SCOUTEK FAQ'S

Data Plans & Billing

Q: When I checkout why do I get charged twice (pay for 2 months at once)? 

A: This will only occur during your first checkout, and not during an automatic monthly renewal. Scoutek bills one month in advance for two reasons. The first reason is because we do not require a long-term contract. Because of this, we need a minimum of a 30 day notice prior to deactivating your cameras. This notice allows us to handle the back-end requirements with the wireless carrier. The second reason is to prevent service interruption in the case that your payment method fails. For example, if your very first camera activation is in January you will be charged for the data plan for both January and February. When February 1st comes, we will attempt to bill for March. If this attempt fails for any reason, Scoutek can have the entire month of February to contact you to update your payment information to bill for March. If we did not bill ahead for February then we would be in a position to deactivate your cameras immediately.

Q: Which data plan should I choose?

A: On the Scoutek Certified Cameras Chart on our Pricing page, Scoutek provides an estimation as to how many photos each data plan is equivalent to. This number will vary, because many different factors determine the size of a photo such as day or night time photo, and how much color is in a daytime photo. Videos are much larger in size and will use much more data than photos. Scoutek will monitor your active cameras data usage, and notify you if you are at risk of going over your data plan. With Scoutek you can upgrade or downgrade your data plan with no extra fees at any time except the very first or last day of the month. If you upgrade to a larger plan, you will only be charged the difference in price of the two data plans, and if you downgrade to a smaller plan, your account will be credited with the difference in price of the two data plans. This will give you the ability to set your data plan after you see the amount of activity and expected data usage of your cameras.

Q: Do I need to purchase more than one data plan if I have more than one camera?

A: No, the data from your plan is shared between all of your cameras. For example, if you have three cameras and choose the 50 MB plan, all three cameras will share the 50 MB.

Q: If I go over my data plan will my cameras still work?

A: yes, you will simply incur the overage rate of 15 cents per MB that you go over. You can upgrade your data plan to avoid overages and simply pay the difference in price of the two plans.

Exodus Render

Q: Why isn't my camera transmitting photos to my Scoutek app or website?

A: Many different variables come into play here. First, login to Scoutek and go to the My Account page. If your cameras show as “Inactive” then you will need to activate them first. If your camera shows as “Active”, turn your camera to Setup, and navigate to the “Wireless Network” menu option. Make sure this option is turned ON, and Upload Interval is set to Real Time. If this option is turned ON, be sure that you have Verizon coverage by turning your camera to Setup, and viewing your 4G signal strength bars on the camera’s the LCD screen. If your camera is Active and you do not get any 4G signal strength bars, you either do not have Verizon coverage in your area, or you need to reset the camera’s APN. To reset the camera’s APN (this only occurs for cameras that have never communicated over the Verizon network…if your camera has sent a status report this does not apply to you) turn the camera to Setup, and in the menu, select Firmware, and then Version. Under the “Camera FW” label, the last 4 digits of your camera FW version should be 0824. If this is not the version, you will need to update your camera’s firmware to this version. If this is the FW version, turn the Wireless Network option to ON, and turn the camera to OFF. After a few seconds, turn the camera back to Setup, and let the camera remain on Setup for 3-5 minutes, and ensure it is not in direct contact or in close proximity to other electronic devices. After the 3-5 minutes turn the camera to OFF. Wait a couple of seconds and repeat this same process 3-4 times, or until you switch the camera to Setup, and see the 4G signal bars light up and the camera display a message saying “Status report sent” on the LCD screen. If your camera displays the “Status report sent” message, but does not upload photos, turn the camera to Setup, and choose the “Format” option to format your SD card. If the camera still does not transmit photos, try a different SD card. SD cards that are 64BG in size or larger are currently not operable with the Render. 

Q: I changed my camera’s settings through the Scoutek app or website, when will the new settings take effect?

A: The Render currently does not support real-time commands, but will in a future update. The way it works now, is when you issue the camera a command (change settings, format SD, request a status report, etc.), the camera will receive the command and execute it the next time it makes contact with the Scoutek server. For example, if you change camera settings to put the camera in Video mode, the next time that the camera sends a photo or status report, it will receive the command from Scoutek and change the settings to put the camera in video mode. Then the next time the camera detects motion it will start uploading videos.

Q: When I switch my camera to Setup, it will not turn on. How can I fix this?

A: If the camera LCD screen does not power up at all when the camera is switched to Setup, first make sure the battery tray is loaded with 8 new batteries, and they are all positioned correctly and making contact with the end points in the battery tray. If that didn’t solve your problem then power the camera off, remove the SD card, and power the camera to Setup without the SD card inserted. Usually the SD card is the root of many odd problems occurring with the camera. If removing the SD card fixed the issue, then you will either need to insert the SD card into a computer and format it (remove all files from it) and retry, or get a different SD card to use for the camera.

Q: If I delete photos in Scoutek will it also delete the photos off of the SD card in the camera?

A: No. The only way photos will get deleted off of the camera’s SD card is if you request the camera to format the SD.

Q: If I share my camera with another user in Scoutek, does that mean my camera will use more data?

A: No. The number of people you share your camera with does not affect how much data the camera uses.

As always if you need help or have any questions, feel free to contact us via our customer support line, Facebook, or email. We love helping people out, frankly we love talking to our customers and hearing their feedback as well as what they would like to see in our future products. That being said, here are some more of the most frequently asked questions we receive. 

Q. How do I get started? 

The process is as simple as 1, 2, 3.
1. Sign In or Sign Up
2. Select a Data Plan.
3. Register and Activate one or more cameras.

Start receiving photos or videos from your camera. Video requires more data than still photos, so keep this in mind when selecting your data plan.

Q. What are the data plans? 

When you purchase a Scoutek Certified Camera you have a one-stop-solution to get your camera up and running as fast as possible. No need to go to a third party or separate carrier site. You can activate the certified camera's wireless cellular service directly with Scoutek. This will not be tied to any mobile phone service you may have and does not require you use the same carrier as what you use for any mobile phones. With Scoutek, no contract is ever required. There is a nominal monthly fee (Line Fee) for each camera you activate. Then just select one data plan that all of your certified cameras will share the data from. This eliminates the concern about one camera getting a lot of activity while others have less.

* The size of an actual photo or video will vary depending on the colors in the frame, day or night as well as other factors. Scoutek and its partners help reduce the amount of data required by reducing the resolution of all photos prior to uploading. With Scoutek you can always request to upload the high resolution copy of photos if they still remain on the SD card. There is no additional charge for HD photos, however the size of the HD photo will count towards the data plan.

** The overage rate of 0.15 per MB applies to all data plans.

Do you have any video tutorials? 

Of course, below is a playlist walking through various tips and tactics. We'll be uploading more videos to help ease the process of setting up your new Exodus Render Cellular Trail Camera. 

Click the playlist above to watch! 

What services does the Scoutek software feature?

Q. What is your return policy?

We want you to be happy with your Exodus purchase, no matter what! With that said, we have a 30 day return policy on all Exodus gear. If you decide you’re not satisfied, just send your purchase back to us along with your order number or receipt for a full refund.