Duke of Edinburgh GPS Tracker Comparison: GSM vs SPOT and Iridium Trackers

Duke of Edinburgh activity providers and supervisors now want to provide additional protection for their expeditions, in response to demands from local education authorities and sometimes government and internal pressure. Many have found that some of these needs can be met by supplementing their existing best practices with GPS tracking technology. There are three main types of GPS tracking devices; GSM, Iridium and SPOT. They all have different capabilities and each have different cost of ownership. This is the third of three articles discussing the merits of each. This one is about GSM trackers for D of E.

GSM devices, such as SPOT and Iridium, triangulate your location from satellites, but transmit your location over mobile networks. Some transmit only on 2G and other trackers transmit on both 2G and 3G networks. 3G networks transmit data quickly, but the range of 3G masts is only a few km, while the range of 2G can be up to 10 km. Also, while it may appear that your mobile phone has no usable signal on a given mobile network in an area, a good quality GSM tracker will still be able to function normally as it only requires a weak 2G signal to work.

It is crucial for GSM trackers to be paired with a multi-network SIM card to provide great performance. If instead you were to install a GSM tracker with a standard mobile SIM that is tethered to a mobile network, then you won’t be able to transmit if you go to an area where that network doesn’t have coverage. This is where multi-network SIMs come into play; depending on their type they will transmit on 2 or more networks, some 2G and some 2G and 3G. It is essential to ask your GSM tracker provider about the SIM cards they use.

1) Does the SIM card work on all mobile networks in the country where it is intended to be used?

2) Does the SIM work abroad?

3) Does the tracker/SIM work on 2G only, or does it work on 3G too?

In terms of UK use, the 4-network multi-SIM GSM trackers will work in all popular shipping areas for D of E; such as the Lake District, Peak District, Dartmoor and Exmoor. There may be small gaps in coverage, but they are usually small. Only very remote areas, such as the most remote areas of the Cairngorms of Scotland, would get good value for money from an Iridium or SPOT.

The next question comes down to hardware. There are many GSM trackers, and not all of them are good. Let’s first deal with those of questionable reliability and operations. People are often tempted by a bargain; tempted to buy a cheap tracker on an auction site or the Amazon marketplace, for less than £50. These units are often advertised as pet, child or “senior” trackers. Almost all of them are of Chinese origin, and the instructions that come with them often make it difficult to set them up. They generally fall short of expectations when users realize that they can often only share their location when sent an SMS, resulting in a reply SMS, providing only a link to a static view of Google Maps. There are some devices that provide a login to a website, where the location can be viewed on Google Maps. The reliability of these devices is usually very intermittent. Sometimes the servers they send the data to are not available, because most of the tracker data is sent to servers hosted in China. Due to the location-based nature of data and protection concerns, supervisors at Duke of Edinburgh should seek the advice of a School Safety Advisor and check their LEA policy, to see if it is appropriate for data from location about your charges being stored outside. from the EU

If you rent or buy your trackers from a reputable retailer, which hosts data within the EU, a major security hurdle is immediately overcome. Expedition Tracking GPS retailers will host the data on UK or EU servers and then display that data on Google, Openstreet Maps or Ordnance Survey Maps. Some of those types of maps require additional licenses that are usually covered by rental fees or may require an additional monthly premium.

Mobile data is considerably less expensive than satellite data, so a typical monthly contract will cost less than £10 per month (vs. £25-£35 for SPOT and Iridium). Some carriers’ GSM trackers can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you only pay for the months that are used, and the contract can be “hibernated” for a small fee outside of those months. So a typical D of E season should cost the school less than £70 per tracker, which is a fraction of the cost of a SPOT or Iridium for a year.

GSM trackers update much faster than SPOT and Iridium; typically every 90 seconds, but can be set to update as fast as once every 15 seconds, though that’s more common for fast-moving cycling events or motorsports. GSM trackers will transmit when under dense tree cover and often while still in buildings. They can also be remotely reset or programmed, which SPOT and Iridium cannot. GSM units have an SOS button that can be programmed to perform any required action. A good provider will usually associate the SOS button with an SMS service to multiple recipients of your choice. Each recipient will receive the SOS SMS, detailing the time and location of the GPS unit requesting help.

Garmin Iridium trackers are powered by built-in lithium batteries. It is set to update once every 2 minutes, a standard 1300 Mah battery unit will last 4-5 days. A GSM tracker powered by 2000 – 2600 Mah battery will last 6-10 days. All GSM trackers can be recharged from mains USB, solar chargers or power banks, usually in less than 3 hours.

GSM trackers are the most popular choice for the UK Duke of Edinburgh GPS expeditions Schools deploy hundreds every day during the D of E season. The low cost to rent or own makes them attractive, along with their fast update speeds and high reliability. The key to remember is to not believe the myth that GSM trackers don’t work in remote areas of the UK. That is simply false in most cases. Always check with a supplier that retails all the models, and they will tell you which one is best for you.

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