GPS tracker - RF-V16

[davestern2]

Your post prompted my own phone call to Trackimo regarding the 2g issue and I learned a lot of interesting information.

The 2g shutdown, according to the gentleman I talked with, is going to be put off for at least 3 years in the US (he said 4 in Canada.) Apparently there has been significant push back to the planned shutdown primarily because 2g service is very widely used in security systems; he used a figure of 7 million subscribers.

He said that Trackimo is developing a 3G version that is to be available in about 7 months or so and that their plans are to have a trade in program for their 2g units for the new ones. They regret that 2g is ultimately going to disappear as battery life for this kind of use is much better with 2g units than with 3g ones. He also indicated that the cellular range of 2g units is better than the 3g ones

I also learned that with Trackimo you buy not only the unit but also 1 years service which includes their server and cellular... It's a package which prompted a question from me: What about the units available on eBay without the service and a lower price. He indicated that these units are old Radio Shack inventory from when they closed out their inventory after their bankruptcy. He said that those units can be reactivated (within their system and with cell service) but that would be $100 so the cost ends up being significantly higher than it is normally purchasing from them.

One other question I asked is that my use is for drones and that because i live in Wisconsin that I may only fly 8 months a year yet the service subscription is for a full year... Do they have the ability to suspend the service. He will let me know as he did not have the answer to that...

At least from Trackimo's perspective, 2g still has some life left.

I called AT&T because I wanted to verify what I had been told about 2g and they said the current end of life information they had is January 1, 2017 and that this date is an extension from the planned shutdown of 2016. I am more likely to make a decision based on AT&Ts comments than Trackimo's but decisions may have been made at AT&T that have not yet filtered down to customer service there. In any case January 1, 2017 is the best information I have.

Thanks, that sounds much more credible and detailed than what I was told. If be interested to know who you talked with at trackimo.. I'll dig up the name of three person who gave me the very sparse info (by email).

PM me if you're interested in buying a trackimo. I bought one, but my flytrex seems to be working better now.. I still have more testing to do though to confirm. Will make a final decision in a few weeks on which tracker to go with.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[ACC]

From a telematics company infoletter:


So just stop supporting AT&T.

Not necessarily an easy choice for a lot of people (count me as one of those) as the other carriers coverage is not very good outside of metropolitan or high population density areas.

 

[sbarton]

App and text settings aren't working with my H2O Wireless sim card with RF-V16 GPS Tracker. When I try to update the settings from the ReachFar App I get "Current device is offline. Can't send commands"
When I try to update setting via text, I do not get a text response back.
GPS does work and updates, as I can see the correct location from the App, even though it says 'V16-XXXXX Not enabled'.

 

[Fyod]

www.tinytracker.io

 

[The Ghost]

Well I bought a RFV18 tracker same as rfv 16 but can not get any communication to tracker. Using h2o simm & tried At&t SIM card also . Tried all commands and nothing . Any info appreciated . Thank you


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[jdpowell]

Well I bought a RFV18 tracker same as rfv 16 but can not get any communication to tracker. Using h2o simm & tried At&t SIM card also . Tried all commands and nothing . Any info appreciated . Thank you


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

Here is the sad story on your problem if the RFV18 is 2G. AT&T (H20) turned off their 2G service at the end of 2016. My tracker and my Fortress Total Security alarm panel quit working at the same time. You might try a T-Mobile SIM card. Fortress sent me a T-Mobile SIM card to use in the alarm panel and said it would work 2G. Instead I opted to upgrade to new panel that is 3G/4G and Wifi. As soon as I put my H20 SIM card in the new panel I was back in business. Have not addressed the tracker issue yet, I have at least a couple of months before I will be flying again.

 

[JB63]

A very long thread this is. Anyone can provide a summary as to what's available and pros/cons, along with free/pay service ?

 

[Jironimo]

Dear need your help I have rf v_16 I work went I was in UAE but when I come to Algérie the devise show all time offline.
I have put sim with full data but still now working only I call call or receive call. Need your help
What is APN?

 

[JB63]

Dear need your help I have rf v_16 I work went I was in UAE but when I come to Algérie the devise show all time offline.
I have put sim with full data but still now working only I call call or receive call. Need your help
What is APN?

A very basic question: are the cell/phone networks similar/compatible in UAE and Algeria? The GPS satellites should be visible from either country, but most likely it does not work in Algeria is because of the data/cell option.

In French: Est-ce que les réseaux cellulaires aux UAE/Algérie sont compatibles? Les satellites GPS sont visibles de n'importe quel pays, mais le service cellulaire ne l'est pas.

APN = Armée Populaire Nationale ???

 

[jdpowell]

Dear need your help I have rf v_16 I work went I was in UAE but when I come to Algérie the devise show all time offline.
I have put sim with full data but still now working only I call call or receive call. Need your help
What is APN?

What carrier is the SIM card you are using?

 

[Jironimo]

I'm in Algeria and my network provider is djezzy my sim is 3G

 

[Jironimo]

Yes the networking are same in Algeria /UAE

 

[Jironimo]

APN: Access Point Names

 

[jdpowell]

I'm in Algeria and my network provider is djezzy my sim is 3G

I believe the RF-V16 is 2G only. If your provider dropped 2G service like AT&T did it will not work. I just bought a 3G Tracker RF-V45 and it worked well for a couple of days but now I am having problems with it so I will not recommend it at this point unless I solve the problem.

 

[Jironimo]

No but it work when I was in UAE with 3g

 

[beatnik]

I just got this tracker. I purchased a T-Mobile SIM card on Amazon and activated a pay as you go plan for Voice and Text. I can call the device and can answer on the device by pushing the button. I installed the iApp and can log in and it says Device Offline. I cannot get it to respond to any text commands. No reply. I also can't change settings in the app, it says Current device is offline. T-Mobile supports 2G but do I need a data plan for SMS commands? I tried sending apn,fast.t-mobile.com# and 123456,apn.t-mobile.com# nothing. When I power up the yellow flashes quick and the blue slow. Any pointers would be helpful.

 

[jdpowell]

I tried a T-Mobile SIM here and had the same results as you are seeing. Also in a previous post you will see I tried the newer 3G model and had the same results. It worked for a bit and then no more. I returned the unit and the vendor proved to me that it worked. I think the carriers here are the problem. Carrier in this area is AT&T and that is the only choice for GSM.

 

[beatnik]

I tried a T-Mobile SIM here and had the same results as you are seeing. Also in a previous post you will see I tried the newer 3G model and had the same results. It worked for a bit and then no more. I returned the unit and the vendor proved to me that it worked. I think the carriers here are the problem. Carrier in this area is AT&T and that is the only choice for GSM.

Thanks jdpowell, while online it says T-Mobile supports 2G technology via it's SIMS and older phones, perhaps RF-V16 is not compatible with current T Mobile protocols. Other pilots report they have used this exact config with no issues. Going to return this device since it cannot work with T-mobile SIMS AFAIK. In our area we have AT&T, Sprint Verizon and all others full networks. T-Mobile, I think is on the Verizon net. Odd that it can receive voice calls but non SMS commands and that others in this thread had no issues.

 

[beatnik]

Success! Well I didn't give up. Not sure which thing I did get it to respond but I think it was the command to set sos1 to my number. Apparently that is the first command you HAVE to send to get it to recognize the phone number of the phone you use to command it. For some reason this wasn't clear in the instructions. So it is now working with my T-Mobile Sim and $3 pay as you go account. The accuracy of location is within about 30 meters. So I assume if I activate pay per use data is would even be closer. So if you have one of these the FIRST thing is to send a text with the set sos1. The app does not work without data AFAIK.