Hardware trackers reach PortaPro through Flespi, a telematics middleware platform that speaks roughly 1,500 device protocols so PortaPro doesn't have to. Most operators never interact with it directly.
PortaPro-shipped hardware sets itself up
There is no connect step for hardware you buy through PortaPro. The ingest pipeline sets itself up the moment you enable GPS Tracking (see Enabling GPS Tracking) and again, as a backstop, when we attach a device to your order before mailing it. On Settings → GPS Tracking, the *PortaPro vehicle trackers* row reads Active once that has happened and *Activates with your first tracker order* before it. The only button you will ever see there is Resume setup, and only if a previous run stalled part-way.
The flow, end to end:
PortaPro-shipped hardware includes its cellular service. There is no SIM to buy and nothing to manage.
Bringing your own hardware
Professional trackers from a fleet-GPS provider can usually be re-pointed at PortaPro, so you skip the hardware purchase and pay only the monthly service: Queclink GV series (GV500MAP, GV500, GV350M, GV75), Teltonika FMB/FMC (FMB920, FMB130, FMC003), Ruptela FM, and Digital Matter (Oyster3, Yabby3, Remora3). Consumer trackers sold with a required subscription (Vyncs, Bouncie, Spy Spot, LandAirSea, MOTOsafety and similar) cannot: their hardware is locked to the seller's servers. Samsara owners should connect Samsara instead and leave the hardware where it is.
Re-pointing a device is a manual, per-device job on our side, which is why it is an email and not a button. Send support@portaprosoftware.com the device make and exact model, its 15-digit IMEI, who provides the SIM, and whether you are still under contract. Bring-your-own hardware needs its own SIM.
Once one of your own devices is pointed at PortaPro, register it from the Device Health table: click Add device, enter the IMEI printed on the sticker, choose Vehicle tracker or Asset tag, and assign it to a vehicle or unit. Devices are never auto-created; every device shown in PortaPro was registered by someone in your org or attached to an order by us.
Under the hood
Whether the pipeline was set up by enabling tracking or by Resume setup, the same resumable sequence runs: create your Flespi subaccount, apply usage limits (a hard cap so a runaway device can't create an unexpected bill), mint an API token scoped to your subaccount, configure an HTTP stream pointed at PortaPro's ingest URL, and subscribe the stream to every registered device. If a step fails, the row names which step it stopped on, and Resume setup picks up where it left off without redoing completed work.
Recommended hardware
Samsara is the one source that does have a Connect button, because it is your own Samsara account read through an API token. See Connecting Samsara.