InControl2 (and Peplink/Pepwave) map device location displays

Hello Everyone,
To those out there using InControl2 and the maps showing the location of where devices are.

We are seeking support from our colleagues within the Peplink Community for the return of Google Maps as the mapping platform of choice.

When working with remote locations most of our sites can not benefit from this new (in our view) second rate mapping system that does not support aerial imagery with the previous hybrid combining of aerial imagery and maps. A lot of our customer’s locations show up as in the middle of nowhere and the maps become a meaningless piece of clutter on the platform in the new form.
The previous integration with Google Maps was certainly better in all Peplink/Pepwave platforms we’ve seen compared to the move over to this new mapping platform.

Here is a high-level example from February 2019


Same high-level example from November 2019

Notice the loss of details available in the new system. This is more evident when you compare to “Satelite View” (aerial) as seen in this capture from November 2019.

Now imagine what this is like when you zoom into the ground level.

There appears to be no previous discussion that we can find requesting the drop of Google Maps and the features offered within IC2 and also Peplink/Pepwave devices.

We invite everyone to share your thoughts for the IC2 team on this change. The change appears to have happened without consultation of those using IC2.

What would be more useful as a change in the Maps is to be able to use custom floor plans as mentioned in this previous feature request Incontrol2 support Floor Plan View and upload Floor Plan.

Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile:

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We will be adding satellite maps back in two weeks. Stay tuned.

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Hi Marcus, satellite view support has been introduced to Venus. You may test if the satellite view works for you. In case you don’t find the option on the upper left corner of the maps, please make sure the map setting on the Organization Settings page is set to “HERE Maps”. Let us know your feedback. Thanks!

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Hello Michael,
I’m glad to see some Satelite image return for testing in the Venus platform, in our view it falls short of what was previously offered using Google Maps (we can not find any censorship reason not to use Google Maps & Satelite imagery).

We still find Google Maps and Satellite photos from Google more updated and relevant. In this example we are showing a new data centre getting built in Sydney as a comparison, Google Maps is much more current.

We have also this week experienced the location addresses when being typed in not showing when creating new organisations, new groups and when editing devices. When InControl2 had Google Maps integration they worked fine.

We have noticed now InControl2 at the organisational level is offering the choice of Mapping Systems, can you add back in Google Maps, Google would be our choice by default, others we expect may have other preferences.
(image below as seen on MARS server).
image
Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile:

Marcus, we agreed GMaps is a leading mapping service out there. Recently, a cost change to its API/mapping service has stopped us from making the service available to everyone in InControl, and had to look for an alternative service.

We will explore options for customers who demand GMaps with, for example, an addon fee.

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Hello @Keith,
We are totally with Peplink in their support of other mapping platforms now that we are aware of the situation with the high costs in using Google Maps, having an option to add Google Maps on for a fee is reasonable considering those costs.
Happy to Help,
Marcus :slight_smile: .

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Hi everyone, just my 2 cents, but is there any reason why you can’t use Google Maps but require we enter our own maps API key so that we are billed directly for any Google Maps integration? That’s how most external systems work, like when using Salesforce.com or if you want to display Google Maps on your Wordpress website, you enter your API key from your Google console and are billed by usage.

Edit: One other thing I wanted to add is that for our use case we don’t even really need the map view, we just want to differentiate the device by address, so my problem is if I type in “123 Test Street” and save it, it tries to find something close and use that and overwrites what you manually type in. It would be helpful if you could just have it save whatever address you type in, even if it’s not found on the map, as we are really just using the address field to know the site location of the device, but I don’t need IC2 to actually show it properly on a map, more just show the correct address.

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In the coming InControl release 2.8.3, we will change back to use Google Maps API for all geocoding look-ups. ETA: Q1, 2020. In later releases, we will also add an optional custom Google Maps API key setting. If it is filled, Google Maps will be used throughout the IC2 organization. All map loads and geocoding look-ups will be charged on the custom key.

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