GPS Tracker TK319-L

[Excalibur]

Decided to trial Open-m2m.com SIMs. They can use CAT M1 aka LTE-M. SIMs arrived after a couple of weeks. All was looking good so I activated the 1st one. Also put a small amount of funds in the Open-m2m account to begin testing.

But it didn't work. So I researched and double checked all the spec and settings. I put my Skinny SIM in the TK319-L tracker and confirmed it was working.
Finally I emailed Open-m2m helpdesk. They were helpful and checked all the settings their end also confirming no data usage.

Their suggestion was to put their activated SIM in a phone and trial it for internet access. It worked and was connected to 2degrees network.

I need to configure the APN to iotapn.net which I'm struggling to understand how to do. I believe it uses SMS.
But don't I need the device to connect before I can send SMS to it?

Thanks.



Open-M2M response:
To help you out, I've first checked some things on our end

- The sim card was activated properly

- The sim card is allowed to connect to our network (and that of our partner operators)

- New zealand does fall within our standard Discover coverage

- We indeed have not seen any data usage on this sim yet

- I don't see any other issues with the account that would indicate there would be a connection issue.



From what I can tell is that your device connects over LTE-M and Narrowband.

Within New zealand we offer LTE-M coverage.

I would suggest:

- to check if the device is set in a "connection mode" that allows it to connect to LTE-M (sometimes devices prefer NB/Narrow band protocol or are set to only connect to narrow band, which we don't yet support in nz)

- Quite often a device can have connection issues if the APN is not set correctly, consult the manual of the device and make sure you've set the APN to iotapn.net if you havent done so already.

- If this fails, you could perhaps try to put the sim card in a phone (do set the APN, and turn off synchronisation + make sure roaming is allowed), and briefly try to see if you can access the internet.

[king1]

not the same device but towards the end of this page it gives you an example of the sms...
https://www.icargps.com/blogs/gps-tracke...ps-tracker

[king1]

the manual refers to "The SMS commands please refer to the Operation Commands", multiple times, but i can't find a list anywhere. Did something come with the unit?

[Excalibur]

King1, thanks for the thoughts.

Yes, I'd found that link earlier and was puzzling over what I could learn.

According to ChatGPT, APN stands for Access Point Name, and it refers to the network gateway that connects a device (such as a smartphone, tablet, or IoT device) to the mobile network. The APN settings are typically configured on the device itself, indicating which network gateway to use for data connectivity. So, APN is associated with the device the SIM is in.

No instruction came with the device (several years ago) A China cheapie but it had CAT M1 and ticked a number of boxes including reasonable price.

Device config setting PDF by EElink which "I believe" are the right ones...?
https://www.eelinktracker.com/Images/def...ommand.pdf

My thought ATM:
Put my Galaxy SIM in the TK319L and power it up.
Put the OpenM2m SIM in the Galaxy and power it up.
SMS to TK319L: APN,IOTAPN.NET#
Swap the SIM back and test.

Does this sound like it will work?
Questions:
Do I put 0064 in front of the ph number?
Do I use capitals for the command or is it optional?

Lucky for me, I like a puzzle and challenge, LOL.!!

Thanks, appreciate your effort.

[king1]

that sounds like a reasonable process
the 0064 would only be necessary if you're on an external to NZ network I would think...
if in doubt match the uppercase exactly, so i would say yes to capitals

afterwards you can do the
APN?

and it should reply with IOTAPN.NET

[Excalibur]

Update:
Can't get the Tk319-L to go online with Skinny SIM. Then I tried the Open-m2m SIM and it was online for a few minutes. Now I can't get either SIM to work. 24hr later, still no.
Retested Open-m2m SIM in a Galaxy and it showed data usage on Open-m2m site.

The TK319-L has 2 flashing LED's. A red and a blue. Red is GSM/LTE, blue is satellite. The blue works fine but the red is having issue. It keeps fast flashing.

So, it appears the SIM card is working but the TK319-L has a config issue?

There's a micro-USB port on the TK319-L. There's no instruction on how to use but can I possibly use PuTTY?

When I got the tracker some years ago, I was able to get a Spark SIM as a trial. It worked well but the trial ended and the SIM quit working.
Given that it worked, it maybe the APN is "internet". Skinny APN is "wapaccess" which might explain why it's not working/reluctant/intermittent.

Questions:
Is it safe enough to plug the TK319-L into a usb port.
If yes, will USB also power the device?
Is it likely PuTTY will work? (I've used it once many moons ago on some long forgotten project)

[Excalibur]

After another 2 days of trying, the tracker finally went online with Skinny SIM and updated satellite position. It continued for 3 or 4mins, then quit. After an hour it came back again.
While it was online I got my phone fitted with Open M2M SIM to SMS the required APN command. Numerous attempts but "Failed to send" or similar error message.
I'm wondering if the Open M2M SIM is SMS capable in the manner at which I'm doing?

A further thought is to get a friend to SMS me the command string when I ask. They can do that from anywhere, not necessarily at my place.

I've confirmed a micro-USB plugs into the tracker nicely...Pondering over whether I'll plug it into my PC ... I'm about to hurl it out the window anyway

Interesting discussion here on the 319H and 319L. They did quite a bit of poking around but so much important info is missing.
 https://www.traccar.org/forums/topic/eelink-tk319h/

This stuff needs to be a bit more user friendly

[Excalibur]

Update,
Gave up and bought another GPS tracker device. My SIMs didn't work in it either! Picked up a $2 4G Vodafone SIM and boom, now they both work. OK, I had to top it up with min $20 but it's Pay-as-you-go meaning it doesn't expire at end of month.
Funny thing is the TK319 won't even have the supposed correct APN, but it still worked.