Just received my Device Therapy Bike Mount & Reflector for Apple AirTag and I'm really Impressed.

Coolbob

Coolbob

Well-Known Member
I've been researching small, lightweight tracking devices for years and they basically break down into three types. 1-Cellular based devices: Great range, but tend to have a short battery life and require monthly cellular fees (I used one of these devices on the drone I used at work). 2-Radio based : Tracker emits a weak radio signal which is located using a hand-held tracker. Range is greater than bluetooth, but you need to have the tracker within a few hundred feet of the lost object. 3-Bluetooth based - Very small and robust tracking device with a long battery life, but only about a 30-ft signal range and can only be located when a phone with the tracking device's app installed and active comes within range.

Tag is by far the most popular brand of Bluetooth tracker, but the catch is that a person with an active Tag app on their phone must come within range of the Tag device for it's location to be reported.

Apple's bluetooth AirTag doesn't break any new ground in terms of technology, but Apple has incorporated the tracking software into the newest OS software so that every iPhone and iPad can locate and report any 'lost' AirTag it comes within bluetooth range of. The number of devices that can report an AirTag is massively larger than the number of devices with the Tag app installed.

I ordered a set of four AirTags with the intention of disabling the speaker on two of them and hiding them on our bikes. (If you bring an AirTag to your home that isn't registered to you, the AirTag starts beeping to warn you that you are being tracked. So it's a good idea to do a little surgery to disable the speaker on any AirTag you attach to your bike).

Since metal blocks the Bluetooth signal, I was planning on painting the AirTags black and sticking them on the underside of our saddles, or gluing them under the plastic motor cover on our mid-drive bikes. But then I saw a link to the Device Therapy Bike Mount & Reflector for Apple AirTag and hiding the AirTag in plain sight looks like the best solution I've seen so far.

I ordered a pair of Device Therapy Bike Mount & Reflector for Apple AirTag about a week ago and received them today. I have to say the design and quality of the 3-D printing is much better than I was expecting.
 

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Great hiding device! So when you say "every iPhone and iPad can locate and report any 'lost' AirTag it comes within bluetooth range of", do you mean that those iPhone and iPad will be notified that there is a lost object within range, or will only the owner of the particular Airtag be notified?

Also, how do you disable the speaker? Does the disabled speaker keep screaming silently to no avail and eating up battery all the while?
 
apple needs to make a stolen mode. so it only alerts devices its connected too. other devices will pick it up and relay the location to other devices. but I doubt your going to hear it in the reflector box they are pretty quiet.
 
Coolbob said:
Since metal blocks the Bluetooth signal,
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Not entirely true. I put my AirTag inside my e-bike’s aluminum frame, under the power switch. Works perfectly.

I put another inside a carbon fiber handlebar stem, works perfectly. I put a third AirTag inside the bottom bracket of another carbon fiber bike. Works perfectly. All three are safe, secure, and inaccessible to a thief.
 
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Nice, and no one would even know to look in there, except people with an internet connection now! :p

I knew a guy that carried around a captive bolt pistol and had a hard time trying to track his suitcase that was stolen, but it would only work at short range. Will have to recommend these to him.

Kidding aside, looks incredibly easy to remove the speaker. We have four of these on order for a couple weeks now, still waiting for them:
 
if u don't remove the speaker , at least the thief would know due to the 🦜that is
Airtagged and most likely will asap get rid of the bike/ebike instead of fiddling to find the tag.

If no sound , the bike could still be with the thief somewhere on the 50th floor in some apt. out of many apts. of some apt. building instead of downstairs near the trash can. Or somewhere else ?
 
Ebiker01 said:
if u don't remove the speaker , at least the thief would know due to the 🦜that is
Airtagged and most likely will asap get rid of the bike/ebike instead of fiddling to find the tag.

If no sound , the bike could still be with the thief somewhere on the 50th floor in some apt. out of many apts. of some apt. building instead of downstairs near the trash can. Or somewhere else ?
Click to expand...
Wouldn't you want to bring some friends and/or the police and catch the thief? Otherwise, they just keep stealing other people's stuff if you let them get away with it. The tracking on these is also way better than a simple tile that just shows you where it is on a GPS, and can actually guide you to it once close with arrows. If we all work together to ensure that thieves know that crime doesn't pay, then we can have nice things again without fear of being victimized. Worked for smartphones themselves that people used to get jumped over until tracking and remote disabling reduced the market value sufficiently and helped nab some of the criminals.
 
Every video I've seen on silencing the AirTags breaks the mounting tabs on the device and requires glue to reassemble the unit. I've figured out a better way that doesn't break tabs or require glue to reassemble.

Please subscribe, gotta get 1,000 subscribers for my channel to reach the next level.

Silence AirTags without damage.

 
And now every thief with an internet connection knows the the hiding place.
Click to expand...

There are dozens of different products for stashing AirTags on bikes being produced and they are listed on thousands on websites including Amazon, BestBuy, Etsy and others where they are viewed by Millions of viewers.

