// VICTRON GPS TRACKING
Put your van, boat or fleet on a live map with Victron GPS tracking
GPS tracking is one of the cheapest upgrades a Victron system can take — often a single USB dongle costing around £18 from UK retailers at the time of writing — and the VRM portal already knows what to do with it: a map, a geofence and downloadable history, all included. This page covers the three ways to add GPS to a GX device, what Victron gives you free, how live the data honestly is, and the custom route dashboards we build on top. We’re an independent service and not affiliated with Victron Energy. Rated 4.9 on Google.
- ● Works with any GX device
- ● VRM map & geofence built in
- ● Built & hosted worldwide
/01 — THE SHORT ANSWER
Yes — GPS tracking is an official Victron add-on
Victron GPS tracking works like this: add a GPS source to the GX device at the heart of your system — a Cerbo GX, Ekrano GX, Venus GX or a Raspberry Pi running the community-supported Venus OS image (which Victron doesn’t officially support) — and the VRM portal puts the installation on a map. That’s the whole trick. There’s no tracking subscription and no proprietary tracker box: GPS is a documented, officially supported input, and for most vans the hardware costs around £18 from UK retailers at the time of writing.
Once position data is flowing, VRM gives you a map view of every installation on your account, a geofence with exit alarms, location history and a downloadable track — all free with your Victron kit. And because the same position feed is available through Victron’s official APIs, it can also drive a fully custom dashboard: your route on your map, under your branding, on your own website. That last part is what we build.
The rest of this page is the honest detail: the three ways to get GPS into a GX device, what Victron gives you free (a lot), how live the data really is (it depends — we’ll give you real numbers), and where a custom route tracker earns its keep.
/02 — THREE WAYS TO ADD GPS
A USB dongle, the boat’s NMEA 2000, or a GX LTE 4G-E
There are three officially supported routes, and the right one depends on what you already have.
1. A USB GPS receiver (around £18–45). Victron doesn’t sell a USB GPS of its own; instead the official Cerbo GX manual documents support for most third-party receivers that speak NMEA 0183 at 4800 or 38400 baud — plug one in and it’s auto-recognised. The officially tested list includes GlobalSat models such as the BU-353S4 (roughly £30–45 from UK retailers); the u-blox VK-162, around £17.50 at the time of writing and sometimes sold specifically for Victron use, meets the same NMEA 0183 criterion and is widely used in the community, though it isn’t on the official tested list. One gotcha worth knowing: on the Cerbo GX, the USB port closest to the HDMI connector is power-only — a GPS plugged in there does precisely nothing. Full walkthrough on our Cerbo GX GPS page.
2. The boat’s existing NMEA 2000 GPS (around £52). If your boat already has an N2K GPS, the Cerbo can read it over VE.Can using Victron’s VE.Can to NMEA2000 micro-C male cable (ASS030520200, around £52) or the OSUKL 3802 adapter, with the VE.Can port set to the 250 kbit/s NMEA2000 profile. The catch: the device must present itself as Device Class 60 (Navigation), Function 145 (Ownship Position). Dedicated N2K GPS pucks and sensors reliably do; whether a given chartplotter re-broadcasts position that way varies by manufacturer, so it needs checking per device. More on our boat GPS tracking page.
3. A GX LTE 4G-E (around £215 plus a SIM). If the system also needs its own internet connection, the GX LTE 4G-E (around £183) has a GPS receiver built in — but it stays inactive until the optional active GPS antenna is fitted (part GSM900200100, around £32–36, and it is not in the box). It needs Venus OS v2.60 or later and a Mini-SIM, and the official manual is plain that with the antenna fitted ‘the system can be tracked as well as geo-fenced on the VRM Portal’. Two cautions: the modem provides internet for the GX only — it is not a wifi router for the occupants — and the older GX GSM is a 2G/3G unit, a dead end now UK 3G has been switched off. Three LTE variants exist; make sure you buy the 4G-E for the UK and Europe.
