REVIEW of Mictrack MT710 + 1NCE sim + Petovik tracking app: a usable sub-$100 waterproof cellular-network pet tracker with a “subscription” fee of roughly a quarter ($0.25) a month

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This post was originally from Reddit, and we’ve copied it here just for record-keeping purposes. The author is jkool702.

DISCLAIMERS

Setting up this tracker is going to be more involved than buying one on Amazon that has everything set up for you and charges you $10-20/month in subscription fees. Also, if you set everything up and (through your own fault or not) it doesnt work you arent going to be able to just “send it back for a refund”, and there wont be a “technical support” phone number you can call…it will be on you to figure it out.
My MT710 has only been up and running for ~3 days, so these are very much initial impressions. I’ll update this as I use the tracker more.
I have no affiliation with mictrack nor 1NCE. I did, however, spend a lot of time figuring this out, and this combination was the only one that met all my criteria in a pet tracker.

WHERE TO BUY A MT710 tracker

You’ll need to get the mt710 direct from the manufacturer…it isnt available on Amazon. It will ship directly from China. I used the free shipping and from the time the order was placed to delivery (to the USA) was 13 or so days, so don’t get too hung up on the free delivery being listed as taking 30-45 days.

1NCE sim

This is a sim card supporting worldwide cellular networks (including cat M1 and nb-IoT networks) tailored for IoT devices. For a flat rate of $10 you get 500 MB of data and 250 SMS messages good anytime in the next 10 years. If you run out you can get 500 mb + 250 SMS added for $10 (though this doesn’t extend the end date further).

Now the catch – 1NCE doesn’t sell their sim cards directly to end customers…they only sell to businesses.

Bummer. That said, if you do not have a legitimate business that could order a 1NCE sim for you, the only thing 1NCE asks of you during the ordering process is the “business name”, which is seemingly unverified (you don’t need to provide a tax ID or anything like that…you used to need this, but no longer do). So, while I’m certainly not advocating that you order one from them and just make up a business name and ignore the post-order emails they send you asking about what you are working on, it is certainly possible to acquire one of their sims by doing so.

NOTE: I get the impression that part of why they only sell to businesses is because they dont have / dont want to provide the “hand holding” that is typically required for end-consumers, so (especially if you go this route) try not to contact them asking really end-consumer-ish questions (like “whats an APN?”).

NOTE: you want the “IoT SIM Card Business”. You do NOT want the “IoT SIM Chip Industrial”.

PETOVIK TRACKING PLATFORM

Mictrack offers a tracking platform (via “trackits”) that has a free “demo” account and where you can purchase a personal account for $10/year subscription or $20 lifetime subscription. It is also compatible with several third-party tracking platforms.

I chose to setup my tracker with GPS-trace. Specifically with their “Petovik” tracking app, which is designed specifically for tracking pets. This was the only one on the list of compatible tracking platforms (that I looked into at least) that offered a pet-specific tracker app…All the rest were tailored to vehicle tracking. Which still works, but…

NOTE: Petovik has a free version and a paid version. The main limitation of the free version is that you can only track a single device. (there are a few other minor limitations too, but for a single device you get probably 95% of the full version functionality). If you want to track multiple pets I would suggest looking into alternative tracking platforms (the $20 lifetime trackits subscription from mictrack might be your best bet in this case).

NOTE: when adding the MT710 to Petovik, select the “Mictrack MT710” device profile.

NOTE: to see battery level, in the settings page use the “add parameter” function to add “battery.voltage”. This will show the battery voltage on the main screen. full=4.2V and empty=3.3V.

UPDATE: Petovik now has a dedicated “Mictrack MT710” device profile.

To switch to it, do the following 2 things:

In petovik, go to settings –> hardware –> device type and choose Mictrack MT710 from the drop down list. This will change the ip and port that you need to use (probably to 185.213.2.30:30184)

Connect the MT710 to a computer (with the black config cable), load up SSCOM, access the device (press the EXT button, then the start button twice in a row so the screen prints the ETS, OK message, then send 804,<IP>,<PORT> using the ip and port Petovik gives you (e.g., 804,185.213.2.30,30184), then reboot.

REASONS TO SWITCH

For my use case (MT710 in mode 0, 1 minute updates when in motion) it works better. Using the legacy mt700 profile, I used to frequently (not all the time, but at least a few times per day) get a situations where for 5+ minutes I wouldnt get any position updates, and then the missed updates would all come in at once. This issue seems to be fixed with the new device profile. It also seems to give me the devices position much more quickly when I first start up petovik.

Some of the (more useful) parameters you can add to the petovik home screen now have units. I added battery voltage, current speed, and current direction. I used to get power.int: 3.9; position.speed: 1; position.direction: 279. Now i get battery.voltage: 3.9 V; position.speed: 1 mi/h; position.direction: W, 279°

SetBox is now available. I havent tried using it yet, but it (in theory) should allow you to configure the device (like you would by attaching it to a computer and using SSCOM) using the CAT-M1/NB-IoT network (and without using SMS messages).

