Trying to understand the roll of Garmin Express

[RotoruaPete]

I have just aquired a GPSMap 67 and am having a little trouble understanding the rolls of all the periferal apps around it.
I have BaseCamp and Garmin Express on my PC. On my phone I had Garmin Explore and Garmin Connect.

When I was out in the field the other day the update from 5.9 to 6.6 came through while I was out there. Firstly it used mobile data, which I have a limited amount of, and secondly, for about 20 mins the GPS wasn't recording my track, presumably because It was busy bluetoothing the update from my phone to the 67.

As that wasn't ideal, I removed Connect and Explore from my phone. I really don't have a lot of use for the user functions of either.

Today, while visiting a relative, I connected my GPS to their wifi. That went OK until I tried to download a Birdseye segment. Then it seemed to require to connect via Bluetooth to one of 3 phone apps, which I had deleted.

I came home and connected to Garmin Express by USB, synchronised, and then Birdseye seemed to work as expected.

So, do I really have to come back to base and get permission from Garmin Express every time I connect to a new wifi? I can't really see the point of having wifi on the GPS if I have to connect via USB to my PC everytime I want to log into a new wifi.

What I mainly want to do is just use BaseCamp with my 67 and I accept that that will be by USB. But I can easily envisage the scenario where I am out in the field and may want to connect to an outside Wi-Fi network to download a Birdseye segment. It seems I can't do that without having my PC on hand as well. The documentation suggests I could use Garmin Connect for the same thing but I don't seem to be able to control Connect. I don't want it to be using web traffic that I don't seem to be able to control nor use it's user interface.

How am I meant to manage all these things?

Thanks Peter

[JungleJim]

The message on the GPSMAP that WiFi needs to be setup via Express is misleading. It just indicates that you need to be connected to WiFi.

You can do this in several ways: configure it via Garmin Express (connected to PC with a USB cable), configure it on the device itself or use Garmin Connect or Explore mobile apps (with device connected via Bluetooth to a phone).

After you have configured a WiFi connection, you just need to enable WiFi and connect to a known network and you’re ready to download satellite imagery (fka BirdsEye) or download Topo Active regions.

[GPSrChive]

Some device features may require:

• Wi-Fi to be configured via Garmin Express.
• Bluetooth pairing to a phone or tablet.

Feature Requires Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Feature Requires Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.png

Feature Requires Wi-Fi

Feature Requires Wi-Fi.png

Please see GPSrChive > GPSMAP 67 > Operation > Connected Features for additional information.

[JungleJim]

With 6.60 (and I think 5.90 as well) I always get the Feature Requires Wi-Fi screen when trying to Add Satellite Imagery with WiFi disabled, even though I have previously configured WiFi networks either via Express or by adding the WiFi network on-device. So in that sense I think the message is misleading because I have configured WiFi but it's just disabled at the time I want to add satellite imagery.

I recall (but am not sure) that in previous device software versions (before 5.30 or 5.90) you got a different message that mentioned that you need to enable WiFi and/or connect to a network without mentioning the Garmin Express setup part.

[RotoruaPete]

Thanks for all your replies guys. I take from you that you can configure wifi using any one of, the GPS, Connect or Express. I realise now that I may have done a reset on my GPS since I last connected to Garmin Express. After I did that, the networks I had set up on the GPS immediately showed up in Express.

I have now successfully connected to another fresh wifi and downloaded a Birdseye image while I had the Bluetooth on my phone switched off. So I can conclude that Connect is not required, so I will delete it again. That means I can simplify my system back to the GPS, Express to manage software updates and Basecamp for offline planning and mapping.

Thanks once again.
Peter

[mimichris]

WiFi can be configured directly on the 67 or 66, you need the WiFi password to do so, I always do it this way. we don't have to use Garmin Express.