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Remote power switch SIM card

donwmack

Active Member
I have a remote power switch in my hangar to control power for my engine heater. It's controlled via text messaging. I was using a T-Mobile SIM card on a text-only plan for $3/month (USA). I let the thing expire and T-Mobile seems to either no longer have the service or understand what I am asking for. If anyone has information on text-only sim card providers, I would appreciate any information.
 
I use Paygo on my remote switch as well. I never could figure out how to buy a card online (the paygo website is awful), but there is a T-mobile owned store a few minutes from my house. They hooked me up with a new paygo card and number last week (I let the old one lapse).

T-mobile franchise and affiliate stores don't have the Paygo cards. Only the stores that are actually owned by T-mobile. Those stores seem to be few and far between.
 
Thanks. T-Mobile was zero help. :D

Ya, I had the same issue. They told me I had to go to a store in-person. I visited a store and they said only some stores offer it. I found a store that "offered" it, and when I got there nobody knew what I was talking about. :(
They just try to discurage people away from the no-frills plans so they can upsell you a $150/month plan.
I was happy with H20, but let it run out so they gave my phone nuber away. Im not sure if I an going to just keep it all year for $40/year, or just use it for the winter months and then get a new phone number each year.
 
Where to Get Cell Phone Heater Switch

Go to www.waferstar.com (china)

Order the GSM-AUTO-AC ($130) AC powered unit.

Ships from China DHL.. Pay thru paypal..
No issues units arrive < 5 days

Get $5/month SIM card from speedtalkmobile.com
(May need to use Sim card first in an unlocked cell phone.. Don't ask me why...??)

Hint..May have to use an external antenna if your in a metal hanger (Amazon..Where else...)

Ya.. Have a Battery Tender hard wired in there as well

So nice not having to drive the the AP to plug the engine heater in..




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EASY
 
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AC vs DC unit ...

Yep per above ...


The amazon one is the same as the waferstar unit ..

But it requires 12vdc to operate.. Yes it comes with the plug in 12vdc power unit

The only advantage of AC unit .. it makes for a cleaner installation (IMHO)

Both are 3G / 4G units
 
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I just ordered one of these units from switcheon.com. They have 2 ($199) and 4 ($299) outlet models.

I like that they deal with the SIM card. The SIM card subscription is included for the 1st year and $50 a year after that.

The unit is controlled via an app. You can download the app and play with a demo unit. In the app, you can control power by temperature. I have a small heater inside the cabin. With this unit, I can only have it come on when the temperature hits below a certain setpoint.

SwitcheOn-full-view-with-cables-cropped-1.jpg
 
I have used the T-mobile $10/3month plan to text my preheater for 3 years. I only need it in the Winter. No problem at my store. I just tell them it is for a gate opener, to avoid any risk-based decisions. :rolleyes:
 
I have a WaferStar unit I bought from eBay a couple of years ago. It's 12v powered but came with a power adapter & an external antenna with ~12 feet of cable. If I was buying today, I'd get the AC-powered unit, much simpler.

I use the H2O Wireless sims on the $10 / 90-day plan. Living in Atlanta, I don't need this for more than about 90 days a year, so I let the plan lapse each spring & pick up a new sim at Best Buy or from Amazon for about a buck. I ordered one from Amazon this morning, in fact. My total ongoing cost is $11 or $12 per year.

There is an app you can download that will control the WaferStar units, or you can just text or call to activate your heater.
 
Has anyone had any problem with spam calls hitting your SIM card number and burning up the allotted time allowance?
 
I use the H2O Wireless sims on the $10 / 90-day plan. Living in Atlanta, I don't need this for more than about 90 days a year, so I let the plan lapse each spring & pick up a new sim at Best Buy or from Amazon for about a buck. I ordered one from Amazon this morning, in fact. My total ongoing cost is $11 or $12 per year.

With the H2O Wireless sim, do you first need to put the sim card in a cell phone to deactivate any password feature, or can you just pop the sim card into the switching device and text it/dial it?

When you get a new sim card at Best Buy or Amazon each year, how do you get the H2O Wireless account reactivated with the new sim card?
 
