Gping.io
Hardware
car tracker
SHOW HN2016
184points
75comments
#155of 2,264 in 2016
Top 7%of 2016 by points
How HN took it
CuriousMostly questions and neutral comments
6 positive, 27 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 15 critical, out of 50 comments about the project. Thread score -0.18.
Idea: 4 for, 7 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 6 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 againstPerformance: 0 for, 1 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Build-your-own car tracker idea is cool and suits tinkerers
From 1 comment
"Like TinyURL for your car" confused me too; sorry, I think that's a risk with catchy slogans. But, it's build-you-own-car-tracker (for 5 bucks)! That's pretty cool too, and…
niftich on HN
Good use of an old Android phone
From 1 comment
Like TinyURL for your car is kind of weak, but it seems super cool. Great use of an old android phone too!
suhith on HN
Monitoring setup looks great
From 1 comment
I own a wifi-based OBDII adapter, but two things concern me about it that likely apply here as well. 1) It's always on, as the port is always powered, to my knowledge. I usually…
btgeekboy on HN
Objections
TinyURL comparison is confusing
From 3 comments
I still don't get it. TinyURL gets a url and makes it smaller, how is this TinyURL for your car?
phaed on HNIt's an interesting idea, but I fail to see how it compares to TinyURL. Wouldn't this be closer to "Quantified self for your car" ? I could see the data plugged into something…
rakoo on HNCool service, but I agree with comments below that state the analogy to TinyURL is not quite right. This seems more like “Find My iPhone” or “Find My Friends” for your car. It’s…
jeffehobbs on HN
No TLS and weak security for location data
From 2 comments
No TLS anywhere on the site, manually forcing it returns a cert for sni.dreamhost.com.... have you considered (1) ditching dreamhost and (2) getting basic security? This looks…
finnn on HNThere seem like so many ways to make this more secure than a public-but-hard-to-guess URL. Am I missing them? Does anyone have ideas on why it's a bad idea to for example require…
wcarss on HN
Always-on OBD dongles can drain the battery or set off car alarms
From 3 comments
I own a wifi-based OBDII adapter, but two things concern me about it that likely apply here as well. 1) It's always on, as the port is always powered, to my knowledge. I usually…
btgeekboy on HNGreat idea. One thing to note is that some cars don't like OBD dongles which continually draw power after the vehicle shuts down. My BMW i3 sounds its alarm because it assumes…
edent on HNIt depends on the module and the car. Some cars power the ODBII port all the time. Some dongles are smart enough to stop drawing power. I had cheap Bluetooth dongle that drained…
ianburrell on HN
OBD-II access is a security risk
From 3 comments
Judging by the number of car hacks through OBD-II lately, it sure sounds like a great idea to connect an always on, internet connected android phone with some dubious software to…
sspiff on HNSomething about android and an obd device working together terrifies me. Last thing I want a phone which has exploits galore being able to turn off my engine as I drive. Frankly…
thspimpolds on HN> What can an attacker do given the device's built-in capabilities, and what else can they do if they're able to compromise it? well, bmw DIY people have been using the OBDII…
serf on HN
Requests
Add authentication instead of a hard-to-guess URL
From 2 comments
There seem like so many ways to make this more secure than a public-but-hard-to-guess URL. Am I missing them? Does anyone have ideas on why it's a bad idea to for example require…
wcarss on HN> Upon launch, gping.io will show you your distinctly private-but-shareable monitoring URL. This is bad for privacy if you will be using short URLs similar to TinyURL/bit.ly…
sangnoir on HN
Support self-hosting
From 1 comment
No TLS anywhere on the site, manually forcing it returns a cert for sni.dreamhost.com.... have you considered (1) ditching dreamhost and (2) getting basic security? This looks…
finnn on HN
Fleet management features such as maintenance reminders
From 1 comment
I don't know if I'd describe it as "TinyURL for your car", but after reading about what it does the description makes sense. It might be hard for people to initially "get"…
Mister_Snuggles on HN
Rename the product to something clearer
From 2 comments
Like "Find my iPhone but for your car" has a better ring to it as suggested elsewhere in the thread.
sah2ed on HNI am not sure why everyone feels like they need to do a comparison with a pre-existing product. How about "Find your Car"
rburhum on HN
Questions
How is the data cost kept low on a prepaid plan
From 2 comments
'gping.io only needs basic data services and consumes no "minutes". ', how is that achieved?
botw on HNCan you elaborate on a "free" prepaid plan? I do not know anything about RingPlus. However I know that there are a few prepaid providers that offer 100mb/free a month. Would that…
kekub on HN
What tech stack and database handle real-time data
From 1 comment
Do you mind sharing the Tech stack behind this .. does Android app is uploading data every second and how you are ingesting all this data in realtime .. which Database are you…
uberneo on HN
How OBD-II data is read over USB
From 1 comment
How do you obtain OBD-II data from simple USB connection?
anysz on HN
Alternatives named
Automatic
From 1 comment
For $99 Automatic already does this https://www.automatic.com
kingkool68 on HN
Samsara
From 1 comment
Samsara [0] does this too. [0] https://www.samsara.com
mdergosits on HN
Telogis
From 1 comment
This is exactly what Telogis (now owned by Verizon) does, except with dedicated hardware built in OEM.
toomanybeersies on HN
Mojio
From 1 comment
Mojio[0] makes a neat integrated device that hits some of the same bullet points as this. I worked with some of their developers at an AT&T sponsored hackathon and had a good…
Moto7451 on HN
dash.by
From 1 comment
There is also https://dash.by which works with many cheap OBDII devices, including Bluetooth ones. I was actually about to get started with them, but your setup is actually a…
IgorPartola on HN
OpenGTS
From 1 comment
http://www.opengts.org build your own if you want. Works with android phones or IoT devices if you want to do some integration work. Also supports things like boundary areas (get…
seanp2k2 on HN