SIM & connections

Make sense of cellular service, Wi-Fi, power and the route an alert takes to reach you.

A cellular security device needs more than a SIM slot

The slot tells you where a card goes, not whether the equipment can use the service you intend to buy.

At a remote property, decide what needs to reach you before choosing how it will connect.

Start with the equipment's exact identity, then ask a carrier about an approved service for it.

A phone provides a useful first clue, but the installed camera or communicator needs its own check.

A quiet property can still use substantial data when someone leaves its live view open.

A device can remain powered and correctly installed while its service account quietly stops being usable.

When a cellular device sees a network but cannot use data, the provider's access settings are one possible explanation.

A successful text message does not automatically prove that an app connection is working, or the reverse.

An intercom that calls a phone needs a supported calling arrangement, not merely a data connection.

Read which functions the backup connection preserves before assuming the entire household system stays online.