Please note that as per our user guides, you are required to make sure the SIM in your Petrek device needs to be topped up once every 12 months. If it is not topped up within 13 months after the first or last top up it will be deactivated by One NZ. When this happens, the device is best to be sent back to us for a SIM replacement.  You can purchase a new SIM + Setup pack here. 

We previously partnered up with Skinny mobile for deals with the Petrek 3G to boost rural coverage. However, as prices have increased we have now referred all our Petrek GPS and Petrek 3G units back to ONE NZ which means costs drop to $10-20 a year. 

This means all Petrek 3G units will come standard with ONE NZ Pay & Go SIM's unless customers specifically ask for Skinny or Spark in which case we recommend that customers find the best deal and send us a SIM for installation and testing before we ship the unit. Going onto a normal Skinny or Spark SIM will set you back $20 for just a few weeks of usage so we recommend that you check and go for the cheapest minimal data prepay pack available (normally $6 per 44 weeks) or get a Family sharing plan and provide us with a SIM and we can install and setup together with your order.

For older Petrek GPS units, being 2G means it will only work on the One NZ network. 

The SIM is for the trackers and not your phone and does not matter what network you are on. 

We recommend One NZ Pay & Go plans for all our GPS based trackers.
 

Note: If you have purchased or given a used unit please contact us first. As a used unit or a unit that has been left for more than 12 months after purchase may have an expired SIM and Google map app fee. The guide below is for brand new unit purchased directly from us and/or our retailers. 

If you have recently bought, received or got given a Petrek or PetFinder device you can find the full latest setup guides Here
 

• If you bought or have been given a used unit, it is likely your SIM and/or Google map app fees  has expired, so please contact us if you are unsure so we can look into the history of the device for you to see what needs replacing/updating. 
  
  
• If your unit is brand new, make sure the SIM has been topped up properly as per instructions on the SIM card top up sheet. If you have accidently entered an Non-One NZ 021 number into the second notification box this can freeze the credit in the One NZ Fastpay system. Please call One NZ to  verify that the credit has gone through but try refrain from telling them it's in a tracking device as this only confuses their call centre. 

• If you have not topped up your SIM card for more than 12 months since you last topped up or got the unit then this will likely be why. As it would be like trying to send a text or make a call on a prepay phone without credit, resulting in the the device not being able to send the latest information onto your app. 
  
  
• If it has been more than 13 months since your last SIM top up, then do not top up as One NZ would have likely deactivated the SIM. Please follow this link to get a new SIM fitted into your device.
  
  
• If your SIM has been topped up every 12 months but your device still does not update, please check and make sure the Google map app fee has been renewed. 
  
  
• If both your SIM is up to date and your Google map app fee has been renewed and it still does not update, please restart your phone, and/or fully close the app before reloading it. Check the device is outside in the open, has One NZ 2G/3G reception and is in urgent mode. If all fails take it for a drive to town and back. 
  
  
• If still no luck or if the unit is brand new, please contact us so we can help troubleshoot further as it might be a hardware fault. 

The iPet app works on both iOS and Android based phones.
It is highly recommended that you have a newer phone with at least 1.5ghz dual core processor and 4gb ram to run smoothly.

There are some slight differences on the iPet App between the iOS and Android, mainly in history location. Android devices can show a heat map while iOS cannot due to iOS using their own maps.

Settings: (the three dots on top right corner)
LBS location – We highly recommend this to be UN-ticked to save confusion. 
If this is left enabled, you may get an updates miles away via cell tower whenever the device is indoor, under cover, and/or your dog/cat is lying on the ground with the device wedged between it's body and the ground. 

Make mode: Make sure this is set on hybrid. 

Alarm settings – This is required if you’d like to be alerted via notifications on your smartphones for when your Petrek GPS requires charging or when your pet triggers the Geo-Fencing/parameter alarm. Once ticked you can choose the notification/alarm sounds that you want via your smartphone’s own setting menu under “notifications”

Note that for iPhone users,  your Alarm notification settings is under "Geo-fence settings" and "Enable notification"

Geo-Fencing / Parameter alarm: (Slide left menu/ or press top right icon)
Once Geo-fencing is set, you can easily move the circle parameter around via putting your finger on the centre grey pin point and then move the circle around. This is particularly useful especially if your pet normally escapes through one area whether it’s the front door and back fence. You can move the line of the circle to just outside of that fence etc so you may get alerted earlier. the + – logo on the outer circle can be used to adjust the diameter.

Note:Parameter alarms are triggered depending on the update modes. If on urgent you will get an alert within 30 seconds provided there is GPS and GSM reception. If on normal mode you will be alerted within 5-10 minutes depending on when the pet leaves the parameter after it’s last update. If on Power saving mode it will alert you every 2 hours should the Petrek find your pet outside the parameter on that update interval, provided there is GPS + GSM signal at the time of update. When in power saving mode, the App will immediately change to normal  tracking mode, provided there is relevant signals at the time. 

