Any 3rd party LTE solutions for dashcams?

[boromir]

Hi all. Last month my spouse was in a fender bender right as I was picking out dashcams, luckily he didn't have to prove he wasn't at fault and so far I think the top line Viofo will be a good fit, but the lack of LTE is unfortunate.

So I'm wondering if anybody knows whether I can roll my own LTE solution. I'm thinking no, since it records only on the sd card but thought it's worth the try to ask

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum boromir.

That is not something, but with all dashcam brands. and no matter what part of them, you can not mix and match things as you like, so if you have a Viofo system you cant just plug a Vantrue camera to that even if it have the same plug.
I have used 1 brand remote GPS antenna on other brand dashcam and been successful, but even here you cant expect that to just work.

LTE / smart dashcams, i have yet to try myself, but i still doubt if it is something that will get me hook - line and sinker.

I would never share anything in situ, so my footage well the police can get it once i have retrieved it at home ( and they was glad the one time i did that for them ) CUZ the driver that did a runner, well he stopped in front of my car, and so police could see " thats Habib,, we can go pick him up right now if he is home" CUZ he was a one of the well known PPL
Also i cant see why i would need a remote option to log into my car, no one else drive it, and if they did they know not to insult me or treat my property with disrespect ( yes i have very few friend,,,, CUZ i only have 1 )


BUT ! more and more dashcam brands will jump on the smart camera bandwagon CUZ it is requested often.

 

[kamkar]

The smart cameras for years worked off a remote 4G access point / mobile wifi router, and that you could of course use whatever brand.
But the smarts was still inside the camera itself, so if that is not in the code, you cant just stream whatever, even if the cameras sort of do that with a phone connected via WIFI, CUZ there you can get a live view of the system, and also change between cameras.
But that part is not live when the camera turn off or go into parking guard mode.
I suppose you could some how " hack" into what the camera already do, but that is way past my geek level CUZ you would need to be able to code in what ever language the system use.


Today the 4G radio are often build into the system itself, though some brands still do a remote access point too, which is also fine that way they can use the same AP for several models.
But i dont think a 4G chip / radio are something that add tremendous to a systems price these days

 

[kamkar]

Also the smart cameras = additional cost.
Well at least for the SIM card, most brands do have a free low tier hosting option, but otherwise you have to pay for a more beefy setup there too, most often adding a feature or two more, and of course more storage space in the brands cloud.

Granted a 4G sim card are not super expensive, and once remote logging into the system wear off as the novelty it is, well data use should be minimal as such systems of course do not save all footage to the cloud, that would require a always super good 4G connection, and a lot of cloud space CUZ a dashcam generate a lot of footage every minute.
But when only events get pushed to the cloud, and you have a setup where every pothole dont generate a event, then you should be good and able to get by with a SIM card with a reasonable small data limit on it.

 

[Nigel]

but the lack of LTE is unfortunate.

What is it that you want the LTE to do, which is actually useful?

 

[boromir]

i googled around and learned that the Blackvue cameras can connect to an lte hotspot's wifi and I'm guessing get online that way. Doesn't really solve having to fork monthly fees to their cloud

 

[boromir]

What is it that you want the LTE to do, which is actually useful?

several things, I park in a parking deck and the car is 400ft away from my apartment.

 

[iiiris]

Welcome to the forum boromir.

That is not something, but with all dashcam brands. and no matter what part of them, you can not mix and match things as you like, so if you have a Viofo system you cant just plug a Vantrue camera to that even if it have the same plug.
I have used 1 brand remote GPS antenna on other brand dashcam and been successful, but even here you cant expect that to just work.

LTE / smart dashcams, i have yet to try myself, but i still doubt if it is something that will get me hook - line and sinker.

I would never share anything in situ, so my footage well the police can get it once i have retrieved it at home ( and they was glad the one time i did that for them ) CUZ the driver that did a runner, well he stopped in front of my car, and so police could see " thats Habib,, we can go pick him up right now if he is home" CUZ he was a one of the well known PPL
Also i cant see why i would need a remote option to log into my car, no one else drive it, and if they did they know not to insult me or treat my property with disrespect ( yes i have very few friend,,,, CUZ i only have 1 )


BUT ! more and more dashcam brands will jump on the smart camera bandwagon CUZ it is requested often.

is the LTE is the same thing of 4g?

 

[Nigel]

is the LTE is the same thing of 4g?

Technically, no, LTE is actually an enhanced version of 3G, and inferior to 4G.