So yea, I'm really scared that a bike thief that lives in my town is going to read my post, figure out my name, look up my address, camp out near my house waiting for me to go for a ride and hope that I leave my bike unattended and unlocked (never gonna happen) so he can steal my bike and remove the AirTag in the in the Device Therapy. How will I ever sleep at night. :rolleyes:
 
By the way, you missed a category. I have a system called the AlterLock. The main problem with cellular based systems is that they require more battery power, and will run down after only a few days. AlterLock solves this by using the SigFox network instead of LTE. (SigFox is a low speed, low power network typically used for things like smart power meters).

This means that AlterLock works for about 1.5 months in a single charge. It can be used to track you bike, but it also will alert you (via smart phone app) as soon as someone touches it, and optionally, it can act as an alarm to deter the attacker in the first place. Once you bike is stolen, you can track it using the app, no need to hope that an iPhone user passes nearby), and it works on Android just as well as iOS.

Of course a monthly fee is required, but it's something like less than $5 per month for up to three bikes.

Airtags so have their place and wouldn't be a bad backup option, but if much rather be notified the moment someone starts touching my bike than not.

The reflector case is a cool idea, though!
 
shiruba said:
By the way, you missed a category. I have a system called the AlterLock. The main problem with cellular based systems is that they require more battery power, and will run down after only a few days. AlterLock solves this by using the SigFox network instead of LTE. (SigFox is a low speed, low power network typically used for things like smart power meters).

This means that AlterLock works for about 1.5 months in a single charge. It can be used to track you bike, but it also will alert you (via smart phone app) as soon as someone touches it, and optionally, it can act as an alarm to deter the attacker in the first place. Once you bike is stolen, you can track it using the app, no need to hope that an iPhone user passes nearby), and it works on Android just as well as iOS.

Of course a monthly fee is required, but it's something like less than $5 per month for up to three bikes.

Airtags so have their place and wouldn't be a bad backup option, but if much rather be notified the moment someone starts touching my bike than not.

The reflector case is a cool idea, though!
Click to expand...
Hey thanks, this is pretty good! It’s available in Japan!
 
In fact I thought maybe it was only available in Japan, but one of their pages says something to the effect that "versions sold in different countries are different due to differences in Sigfox frequencies).
 
shiruba said:
By the way, you missed a category. I have a system called the AlterLock. The main problem with cellular based systems is that they require more battery power, and will run down after only a few days. AlterLock solves this by using the SigFox network instead of LTE. (SigFox is a low speed, low power network typically used for things like smart power meters).

This means that AlterLock works for about 1.5 months in a single charge. It can be used to track you bike, but it also will alert you (via smart phone app) as soon as someone touches it, and optionally, it can act as an alarm to deter the attacker in the first place. Once you bike is stolen, you can track it using the app, no need to hope that an iPhone user passes nearby), and it works on Android just as well as iOS.

Of course a monthly fee is required, but it's something like less than $5 per month for up to three bikes.

Airtags so have their place and wouldn't be a bad backup option, but if much rather be notified the moment someone starts touching my bike than not.

The reflector case is a cool idea, though!
Click to expand...
Interesting find.
I have a few question if you may be so kind :)

From reading their manual and FAQ, I understand the tracking report to happen one of two ways.
  • When motion is detected
  • If you have activated Periodic transmission (60sec or 180sec)
What I am wondering is the following.
  1. If Periodic transmission is OFF, will the bike reports its position every time is is moved (1mn min interval)?
  2. If periodic transmission is OFF and the bike is stolen, can you activate the option when the bike is out of Bluetooth range (using the Sigfox network)?
    Or is there no way to send any commands to the device when out of Bluetooth range...
  3. The Website says it can take up to 3minutes to get a location, and I am wondering what your experience is with that when in an area with SigFox coverage?

Thanks
 
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Hi,

I have two of these (the old version), and have had them for 2-3 years.

You can only arm or disarm the device from the app when you are in Bluetooth range. Once someone disturbs your bike while it's armed, it will sound the alarm locally (if enabled), and send an alert to your phone. (or Leomo, in my case). You can hit the "false alarm" button in the app to cancel the alarm, or there is a "report" button which I have never tried.

Usually it will send the approximate location immediately and update about once per minute (assuming the bike is moving).

There isn't a way to arm the device and start tracking if you are out of range, but there is a feature to automatically arm the device when you leave Bluetooth range and disarm it when you return.

The strength of the Bluetooth signal (and thus the range) as well as the sensitivity to jostling can be adjusted. This is good to prevent false alarms if you park in a bike rack.
Screenshot_20210815-024221.png



Screenshot_20210815-024156.png

Since there is the possibility it automatically arm the device, there is not much need to arm it remotely.

The newer version is smaller, louder, uses usb-c, and has a button to manually arm /disarm.


Screenshot_20210815-024704.png
I don't know if it only uses GPS, or it might also use Sigfox to triangulate. In pretty sure it will only send updates if there is actually movement. Most of this is because the device is very optimized to use low power so that it will only be charged once a month or less
 
By the way, this works fine on the Leomo.


DSC_2160.JPG


Back in the topic of the air tag device, I wonder if there are any 3D models online for that on thingy verse, etc. I happen to have a 3D printer, and printing these would certainty be much cheaper than ordering them from overseas.
 
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