False alarms can be triggered from time to time due to sway/weak GPS signals so if this is the case please extend your Geo-fencing circle.

We highly recommend using Normal mode on the first month if you have a naughty pet that moves very fast. Only use Power saving mode when you know your pet’s territory and where it goes during the day.

Searching Mode: (location update frequency)
Urgent mode = 30 seconds, battery life = 3-5 hours depending on GPS and GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used only in an emergency when you need to zero in on your pet.

Normal mode = 5-10 min, battery life = 7-10 hours depending on GPS and GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used for escape artists that do wander off frequently or when you want to have a good idea of where your cat roams during the day.

Power saving mode = 2 hours, battery life = 2-4 days dependent on GPS and GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used for pets you have tracked for few weeks with a good idea of their habitual spots. You can set a Geo-fencing parameter in the area and still get alerted if they decide to go further than they normally do one day, this will switch to normal mode if it is triggered to help you get them back quicker, you can also change to urgent mode immediately.

Note: If you are in power saving mode, as it will be doing it’s best to save power, you may have to wait up to 2 hours for the tracker to adjust to another searching mode. If you have your Petrek GPS around you can change the setting immediately by turn the tracker off and on after changing the search mode. If your pet is missing, just set Geo-fencing parameter alarm, and set to urgent first and wait for notification. As long as tracker is charged prior you will get an update within 2 hours or less, in most cases normally within 1 hour.

 

Exclamation mark / sign :
Means the tracker is indoor or under thick shelter with no GPS reception whatsoever and very minimal GSM reception. This means you will need to be patient and wait until your pet comes out of where ever he/she is hiding. Sometimes a tracker can be lost under a house and this will make it very hard to find. So we recommend that in this case if your pet has come back without it's collar or tracker, look at the location history and look for a pattern or the last updated location with good GPS signal.

Sleep sign:
This means The tracker has GSM signal and/or GPS but the there is no movement detected

Satellite sign:
This means the tracker has certain GPS signal and is updating it's location based ont he GPS signal given. Important part here is to always check GPS signal stregnth so you can determine if it's a weak/inaccurate update or excellent/more accurate location update.

Cell tower sign:
This means the tracker has good GSM/Mobile reception but has no GPS signal whatsoever, so the tracker is very likely indoor or under shelte. As soon as the tracker is out into the open or near a window it should update again.

Important:
Sometimes after a update your pet may roam into an area with completely no GSM signal, if this happens you will not get any sort of update and the icon will just stay on whatever mode it was in before. The tracker will not send any updates to the app so the user will need to be patient and wait for the tracker to get into somewhere with signal again. There are cases where pets have been lost and found later on and cases where pet's are stolen and the tracker destroyed. The tracker can only do so much with the current technology so it is vital for the user to understand that we can only help track your pet if there is the relevant signals available. 

Below is an idea of how long your batteries can last on the modes available.Note these are tested under the condition the tracker has good reception and outdoor at all times. If the tracker spends a lot of time under shelter or indoor it will hunt harder for signal and thus decrease battery life under the rated hours below.

Urgent mode = 30 seconds, battery life = 7-9 hours (Petrek GPS) 3-6 hours (Petrek 3G) depending on GPS/GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used only in an emergency when you need to zero in on your pet.

Normal mode = 5-10 min, battery life = 14-20 Hours(Petrek GPS) 7-10 Hours (Petrek 3G) depending on GPS and GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used for naughty dogs that do wander off frequently or when you want to have a good idea of where your cat roams during the day.

Power saving mode = 2 hours, battery life = 3-8 days (Petrek GPS) 2-4 Days (Petrek 3G) depending on GPS and GSM reception and your pet’s activeness. Best used for pets you have tracked for few weeks and have learned their patterns and where they normally wander or visit. You can set a Geo-fencing parameter in the area and still get alerted if they decide to go further than they normally do one day, this will switch to normal mode if it is triggered to help you get them back quicker, you can also change to urgent mode immediately.

Note: Battery life can change significantly depending on usage and reception. In bad reception areas the Petrek GPS will constantly search for better signal and thus use more power and reduce battery life. If in a area with good reception while with less active pet the battery life will be extend further.  If your pet stays indoors frequently the battery will decrease faster.

Getting inaccurate location updates every now and then? There are many factors to this, first you must understand how the Petrek GPS/3G work, the limitations of it as well as limitations of GPS and GSM reception. In a nutshell, GPS signal is most accurate when directly under the sky. While GPS signal can be detected indoors or under shelter from time to time these signals will normally be weak and can be a signal being bounced in from over 300 metres away and in some cases even 1km+. So hence checking the GPS signal strength level of each update to determine the accuracy of that update is vital when using any GPS based tracker. 