When you see the terms LTE and 4G used in relation to dashcams, I think most people using them do consider them to be the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably. I think some people use LTE to specifically indicate video transfer since that was its original purpose, while 4G is just data, including video.

If you are buying an "LTE" device, you should probably check that the specifications actually include "4G" even if it is advertised as "LTE"; you will want it to work on 4G networks.

 

[boromir]

is the LTE is the same thing of 4g?

it's used interchangeably with 4G and 4G LTE. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the standard's name. 4G, 4G LTE, 4G LTE Advanced are the marketing terms. Technically, HSPA+ Release 7 was the last 3G and LTE Release 8 became 4G. If you were to nit pick, LTE-Advanced Release 10 sometime in 2010 became "true" 4G. LTE-Advanced Pro Release 13 is the last of the 4G spec updates, and NR Release 15 in 2018 became 5G.

Regardless, in America you have to check the supported wireless frequencies (aka LTE bands) by the device because, unlike Europe or Asia, American wireless carriers each use different frequencies that were added at different times of the LTE spec updates.

For example, DISH Network's Boost roams on Tmobile but its native wireless frequencies (band 70) were added toward the end of the 4G spec. An earlier device, or earlier 4G LTE wireless chip in the device, wouldn't be able to connect because it won't be able to see the 1995-2020 MHz.

AT&T and Verizon in that respect are most compatible because they own the "default" US LTE frequency bands - Band 2 (1900MHz) and Band 5 (850MHz) from the begining of the LTE spec.

 

[mentadent]

Hi all. Last month my spouse was in a fender bender right as I was picking out dashcams, luckily he didn't have to prove he wasn't at fault and so far I think the top line Viofo will be a good fit, but the lack of LTE is unfortunate.

I agree, they really need cloud features.

 

[boromir]

I agree, they really need cloud features.

especially a connection to Dropbox/Gdrive/OneDrive so I can upload at will to what I already pay for

 

[kamkar]

A regular dashcam will save the event just as fine, but sure if you drive around with a 8Gb card in it, its not good.
But a 256 GB card which you should at least use these days, well you can drive on for half a day more and still have your event even if its not locked.
If you get in a fender bender, and forget all about it in half a day, well you dont deserve to have it on video

I am eager to test a cloud camera, but i have to admit they will have to fight to win me over to the cloud side.

My phone provider is the countries #2 largest one, and it have roaming agreement with the largest one, and little old Denmark is flat as a pancake, so i am covered with 2 nationwide networks. ( both also at nationwide 5G coverage now, slower long range frequencies )
Also just got upgraded to 5G and more data ( i think 80 GB/mo now ) the problem is my phone are just 4G and as for data i can barely break 2 GB/mo
Also have free speech, which is also not needed as i talk on the phone for about 2 hours /mo

Also on phone plans, i am Mr. Overkill

especially a connection to Dropbox/Gdrive/OneDrive so I can upload at will to what I already pay for

Something like that would be nice, but there is a snag, those sites are not set up for dashcam use, so i assume if you have a data limit, it could be reached and so at least fill up, and you would manually have to go there and delete old footage.
It would be better if you had a automated delete of old events say after a few weeks or maybe a month.

That should be sufficient of time to retrieve footage, even if you have been knocked out pretty cold, and have ended in the cold incompetent hands of the Danish public healthcare system.

IMO what i would most like in a cloud system ( i think ) would be the instant notifications if something happened while parked, i do get that at home with the CCTV but it would be nice to have elsewhere too.

 

[KANNINA 2.0]

I use a Verizon mifi 8800 in my cars.

I describe it in detail in several posts here, search my posts.

 

[iiiris]

Technically, no, LTE is actually an enhanced version of 3G, and inferior to 4G.

When you see the terms LTE and 4G used in relation to dashcams, I think most people using them do consider them to be the same thing and the terms are used interchangeably. I think some people use LTE to specifically indicate video transfer since that was its original purpose, while 4G is just data, including video.

If you are buying an "LTE" device, you should probably check that the specifications actually include "4G" even if it is advertised as "LTE"; you will want it to work on 4G networks.

thanks for your detailed answer so offenly we just say 4g since it's more advance and we normally use the 4g now

 

[iiiris]

Thx, an extremely professional response. Could we say that 4G is a simplified version that the general public understands more easily? they might think that there's no need to explain the technical principles to nomal people. People just know that 4G is faster, and the average person doesn't care about what technology supports it. Or perhaps it could be said that people can't care about it because they don't understand the technology usually.

it's used interchangeably with 4G and 4G LTE. LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the standard's name. 4G, 4G LTE, 4G LTE Advanced are the marketing terms. Technically, HSPA+ Release 7 was the last 3G and LTE Release 8 became 4G. If you were to nit pick, LTE-Advanced Release 10 sometime in 2010 became "true" 4G. LTE-Advanced Pro Release 13 is the last of the 4G spec updates, and NR Release 15 in 2018 became 5G.