All prices here are indicative UK retailer prices at the time of writing, not ours. In practice: a van that already has internet needs about £18 of hardware; a van that needs internet and GPS together, about £215 plus a SIM; a boat reusing its N2K GPS, about £52.
/03 — WHAT VRM GIVES YOU FREE
Fleet map, geofence and history — before we add anything
Credit where it’s due: Victron’s free VRM portal does a lot with GPS out of the box, and you should use all of it before paying anyone for more.
- The multi-installation map shows every installation on your account on one map — Victron’s own documentation pitches it for ‘a fleet of vehicles with Victron systems containing a GX device and GPS’, moving vehicles included, with no minimum site count. (The separate VRM Fleet Dashboard homepage, which needs ten or more linked sites, is a health-and-alarms view, not a tracking map.)
- The VRM geofence is a long-standing built-in feature, in customer use since at least early 2019. Draw a circle, rectangle or free shape around the current position and VRM alarms when the system leaves it — and, usefully, when location data stops arriving, such as a GPS being unplugged. A slider disarms it before legitimate trips, and the manual notes it’s ‘typically used for RVs and boats’. One practical note from the community: give the antenna clear sky, or GPS drift can trigger false alarms.
- Location history and export. The VRM GPS widget on the Advanced page gained location history in February 2025; the GPS track is downloadable, with documented .kml export for Google Earth.
- A sensible privacy default: if you share a VRM site publicly, the exact location is hidden by default.
If the free tier does everything you need, use it and keep your money — we mean that. The rest of this page is for when it doesn’t.
/04 — HOW LIVE IS IT REALLY
Fifteen minutes, one minute, or a second or two
Here is the cadence story most tracking pages skip. Position reaches VRM inside the GX device’s ordinary datalog, so the map moves at the log interval — 15 minutes by default, configurable down to one minute under Settings → VRM online portal → Log interval. One-minute logging uses about 25 MB of data a month, which is nothing for a van and worth setting on any vehicle you actually want to track.
Two things are faster. Open an installation in VRM and its realtime mode streams updates roughly every two seconds while you’re watching. And underneath, the GX publishes position over MQTT — latitude, longitude, speed, course, altitude and fix quality — event-driven rather than on a timer. Victron doesn’t publish an official update rate for a moving vehicle, so we won’t invent one: in practice it’s near-live, typically updating every second or two.
That MQTT feed is the same one our custom dashboards already stream: our own van’s battery data updates every second or two on this very site, live, right now. Adding GPS topics to that pipeline is a small increment — though we’ll be straight that the van doesn’t carry a GPS yet, so we won’t point you at a live route map that doesn’t exist. Ask us for a demonstration and we’ll show you the architecture running instead.
/05 — THE ROUTE TRACKER WE BUILD
Routes that outlive VRM’s six-month detail window
VRM’s history is good; a purpose-built route tracker is better in four specific, checkable ways.
- Proper route drawing. The official VRM API supports downloading GPS tracks for a date range, and a logged route’s resolution equals the log interval — at the 15-minute default a motorway trip renders as a few long straight lines. We set sensible logging for the job, then draw the live tail from the near-live MQTT feed, which our backend records itself for a far smoother line.
- Drift filtering. A parked van or anchored boat slowly scribbles a spider’s web on the map as its GPS fix wanders. We filter out GPS drift, so a fortnight on a driveway is a dot, not a doodle.
- A permanent archive. Victron staff state that detailed VRM data — where GPS lives — is stored for at least six months; only aggregated energy totals are kept for years. Our dashboards archive every track themselves, so this summer’s tour is still on the map in five years.
- Offline resilience, honestly stated. The GX buffers its datalogs, GPS included, in non-volatile memory — the official manual says the internal buffer holds several days of logs, and a microSD card or USB stick stretches that to years — then it continually attempts to reconnect and uploads the backlog. So: live tracking whenever it has internet; a complete route history even when it doesn’t. What you lose offline is only the live layer — the moving pin and VRM’s alarms — never the route.
