Google Navigation works fine without internet connection

[takeshi]

The cache works for intermittent data connectivity but if you're frequently in areas with no coverage you'll be better served with a nav app that stores maps locally.

[sarreq]

I meant to post this a while ago, but about 2 weeks ago my friend and I went camping in the woods and mountains of northern Georgia. Well I was a little apprehensive about relying on google maps navigation with so many mountains, yes I know they are not huge but they are still mountains, and being out in the boonies. But there were many times we lost the internet signal going through valleys and such and the gps still maintained the position and the navigation continued without a hitch. There were times when it was about 2-4 minutes before we got an internet signal back. I just wanted to post this for people who may think google maps would be unreliable with no internet signal. I know this was a limited test, but I was up there all week and never had a single problem going to various different places we had never been before. Also I was amazed at how many times I could get and keep two bars or higher of 3G. In my mind, I kept saying "Yeah try that on AT&T's network."

that would be because the GPS antenna is separate from the data antennas, GPS is satellite based. the problem with not having a data connection is that once you go somewhere outside of your cached map area, you can't download the new map data. so, carrier has nothing to do with it.