Before attaching the tracker onto your dog or cat, it is advised to best take your tracker for a walk round the outside your property, area or even a drive to the grocery store to see what your area's accuracy is like. When a tracker wakes up from sleep mode or goes from indoor to outdoor they do require 3-4 updates before it locks onto 5-6 satellites in space to start providing more accurate updates. 

If in doubt in regards to your tracker's accuracy, always do a road test, have it in urgent mode and drive it away on your next grocery run. This way you can confirm whether the product will work when your dog or cat truly wanders far away. On every update, always check the GPS signal strength before determining it's accuracy. If you are finding that most of the time it is struggling to update correctly within the specified distance (i.e within 30 metres even with Excellent GPS) outside your house but updates fine as long as you drive out of your property then this is normally a GSM or GPS reception issue round the property. 

There are certain areas that can receive a signal from up to 1km+ away when and still show GPS signal as being good, thou majority of the time it will still show as weak. However when a cat or dog starts moving the accuracy will increase as GPS trackers work best when they are actually moving. You may get some inaccurate readings in your backyard too especially when the tracker is wedged between the neck of your cat or dog against the ground. So you'll find when your dog or cat is sleeping right against the house wall, fence or ground the GPS signal will likely not be in "excellent" and thus will be a bit off depending on your area's accuracy. 

The Petrek GPS & 3G also heavily relies on Google map accuracy of the area because each location is planted on Google Map. Google map is quite accurate in most areas but also can be up to 20-30 metres off in certain places or even up to 30-40 metres off in new development areas or rural areas. So how accurate the tracker is really depends on

1) GPS Signal strength (As long as not indoors or under shelter)
2) Google Map accuracy in your area
3)Your area's environmental surroundings or density level.
4)If your cat or dog likes to brush their body up against walls and grounds.

Settings for iPet App user to help deal with inaccuracies:

Please go to “settings” on the top right corner of the app and un-tick LBS mode, this means your Petrek unit will only update if there is GPS signal. If you enable LBS mode the tracker will triangulate a centre location via nearby cell towers when there is no GPS signal, however this can be up to 3km away in less populated areas so this is not recommended. 

On each location update, press and bring out the menu/status bar from the bottom and you will see GPS Signal and GSM signal strength bars. GPS is important for location accuracy while GSM (mobile reception) you don’t have to worry too much about.

Under the GPS signal there is four settings:

No GPS = Tracker is under thick shelter, soil etc - Stay patient and wait
Weak = Indoors, accuracy = 30 – 60+ Metres (In extreme cases up to 1km off)
Normal = Under light shelter or hilly terrain, accuracy = 15-35 Metres
Excellent = Outdoors under clear sky, accuracy = 0.5 – 30 Metres +

I've checked and understood everything above but it's still inaccurate?

If your area seem to have poor reception or poor Google Map accuracy, it does not mean you cannot make use of the tracker. You can walk around your area and learn where the bad inaccurate spots are and adapt. So for example, if your tracker is in the garage or is by the garage and it's showing 50 metres down the driveway, this means in the future if it shows in that spot again you know the cat is actually by the garage.

Please note the Petrek GPS has larger antennas so if you require more accuracy in areas with poorer signals we recommend the Petrek GPS over the 3G unit. 

There is a few reasons as to why your tracker might be sending you some false alerts especially when you find your cat or dog just lazing round the living room or in the back yard. The most common cause is weak GPS signal, because as you'll read in the product page descriptions that when the tracker is under shelter, indoor or wedged between your pet's neck and the ground this can block direct GPS signal from above which is required for a more accurate location. 

When this happens,  inaccuracies of up to 200m or sometimes even up to 1km in extreme cases will occur.  Hence, false alerts will occur when direct GPS signal is blocked.

So the best way to reduce false alarms is simply move the Geo-fence out a little at a time until the false alarms becomes minimal. Unfortunately due to current technology limitations associated with small GPS tracking devices this is a common characteristic for small size GPS trackers. This is why in our online guide we stress that if Geo-fence is triggered always check the GPS signal strength, if it shows “Excellent” and you see a pattern of your cat or dog moving in one certain direction then you should switch to urgent mode and start walking towards the same direction.

If you find that there is still inaccuracies even when out in the open/on the move move please get in touch with us and our technicians will do a full inspection for you.

Ideally to make sure your tracker will work when it's needed the most, switch to urgent mode and put it in the car on your next grocery run to confirm that it tracks majority of the route you drive on. If it does not, contact us so we can get a full inspection and repair done for you.