One more unglamorous detail we handle: map tiles. The free public OpenStreetMap tile server is explicitly not for commercial production use, so we don’t build your tracker on it and hope — commercial map hosting is included in your quote.
/06 — FLEETS ON ONE SCREEN
Victron fleet tracking for hire fleets, sites and installers
Because the VRM map already shows every installation on an account, Victron fleet tracking scales naturally — the work is turning it into one branded screen you’d happily put in reception.
Hire fleets. Every van on one map with charge state beside position: which vehicles are out, where they are, and whether one is about to come back flat. That’s the heart of our motorhome hire fleet monitoring service.
Sites with scattered kit. Glamping pods and off-grid holiday lets rarely move, but the same one-account, one-screen treatment shows every unit’s power health at a glance — and anything towable keeps its dot on the map.
Installers. If you fit Victron kit for a living, we can build the fleet screen under your brand rather than ours — see white-label Victron monitoring.
Any of these can run full-screen on a TV or kiosk display, be embedded in your existing website, or be deployed wholesale to a subdomain you own, with your VRM token kept in one server-side file rather than in the page code. Boats are a story of their own — coastal 4G range, Starlink afloat, keeping an eye on an anchored position — covered on our boat GPS tracking page.
/07 — WHAT THIS IS NOT
Not a theft tracker — and we won’t pretend otherwise
Plainly: a Victron GPS setup is not a theft tracker, and nobody should sell it to you as one. It has no Thatcham S5 or S7 certification and insurers don’t recognise it. It’s powered from the house battery, so a thief who isolates the battery stops the tracking. It isn’t concealed — it’s the visible brain of your electrical system — and it has no internal backup battery. If your insurer requires a tracker, or theft recovery is the point, buy a dedicated, certified vehicle or marine tracker; they exist precisely for that job, and nothing on this page replaces them.
What Victron kit honestly gives you is the next-best layer: the VRM geofence alarms when the system leaves the area you’ve drawn and when location data stops arriving — so unplugging the GPS itself raises a flag — and it pairs well with VRM’s communication-monitoring alarm. Useful, genuinely; certified, no.
While we’re being straight: we won’t promise update rates Victron doesn’t specify, we won’t claim a live tracking demo we haven’t built yet, and we are an independent company, not affiliated with or endorsed by Victron Energy — Victron, VRM and Venus OS are their trademarks. Where Starlink comes up on these pages, Starlink is a trademark of SpaceX, with whom we’re also not affiliated.
/08 — WHAT IT COSTS
Hardware in tens of pounds; our work quoted properly
Two budgets, honestly separated. Hardware is the small one, at indicative UK retailer prices at the time of writing: around £18 for a van that already has internet, around £52 for a boat reusing its NMEA 2000 GPS, around £215 plus a SIM where a GX LTE 4G-E and its antenna are providing internet and GPS together. VRM’s map, geofence and history then cost nothing on top.
Our work is quoted individually — we’d rather scope it properly than publish a number that turns out wrong for you. What moves the quote: one vehicle or a whole fleet; a live tail or history-only; how much archive, branding and polish you want; whether it runs on our hosting or deploys to your own website; and map hosting, which is included in the quote rather than left as a surprise. Build, hosting and support are quoted as one done-for-you service.
Start with a free, no-obligation demonstration — the live van dashboards on our custom VRM dashboards page show the data architecture running today. We work worldwide by remote delivery, with support from a UK desk Monday to Friday, 9–5 — call +44 1202 775566, email help@365techies.co.uk or start on the contact page. And if you’re in Dorset and want the hardware fitted as well, our Victron installer side can do the whole job.
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// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Is Victron GPS tracking realtime?
Nearly — with honest numbers. Position reaches the VRM portal at the GX log interval, which is 15 minutes by default and configurable down to one minute (about 25 MB of data a month). VRM’s realtime mode then streams updates roughly every two seconds while you’re actually watching an installation. Underneath, the GX publishes position event-driven over MQTT — Victron doesn’t specify a rate, but in practice it’s near-live, typically updating every second or two — and that’s the feed a custom route dashboard uses for its moving map pin.
