# GPS Tracking Device vs the Plus Model: How to Choose for Each Vehicle

GPS tracking device vs the Plus model: both install with the same harness kits and report to one platform. How to choose per vehicle, and what to confirm.

Source: https://www.highpointgps.com/resources/gps-tracking-device-vs-plus
By Stefano Mazzone, IT Technical Support Specialist, published 2026-09-18, updated 2026-10-30

## What Do the GPS Tracking Device and the Plus Model Share?

Choose the standard GPS tracking device for most vehicles, and look at the Plus model only when a vehicle needs something the standard unit does not give it. The two share more than they differ. Geotab lists the same harness kits for both (an OBD-II T-harness in light-duty and heavy-duty versions, a 9-pin heavy-duty T-harness, or a three-wire kit), so neither one connects bare at the diagnostic port. Both report to the High Point GPS platform, and a fleet running both sees one dashboard, one rule set and one report layout. The device model shows up as a column in the vehicle list.

On ELD, check before you assume. Transport Canada's list of certified ELDs names the standard device with the Geotab Drive app, and we confirm whether the Plus model is covered for your setup before you rely on it for logs. After that, the choice is operational: what else does the vehicle need from the box?

## What Does the Plus Model Add, and What Is Confirmed?

Geotab's launch release of February 11, 2026 names what the Plus model adds: satellite-ready tracking through carrier partners, an integrated Wi-Fi hotspot, a Wi-Fi client mode for uploads at the depot, and an internal battery that captures 5 seconds of crash data. A full spec sheet is still not published, so treat the details as something to confirm. Before you pay for a Plus, ask us in writing what it adds for the vehicle you have in mind.

What the standard device, the Geotab GO10, gives you is documented. It tracks GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou satellites at once, connects over LTE, has Bluetooth Low Energy built in, takes IOX add-ons in combination and has a supercapacitor that saves data and tries to send a last message when power is cut. For most cabs that covers the job, which is why the standard device is the default and the Plus is an exception you justify vehicle by vehicle.

![Diagram of telematics data flowing from the vehicle to the GPS tracking device, the cloud, the High Point GPS platform and the fleet's own systems](https://www.highpointgps.com/images/figures/telematics-data-flow.webp)

*Where the data goes: the engine bus and sensors feed the GPS tracking device, the cloud applies the fleet's rules, and the High Point GPS platform or the API hands it to your systems.*

## Which Device for Which Vehicle Class?

Treating this as one fleet-wide decision is the mistake. A fleet with twelve service vans and four long-haul tractors doesn't need sixteen of either by default. The vans are driven by technicians whose phone is the only connected device in the cab, so they get the standard GPS tracking device. The tractors carry a tablet for inspections and dispatch, several add-ons and a driver who lives in the cab for days, and those are the vehicles where it is worth asking whether the Plus model adds something they need.

Environment is the other factor. If a vehicle's diagnostic port sits somewhere exposed to weather, dust or wash-down, as on open-cab equipment and some agricultural and construction machines, it needs the rugged GPS tracking device, the sealed variant built to be mounted on or outside the machine and hardwired with a harness. Standard versus Plus is a choice for enclosed cabs.

## GPS Tracking Device vs Plus, Side by Side

What Geotab publishes about each model, side by side. Geotab lists the same harness kits for both and has announced, but not yet fully specified, what the Plus adds, so the Plus column says so plainly. Confirm each row with us before you order.

|  | GPS tracking device | GPS Tracking Device Plus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Install and port | Harness: OBD-II or 9-pin T-harness, or a three-wire kit | Harness: OBD-II or 9-pin T-harness, or a three-wire kit |
| GPS, accelerometer, engine data | Yes | Not published by Geotab; confirm with us |
| ELD and rulesets | Yes | Not named on Transport Canada's ELD list; confirm with us |
| Same Geotab harness kits listed for both | Yes | Yes |
| Needs confirming with us before you order | No | Yes |
| Wi-Fi hotspot and Wi-Fi client mode | Not listed | Announced in Geotab's February 2026 launch release; confirm with us |
| Satellite-ready tracking and crash-data backup battery | Not listed | Announced in the same release; full spec sheet not yet published |
| Typical fit | Default for vans, pickups, light trucks and other enclosed cabs | Only where we confirm it adds what the vehicle needs |
| Exposed or open-cab vehicles | Use the rugged GPS tracking device instead | Use the rugged GPS tracking device instead |

## How Do You Decide in Practice?

Walk the fleet by vehicle class and ask two questions about each: is there, or will there be, a second connected device in the cab, and will this vehicle run more than one or two IOX add-ons? A yes to either is the cue to ask us whether the Plus model covers that need; two noes mean the standard GPS tracking device. Then check port locations on anything that lives outdoors and move those vehicles to the rugged GPS tracking device.

Whatever mix you land on, both models use the same harness kits and report to the same platform, so you can reverse the decision. If a vehicle with the standard device later needs what a Plus offers, the swap uses the same harness kit, and the vehicle's history in the High Point GPS platform continues unbroken.

## Walking a Fleet, Class by Class

The two-question test applied to a typical mixed fleet, showing where each vehicle class would land once the Plus is confirmed for that need.

| Vehicle class | Second device in the cab? | Multiple IOX add-ons? | Port location | Device |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Service vans | No; technician's phone only | Driver ID at most | Enclosed | GPS tracking device |
| Delivery vans with a dispatch tablet | Yes | Camera | Enclosed | GPS Tracking Device Plus |
| Long-haul tractors | Yes; tablet for ELD and dispatch | Camera, driver ID, sometimes temperature | Enclosed | GPS Tracking Device Plus |
| Refuse trucks | No | PTO reader, camera | Enclosed | GPS Tracking Device Plus, if confirmed |
| Pickups | No | None | Enclosed | GPS tracking device |
| Excavators and loaders | No | None | Exposed | rugged GPS tracking device |
| Open-cab agricultural equipment | No | None | Exposed | rugged GPS tracking device |

## FAQ

### Does the GPS Tracking Device Plus use a different platform from the standard device?

No. Both report to the High Point GPS platform, and Geotab lists the same harness kits for both. Geotab's launch release names what the Plus adds, such as a Wi-Fi hotspot, but a full spec sheet is not yet published, so ask us to confirm the difference for your vehicles in writing before you choose it over the standard GPS tracking device.

### Do I need the GPS Tracking Device Plus for ELD compliance?

No. Transport Canada's list of certified ELDs names the standard GPS tracking device with the Geotab Drive app, so the standard device covers a vehicle's Canadian ELD requirement. In the United States, ELDs are self-certified and registered with FMCSA, and we confirm the current listing for your setup. Compliance is not a reason to pick the Plus.

### Can I mix standard and Plus tracking devices in one fleet?

Yes. Match the device to the vehicle: the standard GPS tracking device for most cabs, and the Plus model only where we have confirmed it adds something that vehicle needs. Both install with the same harness kits and report to one dashboard with one set of rules, so a mixed fleet still runs as a single system.

### What about vehicles where the port is exposed to weather?

Use the rugged GPS tracking device, the sealed variant built to be mounted on or outside the machine, instead of either the standard or the Plus model. Open-cab equipment and some agricultural and construction machines fall into this group. The standard-versus-Plus choice applies to enclosed cabs, so check port locations on anything that lives outdoors before you order.