Regardless, in America you have to check the supported wireless frequencies (aka LTE bands) by the device because, unlike Europe or Asia, American wireless carriers each use different frequencies that were added at different times of the LTE spec updates.

For example, DISH Network's Boost roams on Tmobile but its native wireless frequencies (band 70) were added toward the end of the 4G spec. An earlier device, or earlier 4G LTE wireless chip in the device, wouldn't be able to connect because it won't be able to see the 1995-2020 MHz.

AT&T and Verizon in that respect are most compatible because they own the "default" US LTE frequency bands - Band 2 (1900MHz) and Band 5 (850MHz) from the begining of the LTE spec.

 

[boromir]

Thx, an extremely professional response. Could we say that 4G is a simplified version that the general public understands more easily? they might think that there's no need to explain the technical principles to nomal people. People just know that 4G is faster, and the average person doesn't care about what technology supports it. Or perhaps it could be said that people can't care about it because they don't understand the technology usually.

basically.

The public does not care about the details, that's why you see speeds advertised so much. You have to dumb it down. The public only had to learn about what LTE bands are when T-Mobile started to make noise and poached customers from Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, because early on a lot of phones were gimped by the other carries on purpose and weren't fully compatible with T-Mobile's frequencies.

The reality is though that mobile carriers (especially here in the US where competition is hot and it's all about the network) use G hype to clobber people and get them to upgrade. Realistically the Gs benefit the carriers more than they do customers, allowing them to cram more users on the same tower thanks to spectral efficiency. The progression to LTE was a good thing for them (especially before small cells attached to light poles) particularly in places like South Florida. Massive housing developments there are the norm, they are often closed off to the public, and would not allow a 170ft tower to add coverage. Verizon couldn't get a tower up in the southern part of Plantation, FL due to the massive push back from residents even though the area was a dead spot. 4G LTE/5G NR now allows them to reduce congestion just by swapping the antennas and the base stations. And later on as the spec progressed by implementing software upgrades. Of course now we have small cells also thanks to 4g/5g so that has blunted the previous lackluster coverage

 

[boromir]

A regular dashcam will save the event just as fine, but sure if you drive around with a 8Gb card in it, its not good.
But a 256 GB card which you should at least use these days, well you can drive on for half a day more and still have your event even if its not locked.
If you get in a fender bender, and forget all about it in half a day, well you dont deserve to have it on video

I am eager to test a cloud camera, but i have to admit they will have to fight to win me over to the cloud side.

My phone provider is the countries #2 largest one, and it have roaming agreement with the largest one, and little old Denmark is flat as a pancake, so i am covered with 2 nationwide networks. ( both also at nationwide 5G coverage now, slower long range frequencies )
Also just got upgraded to 5G and more data ( i think 80 GB/mo now ) the problem is my phone are just 4G and as for data i can barely break 2 GB/mo
Also have free speech, which is also not needed as i talk on the phone for about 2 hours /mo

Also on phone plans, i am Mr. Overkill



Something like that would be nice, but there is a snag, those sites are not set up for dashcam use, so i assume if you have a data limit, it could be reached and so at least fill up, and you would manually have to go there and delete old footage.
It would be better if you had a automated delete of old events say after a few weeks or maybe a month.

That should be sufficient of time to retrieve footage, even if you have been knocked out pretty cold, and have ended in the cold incompetent hands of the Danish public healthcare system.

IMO what i would most like in a cloud system ( i think ) would be the instant notifications if something happened while parked, i do get that at home with the CCTV but it would be nice to have elsewhere too.

unfortunately I live in downtown (uptown) Charlotte, NC. The town is a zoo and I park in one of the worst areas with drug addicted vermin roaming our parking deck breaking into cars. I've had neighbors that have their cars broken into multiple times. And that's 20 meters from a police station. So if the perp breaks in and walks away with the dashcam he walks away with the recordings too.

Where I park I fortunately have access to the cable company's free WiFi service, which is unlimited, so I can upload at will as long the camera can connect to the hotspot and OneDrive gives me 1TB of storage. The dashcam doesn't have to stream or upload all the time, just occassionally or nightly etc...

I also park ~400 ft (122 meters) from my apartment so I can't even keep an eye on the car, outside of the smart connect features