Wi-Fi & Hotspot Feature Differences

[Peyole]

In the Thinkware app for the F800 / F800 Pro, during setup for connection when it goes to setup of Wi-Fi and hotspot it says that with Wi-Fi some features that require internet connection cannot be used. Does anyone know what these features it is referring to are? My guess was things like GPS location and speed cameras, but does anyone have a definitive list of what features it is talking about? I checked the manual and some other Thinkware documentation and couldn't find anything.

 

[Nadhir]

I have the F800 Pro so what I talk about is in reference to the Pro. As far as I know, this may not work on the F800 as it does not have cloud features.

Vehicle speed is determined by the GPS and not the internet. You have that regardless.

When you connect to the internet, it’s for the cluod features. Connecting to the internet is different from connecting to your phone.

When you connect it to the internet, you can then register your device. When you register the device, you can now remotely check on it, providing that the dash cam is still connected to the internet.

For instance, you register your device and set it up. Good. Now should I ever get in your car and drive it for whatever reason (you let me drive it or I stole it, etc) you can now track the vehicle via GPS and see the direction it is heading. The GPS refreshes every 10 seconds so it should be fairly accurate. On top of that, you can get the driver speed and any impact notifications should your camera report any. You cannot use Live View remotely to see someone drive. Hopefully this will come later on. You can also set boundary notifications so if you lend me your car and I drive x miles away from you, you will get s notification that I have passed the boundary that you set ( should be anywhere up to 600 miles if I remember correctly).

Hope that’s of some help.

 

[Peyole]

I have the Pro. So does that mean that the GPS functions completely independently kinda like a Garmin or TomTom, and does not rely on using your cell phone's hotspot for location like loading up location services? If I understand what you said correctly the only things that depend on a hotspot are cloud features? Since I do not plan on buying a hotspot and putting it in my car it seems like the current cloud features won't really benefit me at all. Crossing my fingers though that the cloud features will be expanded. When I am driving and have my Pro connected through it's Wi-Fi network I have access to everything besides cloud then? I do not need to connect to hotspot or anything to access anything besides broadcasting cloud information.

 

[Nadhir]

I have the Pro. So does that mean that the GPS functions completely independently kinda like a Garmin or TomTom, and does not rely on using your cell phone's hotspot for location like loading up location services? If I understand what you said correctly the only things that depend on a hotspot are cloud features? Since I do not plan on buying a hotspot and putting it in my car it seems like the current cloud features won't really benefit me at all. Crossing my fingers though that the cloud features will be expanded. When I am driving and have my Pro connected through it's Wi-Fi network I have access to everything besides cloud then? I do not need to connect to hotspot or anything to access anything besides broadcasting cloud information.

Yes, that’s correct. Your GPS does not need the internet to work. GPS itself, just in general, is completely independent with the internet. The only thing you use with the internet is to send the GPS info through the internet to your phone.

When you start your camera, you should hear it say GPS turned on or something like that. And yes, cloud features only work with hotspot. So unless you lend your car to a friend and force the hotspot thing to track them, or with a kid or worker, then it’s not really useful. If your car gets stolen you could theoretically track it if a hotspot is connected, but I doubt the thief will connect theirs so yeah.

But GPS works and when you go on your computer with the SD card you will see the GPS info on there. That’s how it registers the impacts also, based on quick and sudden shifts in the GPS.

 

[Peyole]

With how evil most cell phone companies are on prices I don't think I will be purchasing a hotspot to put into my car unless something special happens like someone in regular use of my car. I am waiting on fuse-taps in the mail then will be installing the camera. Unfortunately the majority of the fuses are tucked behind a plastic piece that spans the section underneath the steering wheel. Really don't want to remove the piece and potentially break something, but don't really have a choice it seems.

 

[Nadhir]

With how evil most cell phone companies are on prices I don't think I will be purchasing a hotspot to put into my car unless something special happens like someone in regular use of my car. I am waiting on fuse-taps in the mail then will be installing the camera. Unfortunately the majority of the fuses are tucked behind a plastic piece that spans the section underneath the steering wheel. Really don't want to remove the piece and potentially break something, but don't really have a choice it seems.

I bought a Cellink Battery and left it in my trunk hooked up to a cigarette lighter. Was going to hardware then just left it be.

 

[Peyole]

A little pricey for me right now, but definitely something to consider, especially with wear and tear on the car battery and less time recording

 

[Nadhir]

A little pricey for me right now, but definitely something to consider, especially with wear and tear on the car battery and less time recording

Exactly why I bought it. Plus I have a BMW and they have issues when you connect external items to the battery. They give a battery drain notice which is annoying... plus there’s no hardwiring if you don’t want to. Just hook it up to a cigarette lighter and it’s good.

But yeah, cost me $250 extra...

 

[Peyole]

Parking mode is going to be nice, I just really hope I never have to think about it because no one hits me. Thanks for being so helpful though in answering my questions.

 

[Nadhir]

Parking mode is going to be nice, I just really hope I never have to think about it because no one hits me. Thanks for being so helpful though in answering my questions.

Isn’t that the reason we all buy it? I have mine set on motion detection. If you park in an area with little movement on the street/sidewalk, it’s better to use motion detection. If you Park is a busy area then go for time lapse. I wouldn’t really suggest energy saver as unless it’s just completely blatantly obvious, it’ll be hard to prove fault. Energy saver doesn’t record prior to the incident and only after you get hit. You may catch the car/person as it happened or as they’re leaving but they can deny it since you don’t have actual proof.

Time lapse and motion detection will give you ten seconds of recording prior to an incident which ensures that you have it all recorded. Just remember that. Would suck to use energy saver and record something after you were hit only to have the person deny it (and they all deny it).