Spy Point Link Micro LTE use when out of service

[doverpack12]

Anyone know if the Spypoint Link Micro LTE cameras will take pictures and store to the card if they don’t have service? Basically want them to function like a traditional trail cam but I don’t know if they will go past searching for signal and activate the detection and camera functions.

I have some spotty service where I want to put a few but it’s not always there. I can find where they will take pictures and not send with bad service but if I don’t have service where I set or when I set them will they still work?

 

[mikkel318]

I put mine in a spot with no service last year and left it on. When I pulled the card out it had definitely been taking pictures the entire time. Only hard part is adjusting the settings, I just left it on the factory setting.

 

[taskswap]

I have two of these and yes, they will. I specifically have two of these if you're curious:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086SGYX2B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They can be tricky to set up with no cell service, though. Configuring things like photo delays or quality settings requires you to use their mobile app, and the settings don't go straight to the camera, they go to their cloud service which sends them to the camera when it syncs. You can do this at home if you can put them online there.

I've found these cameras to be very frustrating but maybe this won't affect you. If cell service is at all marginal and they lose their connection they do not reconnect very well and need to be power-cycled. This is frustrating if you have the camera deployed somewhere far away - ours are on our homestead property about 4 hours away, so when they lose connection sometimes they're just down until winter ends and I can get in to reset them. This probably won't affect you given your OP but mentioning it here for others who may be curious.

IMO the camera settings are extremely rudimentary as well. I'm used to the Browning cameras which have about 30 settings to play with and one that I particularly liked was the ability to take photos at intervals whether it senses something or not. That's really useful to get a log over time of temp and snow levels, but this camera doesn't support that. The resolution is also fairly low compared to other cameras I've owned. On the flip side if you do pay for the plan, you get a lot more than you'd expect in the free plan, and the basic paid plan is very cheap...

 

[doverpack12]

Thanks. I think they will work and I have the settings configured and batteries left in after they synced.

Good info on reconnecting, that makes sense with what a friend experienced last year in one spot.

 

[Gonzoman10]

To answer your question again, yes they will work offline. You can even set them up to turn off cellular sending of photos (save battery) however not sure how that affects their service for settings and management when they return to service, probably have to factory reset them.

I haven't experienced much of an issue with them re-connecting if service is poor. More like they just dump all the photos in the middle of the night when service is acceptable again and get me all excited then I can't sleep. There are long-range antennas both 1st party and 3rd party that work with them. I use those and just climb the tree with a tree spike and screw/hammer it in, just make sure the antenna is on the side of the tree facing the cell tower.

 

[doverpack12]

To answer your question again, yes they will work offline. You can even set them up to turn off cellular sending of photos (save battery) however not sure how that affects their service for settings and management when they return to service, probably have to factory reset them.

I haven't experienced much of an issue with them re-connecting if service is poor. More like they just dump all the photos in the middle of the night when service is acceptable again and get me all excited then I can't sleep. There are long-range antennas both 1st party and 3rd party that work with them. I use those and just climb the tree with a tree spike and screw/hammer it in, just make sure the antenna is on the side of the tree facing the cell tower.

Thanks. Both cameras ended up having service.
You make a very good point about direction to face the antenna.
Both cameras are fairly close to eachother and have the same terrain exposure. Can’t imagine service reaching that point is any different. However one camera I have the built in antenna located on the opposite side of the tree from anticipated cell tower/coverage visibility direction, it has 50% signal strength.
The other camera I have the antenna pointed toward service direction around the side of a smaller tree, it has 100% signal.
Both are sending pictures just fine

 

[Gonzoman10]

Thanks. Both cameras ended up having service.
You make a very good point about direction to face the antenna.
Both cameras are fairly close to eachother and have the same terrain exposure. Can’t imagine service reaching that point is any different. However one camera I have the built in antenna located on the opposite side of the tree from anticipated cell tower/coverage visibility direction, it has 50% signal strength.
The other camera I have the antenna pointed toward service direction around the side of a smaller tree, it has 100% signal.
Both are sending pictures just fine

Right on! Yeah, the signal strength thing is funny, I wish it gave it to us in dBm. I had cell service with my phone in one location but cameras couldn't get it for whatever reason. Put the antenna high up in the tree and worked like a charm.

 

[TTT]

To answer your question again, yes they will work offline. You can even set them up to turn off cellular sending of photos (save battery) however not sure how that affects their service for settings and management when they return to service, probably have to factory reset them.

I haven't experienced much of an issue with them re-connecting if service is poor. More like they just dump all the photos in the middle of the night when service is acceptable again and get me all excited then I can't sleep. There are long-range antennas both 1st party and 3rd party that work with them. I use those and just climb the tree with a tree spike and screw/hammer it in, just make sure the antenna is on the side of the tree facing the cell tower.

What 3rd party antenna do you recommend?

 

[Gonzoman10]

What 3rd party antenna do you recommend?

Bingfu 4G LTE Cellular Antenna Outdoor 5dBi SMA Male Antennas- 10ft Low Loss 195 Coaxial Cable Compatible with Spypoint Link Micro https://a.co/d/ax9ZUFJ

That is what I previously have purchased and they worked.

 

[TTT]

Thank you.

 

[doverpack12]

That is what I previously have purchased and they worked.

@Gonzoman10 did the 3rd party antenna attach to Spypoint link lte? I have a camera in a different spot this year. Pulled 3 bars LTE on my phone when I set it, camera picked up enough service to show a green light then sometime after I left it dropped to 25% service and will eradically send pictures or say I have pictures but none new are added. I had the Spypoint antenna in my hand today but at $40 I questioned if it was worth it. Could buy an aftermarket for each of my cameras and still be less with the one you linked above.

 

[Gonzoman10]

@Gonzoman10 did the 3rd party antenna attach to Spypoint link lte? I have a camera in a different spot this year. Pulled 3 bars LTE on my phone when I set it, camera picked up enough service to show a green light then sometime after I left it dropped to 25% service and will eradically send pictures or say I have pictures but none new are added. I had the Spypoint antenna in my hand today but at $40 I questioned if it was worth it. Could buy an aftermarket for each of my cameras and still be less with the one you linked above.

I would try one first because it depends on so many factors for each camera. But even having a cable attached antenna that can be placed on the side of the tree that the cell tower is on is better than not.

I will say from my experience the spypoint signal strength is in 25% segments so who knows what 25% really means on the camera. The other problem with phone "bars" is that typically that is referring to call signal strength not data. It would be more accurate to use a 3rd party app to know your decibels (dBm)... but what decibels are required for the spypoint a I do not know. I can say that the cameras we put up are between 15-18 miles from the nearest tower at a mountain peak in heavy wooded slopes and the 3rd party external antennas on the correct side of the tree make or break the setup.