Frustratingly Slow Downloads and Updates Over The Years

Kenzo · March 2018

Device: TomTom Go510. Home Internet Download speed 200mb Virgin Fibre. Time to update currently reading 2hrs 3mins. Really? Is this a joke? No, apparently not!
I've been putting up with TomTom's ultra slow downloads and updates for a number of years now across 2 TomTom devices, many ISP's and many different PC's using original TomTom leads etc. as recommended. The problem lies quite firmly in the TomTom court.
Isn't it time that TomTom got its act together and did something about these ridiculously slow update speeds. I've read about it all the time on these forums over the years but TomTom do not care, if they did they would have done something about it...they've had enough time. Well to be honest I've had enough, next time I'm going to look at other brands of Sat Nav with the emphasis being on update speeds.

dmulv · March 2018

I strongly suspect each connection's speed is throttled at TomTom's end to share out a limited capacity. It is a bit of a pain, although with map updates only every quarter it's never been a major issue for me.

Incidentally, this is a problem that also affects others.

YamFazMan · March 2018

Hi
@Kenzo
GO 5000... Home Internet Download speed 100mb/s Virgin Fibre
Full Europe Map v1005... 45/50 Mins

GO 520/620 (Wi-Fi)... My Wi-Fi over Virgin Super Hub 40mb/s
So I updated Full Europe Map v1005... Over USB... 24 Mins (The NAV5 Devices update on the fly)
No Download then Upload/Install

ATB YFM

Kenzo · March 2018

Well, it's still installing the same updates 3½ hrs later and it says there's still 43mins to go. I'm supposed to be out on the road in 30 mins! Grrr!!

Kenzo · March 2018

Woo-Hoo! Finally finished. It had a fast flurry in the last 13%. It's taken in the region of around 4 hrs to download and update the device. The slowest part definitely seems to be the install. There must be something that can be done to improve this. Firmware update perhaps TomTom?

YamFazMan · March 2018

Hi
@Kenzo
Out of interest I phoned Virgin on 150 eventually had a recorded message saying they were working on the Broadband to give a better service ???
Maybe the service was reduced for maintenance ???

ATB YFM

Kenzo · March 2018

Hi YamFazMan, If this was a one off then I'd probably agree, but unfortunately this isn't the first time updates have been slow to install. It happens most times. The download itself for map downloads about 20mins (is this the norm?), but when it gets to the install part that is when it seems to go at a snails pace. I'm not sure if the device downloads additional files during the install or not. I used to have similar issues with a much older model too but this Go510 is much worse. Purchased one 2 years ago and it has a 16gb microSD card (SanDisk) installed. I'll see what it's like in 3 months time when the next batch of maps comes along.

Leasholm · August 2018

I had this problem when I first bought my TomTom go 520 world a few months ago then I realised that unless it is fully charged it will not download updates until it is, or it is very slow to do so. I leave the Sat Nav on charge all the time and then it takes only seconds to download updates.

5100_is_useless · August 2018

Fastest I've ever done is 8 hours. I normally allow a whole weekend to update my 5100. It's not my end - it's TomTom.

You can't even download the maps onto the PC and then only have to connect the 5100 for the upgrade. (If you're going to post and tell me that this is incorrect then don't bother - I've tried leaving my PC turned on for 1 week, with MDC running, MDC options set to download offline, connected to the internet. The little blue wheel spins giving every indication that it's downloading, but when I connect the 5100 it takes 8hrs+ to download the map. It does not download to the PC unless the 5100 is connected).

If TomTom cared then they'd structure their maps so that the updates were simply that - only a few kB of changes since the last map, instead of having to download the whole 7GB map again. TomTom have got my money so they don't care any more. They won't be getting any more of it. When my 5100 dies the next time then I'll bin it and move over to my Car's Nav and use my phone for speed cameras.

It's a poor system all round and I assume that TomTom are spending as little as possible because they've seen the writing on the wall. The Nav and Speed camera apps on my phone are faster, better, easier to use, have better support and cheaper than TomTom. They'll be gone soon - and the world will be a better place for it.

dmulv · August 2018

5100_is_useless wrote:

If TomTom cared then they'd structure their maps so that the updates were simply that - only a few kB of changes since the last map, instead of having to download the whole 7GB map again.

They are working towards that with the NDS standard (sorry about the RAS syndrome, but it sounds weird otherwise). This new mapping system allows incremental updates that can potentially be continually delivered over the air, thereby removing the need for these gigabyte quarterly updates.

However the current range of TomTom consumer devices aren't ready to deal with this yet, and may never be (I very much doubt the non-Wifi models would be up to the job).

5100_is_useless wrote:

The Nav and Speed camera apps on my phone are faster, better, easier to use, have better support and cheaper than TomTom.

Good to hear, although assuming you're a regular user of these apps on your phone, I hope you're not having to keep it for too long.

BrianE · August 2018

dmulv wrote:

However the current range of TomTom consumer devices aren't ready to deal with this yet, and may never be (I very much doubt the non-Wifi models would be up to the job).