Another option is a wifi smart switch, I use the Kasa version but I'm sure any work, they're around $20. This is a no brainer if you already have internet at the hangar.

My airport's wifi doesn't reach my t-hangar so I use a t-mobile wifi hotspot, it's $10/month ($13.50 if you include the device payment). for that price you get 2GB of data, the switch uses practically 0 so there's plenty of data for music streaming or other wifi use. It's a little more expensive than the cheapest text only plans; but I've very much enjoyed having wifi at the hangar for my tablet and laptop.
 
No

Has anyone had any problem with spam calls hitting your SIM card number and burning up the allotted time allowance?

I have my switch configured to only accept calls from my phone number (and my wife's as a backup). It simply ignores contact from any other number. So no, I haven't had any problems from spammers.
 
With the H2O Wireless sim, do you first need to put the sim card in a cell phone to deactivate any password feature, or can you just pop the sim card into the switching device and text it/dial it?

When you get a new sim card at Best Buy or Amazon each year, how do you get the H2O Wireless account reactivated with the new sim card?

Good questions. The H2O website account stays active, but the sim & associated phone number drop off of it once you let the sim's plan go dormant. I get a new card, log in to my account on the website & activate the new card. That gives me a new phone number, so I need to update the "Hangar" contact in my iPhone with that new number.

I don't recall if I had to put the card in a cell phone first or not. It's been a year since I did it. That's one disadvantage of this approach. It's easy to forget steps in a process you do once a year. I should probably write it down somewhere for next year once I figure it out again.
 
i have always been more worried about spam calls turning on the system and having it run for days. i have a timer between the unit and the power source. once a day it shuts off the power which turns off the switches if they should be on.
i have an alarm clock [old style, not digital] on one of the switches and have never had the clock run if i didn't signal it.
 
i have always been more worried about spam calls turning on the system and having it run for days. i have a timer between the unit and the power source. once a day it shuts off the power which turns off the switches if they should be on.
i have an alarm clock [old style, not digital] on one of the switches and have never had the clock run if i didn't signal it.

These units can be programmed to only take action on calls or texts from specific numbers.
 
i have always been more worried about spam calls turning on the system and having it run for days. i have a timer between the unit and the power source. once a day it shuts off the power which turns off the switches if they should be on.
i have an alarm clock [old style, not digital] on one of the switches and have never had the clock run if i didn't signal it.

I send a quick text every day just to see if one of the circuits has been inadvertently turned on. That has happened once or twice.
 
I just ordered one of these units from switcheon.com. They have 2 ($199) and 4 ($299) outlet models.

I like that they deal with the SIM card. The SIM card subscription is included for the 1st year and $50 a year after that.

The unit is controlled via an app. You can download the app and play with a demo unit. In the app, you can control power by temperature. I have a small heater inside the cabin. With this unit, I can only have it come on when the temperature hits below a certain setpoint.

SwitcheOn-full-view-with-cables-cropped-1.jpg


I'd love to just be able to tell Alexa to heat up my plane, but my hangar only has wifi when the local avionics hangar door across the apron is open..and besides, I would get no feedback as to whether or not she was successful in turning the heater on.

I have this same unit -- Switcheon. $200 and first year of cell connection is free. It uses LTE/IoT (Internet of Things), so no text, no voice, no SIM...very programmable. It has been utterly reliable and easy to use, and tells me accurately when the heater (or whatever else is plugged in) is actually on. Excellent customer service. By far the most cost-effective solution I've seen for those of us whose hangar is out of wifi range.
 
I use an unlocked mobile hotspot to create a wifi network and control Kasa smart outlets in the hanger. I don't use the GSM service for anything but remote controlling the outlets for dehydrator and preheater, so I have freedompop which is 200mb of free GSM data service per month. I use about 10% of that in any given month.
 
I use an unlocked mobile hotspot to create a wifi network and control Kasa smart outlets in the hanger. I don't use the GSM service for anything but remote controlling the outlets for dehydrator and preheater, so I have freedompop which is 200mb of free GSM data service per month. I use about 10% of that in any given month.

There is an xfinity hot spot near my hangar an dI've used it to operate a laptop from the hangar.

I was trying to come up with a way to utilize that to control a switch but never figured it out.
 
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