Hardware devices
Why dont you ask advise for your needs ?
You need a tracker for a car , cat , person or bicycle, motor or anything else ? Then you could search google for such a device and the specs it has which suits your needs. And then check here if it is supported.
For instance most GPS watches use the Traccar watch protocol
For Car tracker you can use Teltonika
Because then it'd just be another forum post, probably with a reply saying "search the forum" :P
It's for my personal vehicles.
Then you could search google for such a device and the specs it has which suits your needs.
Sure, I can search google and look up a bunch of the 1500 different devices, compile a list, compare features, look up prices, downsides, compare protocols, battery sizes etc etc. It just seems like a waste as this must have been done hundreds of times by hundreds of people already.
For Car tracker you can use Teltonika
Why though? How am I meant to know how that compares to the other 78 protocols listed with datasheets in various languages, or compares to any other device.
I mean I will do all that if needed, it just strikes me as strange there I cannot find an overview / comparison chart of any type, even for basic things like how the most popular protocols compare etc. It's hard to even know what features I am looking for without an overview of what capabilities exist across devices.
Just my opinion, I think you are the perfect candidate to contribute to the platform by creating such an overview with a nice comparison chart. Your only investment is time to investigate, compare and create a comparison chart.
Logicly why this comparison chart isnt made yet is because it is a lot of work with regular updates. There are people here who give advise or technical help. others contribute with coding, others sponsor the coding work that Anton does.. So what will be your contribution for using this free open source project ?
I agree with the topic starter. It seems that everybody has to invent the wheel again. There must be much experience with many devices but finding a affordable obd device with 4g is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
I think everybody needs a startingpoint so a sticky topic with some basic devices for every usecase would be good for a user new to the technology. Like, for example this one: https://www.traccar.org/forums/topic/devices-recommendations/ . But instead of answering it, it is simply put down with the reply ‘ Please don't duplicate topics’, not very friendly for new users.
The list of compatible devices could be far more usable when there is a little more information about type obd yes or no, battery yes or no, used connection like 2g,4g etc. Now it is a vague reference at most.
What you're referring to was an exact duplicate from the same person. It doesn't help anyone to duplicate topics. It makes it even harder to find relevant information because it could be split into several threads.
If you want to contribute some useful information about devices, feel free to write a post about it and everyone can refer to it later on.
I agree that copying topics doesn't help anyone. But asking the same question over and over again as is happening now does not help anyone and just pollutes the forum.
A stickey topic with an extensive list of tested trackers in each category would help every user, experienced and new to trackers.
That you suggest that Jtrac should then just make such a list is not really helpful because, like me, he has no experience in this field and apparently has not yet purchased a tracker.
The whole idea is precisely that people who have already done so add to such a list. so that Jtrac and I after we have also purchased one or more trackers can also share our experience.
By the way, a search function will also help the novice user already a bit on his way. It is really a needle in a haystack search for us right now!
You're asking for something that doesn't exist. Obviously it would be nice to have an organized list with a feature comparison, recommendations etc. But so far nobody organized it. You're coming and complaining that we're doing things wrong. Why can't you organize it? There are a lot of online tools available for that. You can do a wiki or even a Google spreadsheet. I'm happy to feature it somewhere on the website if you can get it going.
By the way, we do have a search function on the forum.
I don't come to complain, on the contrary. I just agree with Jtrac, if we ALL share our experiences in a useful list in this forum then every newcomer has something to gain from it and can quickly contribute to that list themselves.
Now literally hundreds of times the same questions are asked and barely answered whereas when this information is collected in an orderly manner in a list it creates really valuable information.
Your suggestion for us beginners to pick it up ourselves makes no sense. Why not start a similar (sticky) topic like https://www.traccar.org/forums/topic/devices-recommendations/ with a good description and ask people who already have experience to make their suggestions?
I really do not understand what is wrong with that :-)
Search: Indeed search searches the forum, I thought in only looked in the website, my bad ;-)
I've been running this forum for many years. If you think there's a simple solution to the problem, that nobody noticed before you came, you're probably wrong. It's known as Dunning–Kruger effect.
