As of November of this year, Agsense has started shipping out all new units with LTE modems installed. Prior units are equipped with 3G modem technology. For those of you that may not be cellular savvy, let me give you a rundown of what this means and how it might effect your operations.
Technology is always advancing. New technology is released at what seems daily intervals, and existing technology slowly becomes obsolete. How many of you have a pager strapped to your hip, or a blackberry in your pocket? How about an 8 track player in your car? Cool gadgets get replaced by cooler gadgets, and fast convenient tech gets superseded by faster and better performing products.
When we think in terms of cellular services, phones come to mind. 3G technology has slowly been replaced by phones on the 4G network. These changes have given us better coverage areas, faster services, more data capability, etc. There's been recent talk of an up coming 5G network. Both the 4G and 5G networks are rooted with LTE concepts in mind (Long Term Evolution). Which means the new LTE modems with have many years of functionality, and will not require another upgrade.
Luckily, AgSense looked into the future and designed their products to be modular. Meaning, you don't have throw away the units you have to keep up with the latest tech. If you're like me, our family has had what seems like dozens of new phones in recent years. Always changing them out every couple of years with new technology. Not so with AgSense. When one modem becomes obsolete, we can swap it out for an updated one. Simple as that. It will take longer to get to field than to actually fix the problem. So, you're probably asking yourself; "When will I have this problem, how do i fix it, and how much will this cost?
We had previously suspected 3G modems might go dark as early as late 2019. Recent communications between AgSense and the network providers indicate 3G could remain available through the 2021 growing season. So, no immediate action is absolutely necessary. There are some courses of action in place for you to be ahead of the game, if you choose.
• New Equipment - Like stated above, all new equipment is already being shipped with the LTE modems already installed, so no action is necessary. All new Valley pivots with an ICON panel will have an option at the time of order for an extended License rather than the standard yearly subscription. These extended licenses will also include a connectivity guarantee.
• Existing Equipment - The current 3G modem is now expected to be fully functional for anther 3 years, so no action is necessary. The modem has no impact on the current feature-sets of your unit. With the new modem, you might experience stronger signal strength, better coverage, and faster communication times with sending commands. For areas with lower signal strengths, the swap option listed below might be helpful upgrade.
• Modem Swap - When modem failure occurs, the normal modem replacement cost in 2018 has been $370 plus the cost of a service call when Compton Irrigation was the one to do the swap. AgSense is offering a modem upgrade special of $100 plus installation.
• Upgrade Unit - Like stated above there's no need to upgrade your unit. AgSense continues to offer a $500 dollar trade allowance for any telemetry device, working or not. Under a normal modem failure, it almost makes more sense to upgrade the entire unit for slightly more than just the modem cost. this gives a new warranty to the entire unit. Although there would be more of an investment spread between a modem upgrade cost and an entire unit upgrade, it is still a tempting option to get a full warranty on an entirely new unit.
• Competitive Equipment - Many competitive branded equipment, as well as the TrackerSP, don't offer a modular design. when those modems fail to operate, the entire unit will need to be replaced. these devices are include in the equipment upgrade option above. The TrackerSP can be traded for an AgSense Commander VP for a $1000 dollar trade allowance or a field commander for the standard trade allowance. This is a great way to get the newest tech with a full warranty at a drastically lower cost. Make sure your selection for a new device is a modular design, ready for future upgrades.
To recap, this is all actually great news. Our existing equipment will have full functionality longer than we first expected, and the equipment developers have made making future transitions easier and cheaper than their competitors.
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