ATT Mobley plan

Bill.Satellite wrote:
It's really IS the old Mobley plan. It's $20/month and it does not have to remain in the vehicle with the proper power adapter. The Spark is different and needs the OBDII port to work. There are a few differences and some have found workarounds for the 2 hour cycle limit but even a simple wall timer to turn it off/on every 2 hours keeps it alive. There are several hoops you have to jump through so be sure you have all the details before you make the purchase but it's working, it's cheap and it's good.

:? I am an early Mobley adopter so I know how it works but this makes no sense...

You say it IS the old Mobley plan and does not need to stay in the car BUT you also say the Spark does need to stay in the car. Then you say you can put a timer on the Spark and get around the 2 hour shutoff but I don't know how you would accomplish that when it MUST remain in the OBD II port.

If it has a real SIM card I agree you just pull it and stick it in a cell/router, but otherwise I do not see how you can sign up for the Spark and use it away from the vehicle.

Dave

It's really IS the old Mobley plan. It's $20/month and it does not have to remain in the vehicle with the proper power adapter. The Spark is different and needs the OBDII port to work. There are a few differences and some have found workarounds for the 2 hour cycle limit but even a simple wall timer to turn it off/on every 2 hours keeps it alive. There are several hoops you have to jump through so be sure you have all the details before you make the purchase but it's working, it's cheap and it's good.

some devices now have a 'software' SIM, no card you can move

like said 'old topic'

This is a hot topic on another forum. It is $20/month, unlimited data. The firmware in the Mobley has been modified to try and make sure you are actually using it in a moving vehicle. Some of the AC adapters work and some don't. The educated guess is that the voltage supplied has something to do with how they determine if you are in a vehicle.

This might violate the "terms and conditions", but some people have simply taken the SIM card out of the Mobley and inserted it into another "hot spot" that is AT&T compatible and the problem is solved.

MrWizard wrote:
This is not the Mobley plan
This is the replacement plan, to fix the loopholes in the Mobley plan
To restrict the data usage to the vehicle and when the vehicles is in use

This is absolutely correct!

Mobley is a dumb hot spot the Spark is a sophisticated device that insures you use it in a vehicle.

Should you be smart enough to engineer around the Spark firmware the restrictions of the TOC will allow ATT shut you down.

This is not the Mobley plan
This is the replacement plan, to fix the loopholes in the Mobley plan
To restrict the data usage to the vehicle and when the vehicles is in use

I wonder if they've made the device smarter about being used outside of a vehicle?

From the TAC:

Device restrictions: For in-car use only. Telematics req'd. AT&T reserves right to terminate service if device is plugged into anything other than a vehicle.

Sounds to me like they've programmed the device to read diagnostic data from the vehicle to confirm compliant usage?

A review website indicates the Spark service is $30/mo, and the hotspot is configured to shutdown after 30 minutes after the vehicle becomes stationary... so you can't park your rig and use wifi all night long?