Cellular Trail Cameras, Cell Cams, Wireless Cameras, Text Cameras or whatever you choose to call them, come with more technicalities than standard trail cameras and the buying process may seem complicated. However, if you understand these basic concepts, your experience with cell cameras will be a lot easier.
The biggest misconception with cell cameras is that you need a cell camera that uses the same cellular provider as your cell camera. This is a myth. Cell Cameras do not need to match your cell provider. Base your cell camera purchase off of the cell provider that has the best coverage where you are placing the trail camera.
The next misunderstood topic is cell signal itself. Cell cameras operate the same way your cell phone does. You MUST have signal or coverage where the camera is hung to be able to transmit or send the photos to your phone. Without cell signal, you have a regular camera on the tree.
Along with Signal comes the confusion on antennas and the size of the antennas. In this case, size doesn't matter. Neither does the amount of external antennas on the camera. All connect devices have to pass certain tests to be eligible to operate on cell providers networks. Therefore, no matter the size of the antennas or the amount of antennas, the signal strength will fall under the same parameters across the board.
Cell Cameras come with a larger upfront cost, and require a data plan to operate the cameras. However, after breaking down the numbers they are only slightly more expense to run than regular cameras. The biggest thing to consider is time and intrusion. How much you would pay to have more time and less human intrusion on your property? That's up to you.