That sounds very much like they are preparing the ground, ready to launch yet another new range with different features, while ignoring the basic problems that beset the current devices. Well, if that's the case, they can go and take a hike - I'm not spending any more money with TomTom with their appalling track record of ignoring their customers.

cdyson37 · August 2018

After a lot of frustration today with many restarts and lots of googling, I found one suggestion that appears to be a silver bullet (at least for me): disable selective USB suspending in windows. Instructions are here: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-prevent-windows-10-turning-usb-devices

Once that's done, restart and try again. It updated for me pretty quickly after that (it could be that the data was already downloaded to my laptop).

YamFazMan · August 2018

Hi
@cdyson37

Random Disconnects
Yes the Computer Manufacturers appear to be setting "USB Selective Suspend" to ON as default
Especially Laptops, maybe to improve the appearance of the battery life

________________________________

On the Win10 tablets, Microsoft has hidden the "USB Selective Suspend" menu
You will need to edit the Registry for the USB Selective Suspend menu to show

Random Disconnects on Surface Pro 3 & 4
Do you have or have access to a 'Surface Dock', if so plug your device into a USB port on that. Others have found that to work

See….. https://en.discussions.tomtom.com/rider-51/update-fail-tomtom-rider-410-on-a-microsoft-surface-pro-3-windows-10-1025704?postid=1177921

See..... https://en.discussions.tomtom.com/mydrive-connect-apps-474/go-500-random-disconnections-on-surface-3-pro-968783

ATB YFM

hughmoz · June 2019

TomTom are really useless as far as downloads/updates go, and the speed cameras are years behind reality. TomTom's excuse is that Sat Nav's are now a computer although, the old system worked word well and updated in a flash compared to the appalling back-up from them now. It's still a poor excuse which is caused by a ridiculous poverty of resources to service a large customer base. The Sat Nav's now take forever to start from "turn off" and often malfunction and start again. All this whilst you sit in your car trying to start a journey. The older models just worked. Te Europe Maps and Speed Camera downloads are larger than the hard drive which is simply stupid and you can only get small memory cards up to 32 GB so, that's a waste of time. There is simply no common sense employed at TomTom from CEO/Directiors down.

Personally I do not want Europe filling up the small hard drive so, why are we forced to have all of Europe, that we do not need, until we are actually going to another country as, this fills up the ridiculously small hard drive?

The whole updating system is pants. It's not as if computerised hardware/software is new. TomTom are probably the slowest download in the world because, of weak management and poor integrity in how the company is run. They have used a former good reputation to deliver poor products and It is simply not good enough. What is the point of staying with a company that does not give a damn about its customers?

tommay · June 2019

its at 55% and I clicked the retry button 22 times now, ho hum, this is certainly the last, was gonna buy the latest tom tom this year but having second thoughts

Lost_Soul · August 2019

I have been a Tomtom user since mid-2016 and I have found the quarterly map update process slow and problematic to say the least.

On a weekly basis I download a ~ 10 GB video file which typically takes 25-30 minutes and I also have a Garmin device where the map updates (9GB) take less than 30 minutes and I have no issues with the timings or process. (My Broadband speeds are 75 Mbps for devices attached via a network cable and ~ 50 Mbps for Wi-Fi.)

But downloading the Tomtom map updates I always seem to run into issues and lengthy and or variable download times.

If I elect to download the TT map updates on “release day” anytime from mid-morning to mid-afternoon typically the download will commence and then often I will see a message saying :

“You have no Internet Connection – Downloads will recommence………………”

But doing a Speed test or starting off another download from another website everything is working as expected…………

So this message from Tomtom is a bit obtuse, I may have no Internet connection, but the error is due to TomTom servers ending the connection / suspending the download and not a fault at my end!

As a result the map download can take 4-6 hours or can fail entirely and I am left with a device that has no maps installed at all!!!

Waiting a few days after the map update release day till the weekend or doing the update late at night improves the download time to 1-2 hours.

I updated the maps for my wife’s Mazda - 7.2 GB on Saturday afternoon. Downloaded in 14 minutes

@~ 75 Mbps which is as it should be

I would love to be able to download the map updates in a similar time to @YamFazMan of “24 minutes” but my experiences every quarter for the last 3 years I have never managed to get the updates completed in less than one hour.

I guess there must be a “sweet time of day for the Tomtom Servers” that allowed @YamFazMan to download the map updates in 24 minutes??

Today after a short drive the TT (Go 6250) said there were 2 updates available ~ 8.8GB so I assumed one speed camera plus the "Quarterly map" update.

I was going to update the speed camera update, BUT…………….

Instead of showing me the updates available it automatically launched into the map update!

I had no choice of speed camera update, so now have got to wait for 5+ hours for the map to complete its download!!!!! And of course whilst this is happening I cannot use the Go 6250........................... !

Plus if I attempt to stop the update then I will have no map on the device!!!!

When is Tomtom going to sort out this problematic map update process????

Lost_Soul · August 2019

The above map update finally took 2 hours and 40 minutes which was done Tuesday at 2pm. Go 6250 Europe Map

I said in another thread that I would do my next map updates "early".........

We had a power cut earlier this morning and whilst resetting clocks etc when the power was restored thought I would a map update

I started at 2:25am and it completed 22 minutes later

Go 6200 Europe Map

So yes, @YamFazMan it is possible to get a fast map download, but in the very early hours

MyDrive Connect

Frustratingly Slow Downloads and Updates Over The Years

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