If I have Trimble hardware with Cellular capabilities, can I use a SIM card with pre-paid data plans?

Answer

You can use a SIM card with a pre-paid data plan, but keep in mind that not all cell phone provider pre-paid data plans are the same, so some may not work.  Chad Hicks, nei’s Arkansas MGIS sales rep, recently spent some time at his local AT&T store to find out what plans did and didn’t work.  The steps below have been tested with the AT&T service provider on a GeoXH 6000, but it should work with other Trimble cellular capable devices.

• Go into an official AT&T store and ask for a ‘Standard Size’ SIM card. This is FREE.

• Request to activate this SIM card for use…this will assign a phone number to the card.
  • When activating AT&T will need to record your name and address.

• Next ask to purchase a prepaid ‘Go Phone’ plan for the newly activated card.
  • The initial setup requires either the $40 or $60 plans shown below for compatibility:

• The $60 plan is recommended, it includes 2.5 GB of data and can refilled for as little as $10 for 1GB as necessary.
• As data is depleted user should receive text notifications of the remaining balance.
• To refill users can use the in-store kiosk or visit http://www.att.com/mygophone or call 800.901.9878.

•   With the Geo turned off insert the SIM card into its slot.

•  Turn on the Geo
  • Go to Wireless Manager and ensure the ‘Phone’ is turned on.
  • Go to Setting> Connections> Connections.
  • Select ‘Automatically configure connection’ (see below)

•   Next message displayed should indicate the setup was successful. 

• To test the internet connection go to ‘Internet Explorer’ and enter neigps.com.
  • When the site loads your internet connection will be successfully complete and setup.