Good thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX

I have used Moultrie trail cams for over 10 years and in that time have experienced alot of personal care and assistance from their service dept from small issues to larger ones. Overall, this company truly does care for their clientele and are eager to please. As a result, I have grow accustomed to buying new technology they come out with, without the concern or trepidation I usually have with new technology.
I purchased 5 of their trail cam modems as soon as they hit the market but did alot of questioning within my mind about why they would produce an item like this. At that time, many of the other reputable trail cam producers had a full fledged cell cam but nothing like moultrie's modem which requires an add on cam of their making.
Here are the "advantages" and "concerns" I had prior to making that investment.
Concerns
How backwards compatible was the modem? Would it mate up with any of my existing moultrie cams i already had?
An additional device like this added to a cam would add bulk as its similar in size to a trail cam and would certainly be hare to hide in a tree since it needs to be installed 3 feet or less from the cam since cable connecting it is of that length.
Additional batteries needed so your talking double the amt for this as opposed to cell cam all in one unit.
I like "simple" when it comes to trail cams and this investment required a leap of faith
Advantages:
Cost! The modem was inexpensive. Since I already owned numerous trail cams that were compatible with the modem it was a very small investment to own a cell cam.
Maneuverability! I could swap out different cams with modem if i wanted to. Some of my cams had features that others did not, such as time lapse. I could mix and match as i saw fit.
Replace the problem, NOT THE ENTIRE UNIT!! This was a huge advantage. Lets say your $200 cell cam (all in one unit) suffered a malfunction. Pics were poor or it got damages some how. Well no that's akin to throwing out the "baby with bathwater" In this case, just connect it to another cam. Lets face it, the modem has one Simple function Connect and transmit. No moving parts!! The trail camera is usually the one that fails first.
USE OF:
The set up and connection to this modem is quite simple. Register modem with Moultrie app or even online at main webpage. You will need two numbers on back of modem. The id# and serial #.
Once that is done and you have chosen the service you desire (ie, data package size) you are set to install batteries and link to your camera.
For help you can follow the Moultrie webpage which offers video demos on set up or simply follow the user manual included which is very "step by step".
Moultrie also offers a call in service line for assistance and has ALWAYS
resolved my every issue. The wait is sometimes lengthy but well worth it.
In summary, this modem is a very inexpensive way to enter the cellular cam segment. The money i have saved with its use has more than paid for it several times over. I use this set up to scout snow geese and have my cam set up to time lapse mode to take pic every 20 min of fields snow geese feed in. I no longer need to drive countless miles and put wear and tear my truck to keep an eye on what's going on in these locations. This tool is also very useful to set up in breeding areas of deer so your not having to re enter these locations again until batteries die. Again, the battery situation can be tamed by setting up how often pics are sent to your phone, as well as the image quality being selected as low to preserve battery life
If you want ultra portability and a very small footprint for cell cal then Youll probably be happier with an all in one cell cam unit. Otherwise, get the modem and connect to your existing Moultrie compatible cam and give it a go!!