Here are some of the reasons why a single pinned thread won't work in my opinion:
- People will ask a lot of questions and many of them will be unrelated to the topic
- It will quickly grow to an unmanageable number of pages, which would make it equally difficult to read as different topics
- There will be spammers and promoters who would post biased recommendations for devices they are selling
- Some devices have same names for completely different models, which would make things difficult
- Some devices are sold under many different names, which will also make things difficult
- People will post incomplete and / or inconsistent information, which will require someone to organize it for them
- Most people going to the forum are the ones that have problems, so most frequently mentioned devices will be the ones that actually have the most problems
- There are probably many more reasons
Basically it just does not work this easy. Someone has to moderate it, organize the information, verify the information and in general put a massive amount of effort to keep it clean and manageable. You said you don't want to do it. Then who do you suggest should do it?
I have been around forums for a while and I know that the approach I suggest works. However, you yourself indicate that you don't feel like managing such a topic so then it ends right here where it started.
By the way, I don't appreciate being psychologically evaluated by you, that doesn't do you credit.
I rest my case!
I agree with JTrac on "It just seems like a waste as this must have been done hundreds of times by hundreds of people already". Not necessarily on devices, because they are not really a Traccar thing. But on many other topics.
I also agree with Track-trace2 on "you are the perfect candidate to contribute to the platform by creating such an overview". What I ask is how and where exactly?
I agree with Klaas on "I think everybody needs a starting point so a sticky topic...". Though I don't think a sticky topic is good idea. Because it gets messy and difficult to read fast and only the original poster can edit it.
I think a community wiki would be good for a devices chart and many other topics, without the messiness of a forum.
According to this, wiki didn't get traction with users. Of course wikis also need moderation, organization. But I think using the time wasted answering duplicate questions on improving the wiki would pay off. By improving I mean making the backbone of it, creating the main topics, the index. After people have a starting point as Klaas said, they are more inclined to help. Maybe It's just Drunk-Freddy-Krueger effect.
Other options:
-email
-I've seen people suggest putting the site in github for pull request contributions
-Topics on this forum
-private wiki
-google sheets
So what do you think would be the best way to contribute to Traccar documentation?
When I see topics like this I get frustrated, because it's such a wasted opportunity to improve docs with user experience.
If you want to write a useful documentation page, we can definitely include it on the website. You can send us a Google Doc or any other format.
IMHO it can be done by adding a couple of columns to the devices list. Of course we need help from manufacturers and users with hands-on experience to extend the list but if get the help needed we will have a useable list to start from as a novice user.
Novice and enthusiasts can simply filter this list on one or more of the columns , by example Interface 'OBD2', or network '4G' to get a list of devices which suit their needs. For that we have to decide which columns and options should be available in the Google sheet. These options should be exist as select fields so they could easy be filtered.
I will make such a sheet but I need help populating the options lists. I would suggest to start with a clean list, show only devices from which the data is acquired. If we copy all 1400 plus devices from the traccar devices list we also will copy many devices that are obsolete (I assume).
I'll kick off the columns extension:
Columns: Device - Protocol - Port -> new: Interface - Network - Battery - Manufacturer (Do we need more?)
Options per column (if relevant):
Protocol
- freematics
- gps103
- tk103
- gl200
- t55
- xexun
- totem
- meiligao
- trv
- suntech
- progress
etc (example, list should be extended)
Port
- 5170
- 5001
etc (example, list should be extended)
Interface
- OBD2
- CANBUS
etc (example, list should be extended)
Network
- 2g
- 3g
- 4g
- m1
etc (example, list should be extended)
Coverage
- US,Canada, Mexico
- Europe, Asia, Africa
- Australia, New Zealand
etc (example, list should be extended)
Battery
- 30minutes
- 1 hour
- 2 hours
- 3 hours
etc (example, list should be extended)
Manufacturer
link to website, preferably the productpage.
Is this something to start with? Please be kind, I am a novice on the subject. I simply like to place my money where my mouth is ;-)
I have no idea where to start on this. I see a list of supported devices, but it's just a flat list of ~1500 device names that means nothing to a fresh user.
I see people asking "What device is best" over and over, but that's also not very helpful.
Is there any information on this that exists anywhere? Like an actual comparisons chart, or a google sheet or anything? Eg comparing protocols / size / battery / other features / prices points etc?
Cheers