DOWNSIDES TO SWITCHING

The only (possible) downside is that I suspect it uses a little bit more data. The new profile has only been available for a week (it first showed up a month or so ago, but took a few iterations to get the bugs ironed out), so its hard to say how much more data is used, but (so far) based on 1NCE’s reported data usage it looks about the same. However, in the toolbox app (accessible through petovik) it appears that the device is now sending messages for “device status” in addition to messages for “GPS position”, so it would seem data usage would be a bit higher.

That said, in the (almost) 3 months ive owned the MT710 and had it in mode 0 (sleeping while still, 1 minute position updates when in motion) Ive used just over 12 MB of data. At this rate, the 500 MB 1NCE provides will last me 9-10 years. I dont think the new device profile increases data use by more than 20-30%, but even if it almost doubled data usage the total cost of owning the tracker would increase by $10 over the next decade, and the extra $1 a year seems well worth it for the benefits.

TL;DR: unless you are doing, say, 10-second position updates 24/7, (and perhaps even still in that use case), it is worthwhile to switch and the additional data use will add very little (or perhaps nothing at all) to the 10-year cost of ownership.

“Subscription” fee

TL;DR: probably on average under a quarter a month: $17 upfront and $10 more 5-6 years from now for 10 years of service.

There is no traditional “subscription” fee, but you still do have to pay for the data that you use. Thankfully, the 500 MB you pre-pay for with the 1NCE sim sends A LOT of GPS coordinates.

During the 1st 2 days my tracker has been online and sending its location every 30 seconds while moving, 1NCE shows that it has used just under 0.5 MB of data. At this rate, the 500 MB will last around 2000 days –> 6-7 years, meaning I will probably only need to “top off” the sim card (providing 500 mb more data for $10) once during the 10-year period the SIM is valid for. Admittedly this is extrapolating a lot, but is probably a good “ballpark” guestimate.

Assuming I go all 10 years using it, this means the “subscription cost” is $27 for 10 years (2 * $10 = $20 for the data, $7 for initially getting the sim shipped to you) –> $2.70 / year –> ~$0.22/month. This makes it between 20x and 100x cheaper than the subscription fees for the cellular-network pet trackers (which seem to run between $5/month and $25+/month –> $600-$3000 / decade). Personally, I’d much rather spend a few grand buying honey toys and bones and quality food than on cell service for her tracker, but that’s just me.

CAT M1 vs NB-IoT – WHAT ARE THEY AND WHICH YOU SHOULD CHOOSE TO USE

The tracker and sim both support both CAT M1 and NB-IoT cellular networks. These are sort of the “replacement” for 3G cellular networks but are optimized for IoT devices. In particular, they:

Have better signal penetration (signal less affected by structures, forest, etc.)
Have low bandwidth limits (CAT M1 is max 1 MB/s, NB-IoT is a bit less)
Use radios that are very low power (meaning batteries last longer)

making them very suitable to use with a pet tracker.

When using the MT710, you’ll need to choose one or the other. In the US you’ll be most likely be using AT&T’s network (regardless if you choose NB-IoT or CAT M1). You can see their US coverage for CAT M1 and NB-IoT here. I’d suggest:

If one is significantly better than the other use the better one.
If both are bad (unlikely except if you live someplace really rural and difficult to build cell towers for, especially in the western half of the US) reconsider buying this tracker.
if both are good (likely the case for the majority of people) then use CAT M1.

SETUP GUIDE

First off, browse through the user guide and protocol guide (section 8) and in the FAQ (bottom of page) on the MT710 page.

First, unscrew the back, put the 1NCE sim in, and close it back up. Youll need to configure it with the included USB cables (use both the black “usb extender” and the white usb charging cable for setting it up. After this is done only use the white cable (not the black extender cable) when you are charging it).

You will set it up with a program called sscom download link is in the guide linked above). Once it is up and running (and you pressed the EXT button):

Press the “start” button (sends ETS command) twice, about a second apart. Sometimes it doesnt register on the 1st press, and there is no hard in doin a 2nd press.
Change the text next to the “Set APN” button to 803,iot.1nce.net,, then press the “Set APN” button.
If using a 3rd party tracking platform, set the IP/Port button accordingly and press it. For using Petovik (with the “Mictrack MT710” device profile), it should be 804,185.213.2.30,30184
Press either the “CAT M1 only” or “NB-IoT Only” button (depending on which you are using). Optionally lock it to a particular frequency band too using the “____ Band” button
press the “APGS ON” button (command AGPS,1) and “LBS ON” (command LBS,1) buttons.
Change the command next to the “power Button” button to MSW,0 then press the button
Change the command next for the “MODE 0” button to MODE,0,60,23 and press it. This will make the device send its location once every minute when it is moving, and will deep sleep (waking to send location once every 23 hours) when still. The device will restart. NOTE: if the device does not show up in petovik, try switching it to MODE 1 (MODE,1,10), letting it connect to Petovik, and then switching it back to MODE 0.
(double) press the ETS/START button again after it finishes restarting
Change the command for the “Log ON” button to DBG,0 and press it.
Press the “save and exit” button (command QTS), close the com (button at bottom left of main window) and then exit sscom/disconnect the tracker.
register the device with the tracking platform that you have chosen to use.

