Car GPS Trackers

[IanLWarrington]

Hi all,

After the topic of 'budget' trackers was discussed a couple of years ago, I invested in a couple - they sat in a drawer at home for some time - but I got round to fitting them this weekend.

I was extremely impressed with the support from the guys I bought the devices from - they set me up with access to the tracking site and talked me through the config. It's a lot more sophisticated since I first bought the devices; unfortunately, that means that the 'lifetime' web tracking site access (you can still track via SMS for the price of a SIM) has been discontinued - you now get a years 'free' access with each purchase. After that it's £10 per device per year.

I thought I'd share this experience though in case anyone is looking for a cost effective way to provide themselves with a little bit of reassurance.

Yep - I know that these are not as 'secure' as some others on the market. Horses for courses - and you aren't stuck with the 'battery has run out - so you need to replace the device' scenario that a lot complain about with the industry standard models.

Most importantly I can vouch for the quality of device and vitally, the excellent after sales service - that's based in the UK!

Previous ones I bought on Ebay all had to go back - and the support was pretty much non-existent.

Regards

Ian

Oh - here's the link to the company site ...

https://www.rewiresecurity.co.uk/

[stevieturbo]

So is this an advert or actual review ?

Always been tempted...but never enough to actually buy...and one would be handy for trailer security, but it would need a good battery

How do you track your car ?

Does it record a history ? for how long ?

Presumably it needs a phone signal to actually work ( that can be a challenge in itself LOL )

It's a self contained unit...how long does the battery last if not hooked up to power ?

Is that £10 per year all comms included, or is that additional to any SIM/data/phone plan ?

[IanLWarrington]

stevieturbo said:

So is this an advert or actual review ?

Always been tempted...but never enough to actually buy...and one would be handy for trailer security, but it would need a good battery

How do you track your car ?

Does it record a history ? for how long ?

Presumably it needs a phone signal to actually work ( that can be a challenge in itself LOL )

It's a self contained unit...how long does the battery last if not hooked up to power ?

Is that £10 per year all comms included, or is that additional to any SIM/data/phone plan ?

Hi Stevie,
I posted this as I was caught out with some very poor overseas customer service with some very similar devices (and same price or more!) on flea bay - I know that there was some interest a couple of years ago - so hence the post and sharing my experience - there may be other suppliers who are just as good.

I think that they do a power block that doubles the time between battery charges - but probably no good for a trailer.

For a car, although you get a kit for wiring into the harness, I chopped up an old phone charger (cigarette type), soldered it up and plugged that into the cigarette lighter socket. I don't think it's a big job to do a proper fix though and have it permanently powered up. As long as you use the car regularly (which I do), the battery keeps it ticking over. Interestingly, although they sell a car adapter for £10, they told me (over the phone) how to make one myself!

As to your other questions - and bare in mind I'm no expert ...
Q: How do you track your car ?
A: Either call the SIM number or log onto the web site.

Q: Does it record a history ? for how long ?
A: I believe it's 90 days on the web site - but there is also a slot in the device for a micro SD card - not that I've used it so can't vouch for capacity etc

Q: Presumably it needs a phone signal to actually work ( that can be a challenge in itself LOL )
A: It does - I use Giffgaff - but you can also use other PAYG - again, I believe that the usage is very small. Advice was to not go a for SIM that needs to be topped up every month (Lebara for example). The guys at the company gave me advice as to what not to go for.

Q: It's a self contained unit...how long does the battery last if not hooked up to power?
A: Not sure - the TK 102 comes with (or came with) 2 batteries and a charger (a la camera battery charger). The guys on the web site will be able to advise - that said, you can set the device (all done through SMS commands) to go to sleep when not on the move.

Q: Is that £10 per year all comms included, or is that additional to any SIM/data/phone plan ?

A: £10 per year (although the first year is included in the price) is for access to the web site only (vehicle movements are represented on a map - it's quite intuitive). The SIM/Phone plan - (no data required) is on top of that. You don't actually need the web site access though - if you call the SIM number, you get a text back with the coordinates.

I need to repeat - this is not the most secure or sophisticated solution on the planet - you can, (and should) change the default password for sending commands to the SIM/Device. But I think that there is little or no authentication between the device and the web server.

I should also add that it's possible to do a lot more with these - such as disable the vehicle (with the right wires and the right connections). I'm only using this in it's most basic form to exchange texts with my car and share fond messages in case it feels lonely. It does give me some peace of mind though - and, for not a lot of money, I don't mind the limitations.

Hope this is helpful,

Kind regards

Ian

[stevieturbo]

Thanks, it's a real world persons views I want to hear.

They all make claims about what they can do....but no real explanations of it working etc.

I also cant figure how it relays information via the SIM...if not using data ?

It obviously doesnt phone and have a chat, or send lots of texts ?

So I always wonder how does it relay info in real time if something did go missing, if it doesnt use data.

They do look like nice units on the site though