Here at comma, we’ve had SIM cards in our EONs since before they were even called EONs. And they provide a couple of great benefits, so much so that we’d forget most of our users don’t have them.
Today, we are changing this. We’re making it easy for all EON users to get an unlimited data plan for their device. But it’s not just a plan, it’s “comma prime” and it comes with a bunch of cool perks. And it makes Silicon Valley happy, because we are now an Annual Recurring Revenue company.
The Unlimited Data Plan
comma is now an MVNO, meaning we sell mobile service to all of you in the United States. Although you are buying service through comma.ai, it should have coverage everywhere a certain major cell network does. It’s unlimited, meaning you can’t run out, though it is capped to 512 kbps of bandwidth.
With our new qlog infrastructure, you should be able to upload your routes in real time. And in the app, we’ll be rolling out more and more features that benefit from having an always connected EON.
The Cloud Storage
Cloud storage is expensive. Back in the day when comma was a small data company and the cloud money was free and subsidized, unlimited storage was great. Now we are a big data company and the cloud money is real money, so we’ve cut back on route storage. By default, you’ll only have 3 days of route storage (subject to future shrinkage).
…unless of course, you are a comma prime member! comma prime members get 14 whole days of storage!
The SSH Gateway
One of the first pieces of infrastructure we built here was a VPN, so we could SSH in to our EONs from anywhere. It didn’t scale, and required OpenVPN installed on the device, which was a real battery killer. Now we’ve built new infrastructure, an SSH proxy, and we want to make that available to everyone with comma prime.
This, combined with the cell phone service, allows you to access your EON remotely from anywhere. You’ll also have remote access to all the other methods in athena using our API.
With EON device version 0.6.1 or newer, enter your GitHub username on your EON under Developer Settings. Your GitHub authorized public keys will become your authorized SSH keys for ssh.comma.ai. See ssh.comma.ai for further instructions.
To be clear, comma does not have and does not want remote access to your device (unlike certain electric car companies), because your device is yours. That’s why you control the keys. But we want to offer you, the user, remote access.
Our security model is the same as SSH, so a compromise would either mean someone got your private key or an OpenSSH 0-day just compromised 80% of the internet. A comma employee will never ask you for your private key.
How to sign up
You’ll need an EON with version 0.6.1 or newer. Pair it with the comma connect app, available for iOS and Android.
You can sign up for comma prime in the app. Currently it’s $24 per month and only available in the US.
You’ll need a comma SIM as well. We have them for sale on the shop for $20. Or, if you bought an EON after 7/17/19, it was already included. Free!
Who said EON wasn’t an appreciating asset?
The Future
These perks are just the start. Our [end goal](/our-road-to-self-driving-victory/ is to be an insurance company and have insurance included with comma prime, but for now, enjoy this low price and these great perks. Also, follow us on Twitter.