See this comment about the Petovik tracking platform for some info about setting that up.

There are two MT710 options in the Petovik app, you have to choose “legacy”.

FYI – Ive been talking with petovik and they are actively working on setting up a dedicated MT710 profile (so it doesnt have to use the MT700 legacy one). Full (non-legacy) support should allow one to use SetBox (petovik–>settings–>tools) to configure the device (e.g., change modes) over the air (without using SMS or connecting via USB)

lso why do you set DBG,0 ?

I do this basically as a last step after everything else is set up. Im not sure if (with DBG,1) the tracing only happens when USB is connected or if it happens all the time. If it happens “all the time” then this will use up more battery.

It probably isnt much of a difference, but I figure disabling it when you are done configuring stuff might extend battery life a little. Keeping it enabled shouldnt have any negative effects though (except perhaps a little less battery life….maybe).

(Also why MSW,0? I think that just disables the press-power-button-to-report-location feature)

As I understand it it disables the power button entirely. Which disables the SOS feature but also prevents the device from being turned off (accidentally or intentionally). I figure this is beneficial for a few reasons:

Your dog wont press the SOS button. Its unlikely that if (s)he were lost and someone found her they wouldnt know to press it either. And the act of pressing it (and grabbing/removing the collar) should (in mode 0) trigger the vibration sensor making it send its location anyways.

I didnt want to accidentally disable it (e.g., when putting on the collar or a leash), and didnt want to chance our dog disabling it somehow when out and about (leaning on something just the right way? idk)

If a bad actor ever wanted to steal her i didnt want them to be able to easily disable the tracker. Sure they could remove the collar and smash it, but if (god forbib) this ever happened I figure not having the power button working increases the chance that the tracker will still be sending her location.

The device it stupid good at being power efficient in “deep power saving” mode 3 + sending location once a day (which is used when the devivce is still in mode 0). Were talking >1 year per charge. So I figure if you take the collar off when you dont need it (e.g., at night) and dont touch it theres really no battery life benefit to turning off the device, well, ever.

A few other notes I figured out since posting this.
on AT&T cat-M1 network eDRX seems to work and it improves battery life slightly. USB Command (for cat-M1) is EDRX,0,4,0010
If you tweak the config and it doesnt want to reconnect to the network switch it into mode 1 (USB command MODE,1,10). Wait untill it connects (should indicate on screen in the device output in SSCOM). After it makes the connection for the first time with that particular config you can switch the mode back to what you want and it should connect again just fine.
Mictrack has told me (via email) they are working on a “home” mode intended especially for pet tracking and it shoukd be available as a firmware update in the future. idk when exactly or how it will operate, but it is worth looking out for.

2 things come to mind:

make sure you have the “Mictrack MT700 (LEGACY)” profile selected in petovik. It wont work if you use the standard (non-legacy) MT700 profile. NOTE: petovik is working on adding a dedicated (non-legacy) MT710 profile. should be available within a month or two.

Try resetting the device and following the steps but instead of sending MODE,0,60,23 send MODE,1,10. Give it a few minutes to connect. If it is able to connect, wait a couple more minutes and then send MODE,0,60,23

After I had posted this I installed a firmware update on the MT710, and after that I had to setup things again, and something similar happened where it wouldnt connect. going into mode 1 first allowed the connection to be established, after which I could go into mode 0 and keep the connection.

Let me know if going into mode 1 first worked for you. I had assumed on mine I was just being too impatient after applying a firmware update, but if the same thing is happening to yours too Ill go ahead and edit the instructions.

Would posting any of the log help? Appreciate the support!

It might. If you post them Ill look over them and see if anything stands out.

It might also be useful if you post the output you get by pushing the “Read Config” button in SSCOM (I think the command being sent is RCONF or something like that).

It also might be worth going into petovik –> settings –> press the button with the 3 vertical dots –> tools –> toolbox and seeing if there is anything there.

if things were working properly, the top half would have a few items labeled “item was updated via rest API” and the bottom half would have a bunch of GPS coordinates

if there are a bunch of things in the top half and half of them are errors (colored in red) it means petovik is receiving data from the device but doesnt like it for some reason (meaning the error is with petovik configuration somehow)

if there is nothing it means petovik isn’t receiving data from the deceive

If you see “nothing” in toolbox, one last thing to check – in the 1NCE portal, log in and go to “My SIMs” –> click on the SIM in the table. This should bring up a page with a lot of info for the device. Under “Session-Status” it should say “attached”…does it?

if it says attached, the SIM is connecting to the cell towers, ok, just not to petovik. This is probably a fairly easy-to-fix configuration issue.

if not, the MT710 isnt connecting to the cell towers. This could be due to a handful of different things, most of which are, in general, not so great,

Updated on April 25, 2024

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