So I bought this in January 2021, when it was just £25....
...specifically a...
... and a few weeks ago it stopped incessantly sending me texts at 10p a pop, reporting low battery (this annoying feature can't be switched off), and I wondered why, made a mental note to get around to looking into the issue at some point... and today I got to that point: I first looked at my Giffgaff balance - it's stayed the same for weeks... therefore this tracker light isn't and hasn't been sending SMS messages. This GPS tracker light is GSM & GPRS, not 3G. I'm wondering whether it's a fault within the unit or some sort of network disablement, as they phase 1G and 2G out. The same SIM sends and receives texts when interred within a 4G phone.
Having been accustomed to always knowing where my bike is, not trusting my lying eyes, this sudden lack of certainty as to the location of my bike was deeply troubling to me, so bravely I installed and fired up the app for the first time ever, to test data connection, to hell with the added data costs... and ... it tracks without incurring any charges! My Giffgaff balance stayed the same.
I'm quite confused as to what the heck is going on, but the upshot is my bike tracking now appears to be free, at least for the moment until 2G gets killed off, or O2 ie Giffgaff meddle with this apparently newly free of charge data connection. I can't get location by sending the tracker light a SMS anymore (the light used to respond by sending me a Google Maps link by SMS, costing 10p), but if my bike gets stolen, I can still track it using the app.
Because my tracker lights no longer sends SMSs, I don't need to top up my Giffgaff balance anymore. In theory if I send my GPS tracker light a text or two every couple of months, it's phone number won't be recycled to new Giffgaff signups - they usually email a warning well before the event.
I've yet to find a similar cheap to use SMS comms only GPS tracker light in 4G flavour. Oh well, this GPS tracker light still works for now, and isn't costing me a penny. Trouble is, it wears out it's battery lighting up every so often, attempting in vain to find a network signal. I should solder in a switch somewhere.
I wonder if any of my neighbour's smart meters have lost connection recently...
Is it time for 6G already? Traffic analysis says yep
5G networks won't have the capacity to cope by end of the decade
www.theregister.com
...specifically a...
... and a few weeks ago it stopped incessantly sending me texts at 10p a pop, reporting low battery (this annoying feature can't be switched off), and I wondered why, made a mental note to get around to looking into the issue at some point... and today I got to that point: I first looked at my Giffgaff balance - it's stayed the same for weeks... therefore this tracker light isn't and hasn't been sending SMS messages. This GPS tracker light is GSM & GPRS, not 3G. I'm wondering whether it's a fault within the unit or some sort of network disablement, as they phase 1G and 2G out. The same SIM sends and receives texts when interred within a 4G phone.
Having been accustomed to always knowing where my bike is, not trusting my lying eyes, this sudden lack of certainty as to the location of my bike was deeply troubling to me, so bravely I installed and fired up the app for the first time ever, to test data connection, to hell with the added data costs... and ... it tracks without incurring any charges! My Giffgaff balance stayed the same.
I'm quite confused as to what the heck is going on, but the upshot is my bike tracking now appears to be free, at least for the moment until 2G gets killed off, or O2 ie Giffgaff meddle with this apparently newly free of charge data connection. I can't get location by sending the tracker light a SMS anymore (the light used to respond by sending me a Google Maps link by SMS, costing 10p), but if my bike gets stolen, I can still track it using the app.
Because my tracker lights no longer sends SMSs, I don't need to top up my Giffgaff balance anymore. In theory if I send my GPS tracker light a text or two every couple of months, it's phone number won't be recycled to new Giffgaff signups - they usually email a warning well before the event.
I've yet to find a similar cheap to use SMS comms only GPS tracker light in 4G flavour. Oh well, this GPS tracker light still works for now, and isn't costing me a penny. Trouble is, it wears out it's battery lighting up every so often, attempting in vain to find a network signal. I should solder in a switch somewhere.
I wonder if any of my neighbour's smart meters have lost connection recently...
Is it time for 6G already? Traffic analysis says yep
5G networks won't have the capacity to cope by end of the decade
Mobile industry looks ahead to 6G as 5G evolution continues
5G networks won't have the capacity to cope by end of the decade
www.theregister.com
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