By Steven Symes 
In these modern times many drivers have become rather attached to their Apple CarPlay and Android Auto navigation. Even if you know where you’re going, the adaptive navigation will warn you about accidents, delays, sometimes even speed traps. But sometimes the system just stops working in the same spot every time you drive through it.
At least you don’t have the same problem this guy does with his brand new Ford F-150.
That’s been a problem for Boston drivers in specific stretches of certain roads, as recently covered by Axios. Best case scenario, the navigation is temporarily interrupted. But in extreme cases it can crash the entire system.
The report gravitates towards what we’ve always thought this sort of thing is: radio interference.
When you connect your phone to your car, unless you’re using a hardwire connection, you’re probably doing it through Bluetooth. That transmits on the 2.4GHz band. But other things might interrupt that frequency since it isn’t licensed.
In Boston, many of these so-called “navigation dead zones” are by university campuses. Some think devices at the higher institutes of learning are transmitting at the same frequency as Bluetooth, causing the phone to disconnect from the car.
Others think antenna dishes for news broadcasts might be to blame. We personally have experienced this phenomenon near some high-voltage power lines and electric transmission stations.
The point is if you’ve had this happen in the past, you’re not crazy or alone. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be much you can do to prevent it from happening. If you have the option in your car, you can plug into a USB outlet that provides a direct data connection between your phone and the vehicle.
Your other option is to just avoid driving through the dead zones, which might be easier said than done. Considering how spoiled many of us have become, we might be missing that this is really not that big of a deal. But we also get it’s frustrating at the same time.
Image via Lexus