Does VRM have geofencing?
Yes — the VRM geofence is a built-in, free feature that has been in customer use since at least early 2019. Under Settings → Geofence you draw a circle, rectangle or free shape around the current position; VRM raises an alarm when the system leaves it, and also when location data stops arriving — so an unplugged GPS gets noticed too. A slider disarms it before legitimate trips, and Victron notes it’s typically used for RVs and boats. Give the antenna clear sky, as GPS drift can otherwise cause false alarms.
What happens to the tracking when the van or boat has no internet?
You lose the live layer, not the route. The GX device buffers its datalogs — GPS positions included — in non-volatile internal memory that holds several days of logs, and a microSD card or USB stick stretches that to years; it then continually attempts to reconnect and uploads the stored backlog. So while offline there’s no moving pin and no geofence push, but the moment connectivity returns the missing track backfills. Live tracking whenever it has internet; a complete route history even when it doesn’t.
Which USB GPS works with a Cerbo GX?
Most third-party receivers that output NMEA 0183 at 4800 or 38400 baud are auto-recognised, per the official Cerbo GX manual. Officially tested examples include the GlobalSat BU-353S4 and BU353-W; the u-blox VK-162 (around £17.50 from UK retailers at the time of writing, sometimes sold specifically for Victron use) meets the same criterion and is widely used in the community, though it isn’t on the official tested list. Avoid the USB port nearest the HDMI connector — it’s power-only. Full guide: Cerbo GX GPS.
Can I see my whole fleet on one map?
Yes. The free VRM multi-installation map shows every installation on your account on one map, and Victron’s own documentation pitches it for fleets of vehicles with GX devices and GPS — there’s no minimum count. (Don’t confuse it with the VRM Fleet Dashboard homepage, which needs ten or more linked sites and is a health-and-alarms view, not a tracking map.) When you want charge state beside position, your own branding and a screen for reception, that’s the custom fleet dashboard we build.
How far back does VRM GPS route history go?
Victron staff state that detailed VRM data — which is where GPS positions live — is stored for at least six months; only aggregated energy totals are kept for five years or more. The GPS widget on the Advanced page shows location history and the track can be exported as .kml for Google Earth, but you shouldn’t rely on VRM alone as a permanent route archive. Our route dashboards store every track themselves, so the history is yours for as long as you want it.
Can a Victron GPS replace a Thatcham-approved tracker?
No — and we’ll say it plainly rather than let you find out at claim time. A Victron GPS setup has no Thatcham S5 or S7 certification, isn’t recognised by insurers, is powered from the house battery (isolate the battery and tracking stops), isn’t concealed, and has no internal backup battery. If your insurance requires a tracker or theft recovery is the goal, buy a dedicated certified unit. What Victron honestly offers is the geofence plus its data-loss alarm — a useful early warning, not a security product.
Can the route tracker live on our own website?
Yes. The dashboards we build are a static front end plus a small server-side relay, so they deploy happily to a subdomain you own on ordinary hosting. Your VRM token lives in one server-side file that the relay reads — it’s never placed in the page code — and you grant FTP access scoped to just that directory, revocable whenever you like. It’s exactly how our own 365 Crafter dashboards run; the detail is on embedding VRM on your website.
Do you build Victron GPS tracking dashboards outside the UK?
Yes — delivery is remote, and neither the GX device nor VRM cares where we sit, so we build and host these worldwide. You source the GPS hardware from a local retailer (we’ll tell you exactly what to buy), and we handle the dashboard, hosting and support remotely from Dorset — see Victron for business for fleets and commercial sites — with office hours Monday to Friday, 9–5 UK time. If you’re local to Dorset we can fit the hardware too — see Victron installer Dorset.
Get a Victron GPS tracking dashboard built for you
The hardware costs tens of pounds; the polish is the hard part. We design, build, host and support live route maps and branded fleet screens on top of your VRM data — quoted clearly, delivered worldwide from here in Dorset. Ask us for a demonstration.
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