How to choose a crypto ticker

The ticker at a three-quarter angle, a coin on its screen

A crypto ticker sits on your desk for years, so the questions that matter are the ones about living with it. Here they are, with CryptoTicr’s answer to each.

Subscription and account

Ask: Does it need a monthly plan, an account or an app to keep working?

CryptoTicr needs none of them. You pay once. There is no account to create, and your settings are saved on the ticker itself.

Coins and charts

Ask: How many coins can it show, and can it chart them?

Any of the 1,000 largest coins, up to 12 at a time, one, two or four to a screen. With one coin on screen it draws a price chart over 24h, 48h, 7d, 14d, 30d, 60d or 90d, each counting back from now.

Price data

Ask: Where do the prices come from, and how fresh are they?

From CoinGecko, through CryptoTicr’s own server, which keeps one up-to-date copy for every ticker. The ticker fetches a coin’s price and chart each time that coin’s turn comes up. More: Where the prices come from.

Updates

Ask: Who keeps the software current, and do you have to do anything?

The ticker checks for new firmware a few minutes after it powers up and about once an hour after that, and installs it by itself over Wi-Fi. See Automatic firmware updates.

Wi-Fi and power

Ask: What network and power does it need?

A 2.4 GHz home Wi-Fi network; most home routers offer it alongside 5 GHz. Power comes from any USB port that stays on, at about one watt, and an adapter is in the box. See Wi-Fi requirements.

Setup

Ask: How do you set it up and change it later?

In a web browser on a phone, tablet or computer. The ticker serves its own settings page on your Wi-Fi, and most changes show on the screen as you make them. Setup takes a few minutes: Quick start.

The screen

Ask: How big and how sharp is it?

A 1.54-inch color IPS screen of 240 by 240 pixels, with adjustable brightness. See Specifications.

Warranty and support

Ask: What happens if something goes wrong, and who answers?

A two-year warranty, and support from Lee, who wrote the firmware, by phone, text or email: Contact and Warranty. To buy one: Buy on Amazon.