Creating a Thing

Introduction

This page provides an overview of the  actions required to create & configure a new Thing on the  Thingstream Portal Thingstream Portal.

Creating a Thing

Before your devices can use the service, you must create a Thing that represents the device in the system.  

Using the navigation bar on the left side of the page, select Location Services-->Thing List. 

Then choose the “Add Location Thing” button on the top right. 

You can create location Things for different services, but for this example, we will describe how to create /add a PointPerfect Thing.   

Select the PointPerfect tab and choose "Add PointPerfect Thing"

When prompted; 

• Enter a friendly Thing Name 

• Select the correct Format, either SPARTN or RTCM and then 

• Click the Create button.  

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Format cannot be changed for your device once it has been created.  If you wish to use a different format you must create a new PointPerfect Thing. 

After you Create your Thing, you will be asked to choose a Plan.  

If you skip the step to add a Plan, your Thing will only be assigned a Device ID and placed into an allocated state.  

You will then be given the option to view the details of your new Thing or get its credentials by clicking either the 'View details' or 'View Thing credentials' button 

Choosing The Right Plan

When you activate a PointPerfect Thing you can choose a plan based on your needs. Plans can vary depending on the applied delivery methods (IP or L-band satellite) and your expected monthly usage of the service.  Once your Thing is activated and a plan chosen, you will be invoiced monthly according to the billing cycle for that plan.  u-blox offers a variety of plans designed to meet the requirements you and your business might have.  Please see the Pricing page for the details of each plan.

Individual Plans

Individual plans are a mix of monthly fixed (unlimited usage) or hourly plans. 

Fixed plans are intended for devices that continuously consume the service, either over satellite L-band or IP (via MQTT or NTRIP (NTRIP is for either SPARTN/NTRIP or RTCM over NTRIP)). 

Hourly plans are best suited for devices that will consume the service for a limited amount of time each month (with small charges if you exceed the plan limits.)  For example, if you expect to use a device only 3 hours a day on average, a plan offering 100 hours  of access per month would be optimal.

The Developer plan has 40 hours of free usage and is perfect for initial practice and quick testing. (Note: You can only have two active Things using the PointPerfect Developer plan.) 

Pooled Plans

Pooled plans are ideal when using a large fleet of devices with unpredictable usage, where all devices can share a pool of hours.  

Review Your Thing Details

Once a plan is selected and your device is activated, your Thing will show as active.  

Via the Thing Details screen you can review the details of your Thing to see: 

• Its status 

• The plan associated with it, and 

• The monthly renewal date (set as a monthly recurrence from when the plan was purchased.)  

The connection state on the top right of the Thing Details screen will show as Disconnected until a 

device is provisioned and actively connected.  

After you successfully connect (provision) your Thing the Thing Details screen will show date/time values for Last Connected and Last Seen. 

An example of the Thing Details screen is shown below: 

The following is a summary of information provided on the Details tab:  

• Thing type:  For example: PointPerfect 

• Status: Can be active or allocated  
  When a device is deactivated, it will remain in your domain and go into an Allocated state.  Allocated devices will not receive PointPerfect data, and you will not be charged after the current billing cycle has ended.  (Note: You will be charged for any usage up to the point of deactivation)

• Plan: The name of the plan applied to the device  

• Allowance Exceeded Notifications:  Can be enabled (default) or disabled  
  If you exceed the allotted hours of a plan, you will receive a notification about your overage charges.  This applies only to plans with limited usage time. See screenshot below.  

• Device ID: The unique id for the device  

• Tags; if you wish to add these... 

• Time stamps for when the device was created, updated, last connected, and last seen.   

Reference Documentation

[1] Thingstream Knowledge Base – Services Support