The GPS receiver in the Petrek GPS works much like your trusty GPS car navigation, take it inside the house or underground car park will instantly cut GPS signals. So if your pet happens to be under a house, building or anywhere that can cover the tracker from the sky chances are it won’t receive any GPS proper or accurate GPS reception. 

So how will the Petrek GPS find it’s location? Whenever your cat or dog walks out into the open for a good few moments. 

If there is no GSM/cell phone signal, you won't get an update even if the device is out in the open with great GPS signal. Just like a phone, you cannot send someone your location via text if you do not have mobile signal, a Petrek unit is no different as it is like a mini phone, but for your little fur family. 

Unfortunately not, a microchip does not have any sort of “location tracking” based technology in it. It is simply a hidden address tag that helps animal shelters, vets and RSPCA etc identify who the pet belongs to when found. A GPS Tracker requires too many components to be able to be made small enough to fit into a chip, on top of that it requires charging and we don't recommend plugging your cat into the wall for charging!

If you have a Petrek GPS or 3G unit, both these devices have clips and fitments made to come off under stress. This means if your cat or dog gets stuck on a fence, tree or in a rabbit hole the tracker will break off to prevent your pet from being strangulation. If your tracker falls off say on a fence, you will likely get good GPS signal and be able to get within 5-10 metres of the device. If you see no GPS or weak GPS signal on the last update, this means your tracker has broken off under a shelter, indoors, or inside a rabbit hole and could be anywhere within 50-100m of the area.

Unfortunately this means the chances of salvaging your tracker becomes much lower. So we suggest looking into the location history and see where the last few updates are. Try and find a pattern to it, was it heading towards west? East? or South? Look around the area in that certain direction. As mentioned in our T&C if you have a lost tracker we will not be liable and will not be able to send you a replacement. However, contact us and we will provide a special discount for returning customers.

If you have a PetFinder, Provided the transmitter tag on the collar is switched on and is still within range of the remote unit you will be able to start tracking down via signal strength. When within 10-20 metres you can switch to mute mode and zero in by beeping sounds coming from the tag when required.

If you are out of range, simply start walking in the areas where you normally take your dogs for a walk as dogs tend to wander in their own territory especially if they are taken out for walks often. If you have a cat start by walking in a 200 metre radius round your house. Chances are if your cat is is out and about it’s normally within the 200 metre boundary, simply keep walking until the remote unit gets an connection within it’s range.

In short, yes they do, but do they harm anything? Not one bit! All Lintek Radio frequency and GPS Trackers have been CE (Europe compliance) and FCC (American compliance) approved. Meaning we have had to send everything we make to their international testing labs and go through up to 150 pages of safety tests and checks.

This is simply to make sure that all of our products are 100% safe to be used on and by anything! The radiation levels given by our trackers are next to none compared to the average cellphone humans use today!

The batteries in the Wi-Leash and PetFinders use small CR2032 button batteries which are cheap to replace and can last up to 90 days depending on model and usage. If you leave it on every day and it is being triggered every day, it may only last a few weeks or less. Both The Wi-Leash, PetFinder LR and PetFinder Multi all come with a silicone splash case(s) for the transmitter tag(s), so are resistant against rain and water splashes but are not submersible, e.g not to be used for swimming.

Have more than one pets? Want to purchase more than one RF or GPS tracker to track them all? 

Lintek’s RF trackers have over 20000 unique IDs so the chances of you tracking the wrong pet is miniscule!

Indeed! The most common reason for this is radio frequency signals like to bounce off metal and concrete while normal human bodies can also absorb RF signals (not in any way harmful!)

Hence at times if your pet walks behind a wall or 2 that might give off a few chirps! Simply treat it as a reminder to keep an eye on your pet but do expect a chirp here and there at times because unfortunately this is the characteristics of a Radio frequency based tracker.

Note: We find the most common causes of the Petrek GPS/3G not updating or replying is due to users forgetting to check their SIM card credit. Below is a summary of all other possibilities.

1) Sleep/standby mode – Your Petrek unit has not moved for 3 minutes so it is saving power.

2) SIM card is not activated or has been disconnected

3) No GSM reception, much like someone calling your phone when there is no reception, it won't get through nor will you receive a text from them.

4) Telco cell tower error - Wait a few hours and attempt again or drive to another area.

8) Cell tower overloaded in area (happens in some areas during Christmas/New Year)

9) No credit on the SIM card – Check and make sure you register your SIM card online for this very reason!

10) No GPS signal, make sure it's not indoor.

Ideally, if you know you have credit, the tracker charges, turns on and off without issue then try putting your Petrek in the vehicle and take it with you on the next supermarket visit and have it on urgent mode. See if your tracker starts updating. If it does, this means your area lacks the mobile reception required for the tracker to work.