Some newbie questions

I've been perusing various forums and this one seems like the most user friendly. Anton your program looks great by the way. I do have a couple newbie questions though:

1. If I buy a tracker is it automatically available on the cdma/gprs/whatever network or do I need to pay a monthly fee?
2. If I use traccar server it appears to save things to a mysql database. I don't think the server can do it natively but I should be able to write a service or have some 3rd party programmer write something to export from traccar and import into another db?

Ultimately I'm hoping to figure out a way to attach a tracker to my dog to see where it's at. Anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks!

1. Usually you need to buy a SIM card separately and pay for data according to plan that you choose.

2. You can configure Traccar to write to your database directly. All connection parameters and SQL queries are in the config file.

I used to have a couple of devices for pets. The only problem is that you need to charge devices frequently as battery doesn't usually last long with GPS always on.

Hi,

I'm a beginner too and I don't want to open a new topic for my newbie questions so I'm trying to ask my questions in a 6 years old topic :)
1, In the devices section there are thousands of protocols and devices. What is the difference between the protocols? How should I choose between them?
2, If I buy a chinese or any other device and change the server to my server, how can I be sure it will communicate only to my server and not a chinese one too in the same time?

I know there isn't any official recommended device (except Freematics), but I don't know how to choose from them. I would like to track my car but I don't want to connect the device to ODB.

1. Each device uses only one of the protocols. That's why we have a list.

2. There's no way to know.

3. Next time you should create a new topic instead.

Thanks.

1. I understood, so I can choose the cheapest one and will work as the the most expensive but few features. Same for gps data.
2. So nobody tested that with a wireshark for example? Hm I try to keep everything on my server and not use cloud for this kind of services. I’m a little bit confused.

1. You statement doesn't sound right. Protocol has nothing to do with price.

Ok, let me ask this on another way. Should I read the protocol documents to find out which is good for me or it doesn’t matter just the same thing for different manufacturers?

If yes and it doesn’t matter can I buy the cheapest for gps data because it will provide the same as the most expensive?

Even if protocol supports something, doesn't mean specific device model supports it. Why not just ask device vendors for a list of features? That's how most people shop for products. I think we are missing some context.

Sorry, what I’m trying to say I don’t need features just longitude and latitude. And I don’t know if this is a common thing and I can choose whatever I want from the list or should I read the protocol/manufacture/device document. I understand you don’t want to choose one and recommend that one. I just try to find something I can use to choose one trustful device.

I don't know any single GPS tracking device that won't give you location coordinates.

Beware that there are some cheap devices that don't actually have a GPS. In that case you won't get coordinates, but it's still possible to get location based on cell info. Some of those devices might even have GPS in the name just to trick buyers.