'll use data

No problem, mobile data will simply be switched off while we're driving. My mate in France reminds me that there are plenty of places (cafes, restaurants, hotels, etc.) that offer free wifi, so we can look for those options when required).

I did ask him to look into the earlier poster's 12 Euro Orange Internet deal, but he could only find a reference to an ongoing monthly plan.

Does anyone have any more information on this?

Ian

 

[biscuitlad]

I've not thought of that. So if you download the router from home to destination in France in the UK over Wifi no data chargers are incurred?

No, no. The sat nav is continuously downloading maps, but it doesn't take as much as people think. We often go "off route" when we're travelling, google's sat nav just re-routes on the fly, using 3G and GPS. But it's tiny - you'll probably use more browsing the internet or checking your emails over the same time period!

 

[Salt100]

to add to this, I bought 10mb of roaming data from orange to use driving down to the Alps. I used all 10mb on the outward journey from Calais ie.1+ 1/2 days driving with a stop over.

Caching maps beforehand may help, but next time I'll use a local sim or make sure that I have at least 10mb for every day's driving I'll be doing.

 

[HTC desired]

If your rooted what about an hd Rom and download all the maps into the device ??

 

[Usta]

If your rooted what about an hd Rom and download all the maps into the device ??

Isn't that the same thing as Google Maps caching?