Primary-1 Schools, Bus arrival times, Smart Watches, Trackers and paying for Data SIM.

Happy new year & Happy Re-opening of schools.

With the schools beginning, it's happy & sad feeling. Your little ones are all grown up to enter in Primary-1 but at the same time looking at Singapore primary school system, and the super long hours you end up having sleep fewer nights.

The schedule from the school & Bus as follows:

• 06:20 --> Bus pickup
• 07:30 --> School start time
• 13:30 --> School end time
• 14:30 --> Bus drop off.

Now one can see almost 2+ hours wasted in transport and making the "school" almost 8 hours which is a typical adult work duration. 

Did I say the school is 2 km from my home? 

Anyway, the wastage is due to the kiasi mentality of us and doubt I can change this anytime soon. But will continue.

Trying to solve one major issue which is the bus arrival time (in the first two days it's between 13:45 to 15:20). So ended up buying a smartwatch with 3G capabilities.

For the SIM card, what we need is a simple Data SIM with >1GB/Mo volume and doesn't need any fancy stuff. 

After comparing postpaid SIM only contract plans, MultiSIM options and prepaid I ended up going for M1.

My criteria is simple. Lowest possible $/Month

M1 Prepaid card costs $15 to buy and comes with 2GB data valid for 120 days. That's ~ $4/month

This is a one-time cost and that can easily cover first 3-4 months to give the tracker a try.

For the monthly recurring cost, I am thinking of two options. One is to go with a 300MB topup which costs $5/Month of simply get a new SIM card :)

30-Day Data Packs
300MB	$5
1GB	$10
2GB NEW + 30-Day Free Incoming Call!	$14
4GB NEW + 30-Day Free Incoming Call!	$21
6GB NEW + 30-Day Free Incoming Call!	$28

I wish, TPG telecom or some new TELCO can come up with plans as "add-ons" to enable multiple SIM cards for tracking purposes. Be it Kids or Elderly or simply a tracker..

Networx - Excellent traffic monitoring utility

http://www.softperfect.com/products/networx/


I know gone were the days when you need to ensure that your traffic volume is below the specific level. With the Unlimited plans, we no longer bother but seriously a good tool to watch out your consumption is always great and fun to have.

On the other hand there are still many developing countries (in virtual world or e-global standards) like USA (AT&T,  Verizon), Australia (Telstra, Optus) or many other European nations & Developing world (India national operator still offers 1GB limit plans /Month / $15)

So there is still a requirement to watch out for many of folks. I recall using a software called DU Meter long ago but stopped when it's became a paid software. Also the resource consumption went crazy on XP.

I came across Networx when one of my Director who is based in one of those developing countries (Australia) requested help. Basically he wanted to watch how much GB he is consuming across his home. Which means whether it's the 2x Desktops or Laptops or iPad or iPhone.

I simply told him to use SNMP to monitor the router port but end up to be the RG can't be monitored. Thanks IDA once again :) for making our lives much easier..

So the solution is to use Networx across the PC devices in a Sync mode. For Mobile devices use Mydatamanager then manually add for time being. I still prefer to use SNMP at the GW so told him to put another WiFi GW or a small SW to use..

I wish for a iPhone networx client but doubt it will happen any time soon. If there is that would make things much easier for families..