FAQs
Our customer support section aims to offer whatever you're looking for with regards to your Guardian Connect management needs. Please click on one of the questions below where you will find answers to many frequently asked questions, or try searching.
General
The Guardian Connect system measures interstitial sensor glucose and sends it to the Guardian Connect app approximatively every five minutes (about 288 readings a day). All components within the Guardian Connect system communicate on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and/or wireless or cellular data connection. The transmitter communicates with the mobile app via BLE connection. The mobile app utilizes wireless connection to send data to CareLink Personal. Your care partners can also access your information from the CareLink website on most smartphones, tablets, or computers. These must be connected to the internet to receive information. Care partners can also elect to receive SMS messages for any applicable alerts.
Guardian™ Connect is available for purchase, please contact us here and we will reach you back as soon as possible.
Depending on the person, it is estimated that it will take two to three hours to set up the Guardian Connect system. It is estimated to take approximately one hour to insert your sensor the first time, pair your transmitter, and set up the app. Once inserted, it will take approximately up to two hours for the sensor to warm up.
You will be required to calibrate at least two times per day and at least every 12 hours. The system may prompt for additional calibrations for accuracy purposes. You may calibrate three to four times at regular intervals throughout the day to improve accuracy.
Yes, there is no age restriction to use Guardian Connect.
The Guardian Connect system allows patients to share their CGM alerts with up to 5 care partners via SMS, using the CareLink Connect service. Here are a few tips to get the most out of this feature:
- The patient’s smartphone (running the Guardian Connect app) must be connected to the Internet via WiFi or a mobile data network (e.g. a 3G or 4G network). If the patient receives an alert when the Guardian Connect app can’t connect to the Internet, the care partner will not be able to receive an SMS alert.
- Each care partner can set a delay in the CareLink Connect settings page. This allows the patient to snooze an alert before the alert is shared with that care partner. The default setting is no delay for low alerts, and a 10 minute delay for all other alerts. Even with no delay, alerts may not be shared to care partners if the patient snoozes the alert immediately.
- CareLink Connect sends SMS alerts to the care partner’s mobile phone immediately (after any delay set by the care partner). However, your mobile network may take a few minutes to deliver the alert, depending on network performance.
While SMS alerts can help you stay updated about glucose levels, any problem with the patient’s Internet connection or your mobile network could result in SMS alerts not being received. It is important that Guardian Connect system users and care partners do not rely exclusively on these alerts as part of a diabetes treatment plan.
Guardian™ Connect Transmitter
The Guardian™ Connect transmitter comes with a one-year warranty (For additional information, please refer to the user’s guide that was included in the shipment box).
You should charge your transmitter before inserting your sensor. A fully charged Guardian Connect transmitter will last at least six days without recharging. You should also charge your transmitter until the green light displays (could take up to two hours).
You can easily pair your transmitter with your iOS device if your Bluetooth is turned on. In the Sensor Set up page of the Guardian Connect app, you can click ‘Pair Transmitter.’ The app will search for nearby transmitter and display the applicable device. You can select the device to pair, click on the device number, and pair within just a few moments.
The transmitter sends data to the mobile device via your phone’s Bluetooth connection. The Guardian™ Connect system requires Bluetooth 4.0 and above. You can still use your headsets and other Bluetooth connected devices while using Guardian™ Connect.
The transmitter must be within 6 meters of the mobile device (similar to range between Bluetooth headset and phone) to properly transmit data.
If the transmitter is out of range from the iOS device, your transmitter will continue to calculate and record sensor glucose until next required calibration. The sensor glucose values will display on your app when you reconnect.
It is waterproof up to 2.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.
If your transmitter battery is running low, you will get an alert on your mobile app when you have one day of battery life. You can also refer to the System Status menu of the Guardian Connect app to see how much battery life is left. Always charge your transmitter before inserting your sensor to ensure your transmitter has enough battery life to last for six days.
Guardian™ Connect App
You can download the Guardian Connect app by visiting the Apple App Store and searching for ‘Guardian Connect.’ When the Guardian Connect system is available, you will see the listing for the Guardian Connect app and you can download it at no cost.
The Guardian Connect app is compatible with iOS11.4 and above. The app will be compatible with the following hardware devices:
- iPhone 5C
- iPhone 5S
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone 6S
- iPhone 6S Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPod Touch (5th generation)
- iPod Touch (6th generation)
- iPad 3
- iPad Air
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Pro
- iPad Mini
- iPad Mini 2
- iPad Mini 3
- iPad Mini 4
We are working to add Android functionality in the near future; however at this time the app is only compatible with iOS devices.
Every five minutes while your transmitter and mobile device are in the operating range (up to 6 meters), the transmitter will send the most recent sensor glucose reading from your sensor. If you travel out of range, the data will backfill once you are back in range as long as the calibration is not timed out.
Every five minutes while your transmitter and mobile device are in the operating range (up to 6 meters), the transmitter will send the most recent sensor glucose reading from your sensor. If you travel out of range, the data will backfill once you are back in range as long as the calibration is not timed out.
Storage required to install the Guardian Connect app on your iOS device is around 17MB. Then the app sends data to CareLink via your mobile device’s cellular data or Wifi connection. It uses the equivalent amount of data as does downloading 10 MP3s per month (or about 1MB per day).
At this time, you cannot view your Guardian™ Connect data on your Apple Watch.
When the Guardian Connect app is not open, or your device is locked, the style and appearance of alerts depends on the notification settings on your mobile device. Do not turn off notifications or enable the Do Not Disturb setting on your mobile device. Doing so may result in missing important alerts requiring your immediate attention. Do not force the Guardian Connect app to quit. Doing so will stop transmission of sensor glucose data, and you will not receive any alerts. If the app is running in the background on your mobile device, you will still receive sensor glucose data and may still receive alerts depending on your mobile device's notification settings.
As long as Bluetooth is on, your app will still be able to show data. You should refer to your carrier for more information on cellular data while traveling with your iOS device. If you are worried about data charges, you can disable CareLink uploads while you are travelling.
You will still receive your alerts on your phone. If you have cleared your alerts before coming back in range, your care partner will not be alerted via SMS message. If the alert is still displayed on your screen when you come back in range, your care partner will be notified via SMS message. While your care partner will not be able to see the data or receive SMS messages while you are out of range, the app will store the data and upload to CareLink when you are back in range. It is important to note that if you have cleared your alerts before coming back in range, your care partner will not be alerted via SMS message.
The Guardian Connect system monitors your sensor readings throughout the day to ensure your sensor glucose readings remain accurate. In some cases, the system may require you to calibrate the sensor more frequently if it detects that accuracy could be improved.
On day 1, calibrations will be requested by the app:
- Within 2 hours after you connect the transmitter to your sensor and start the warm up period a “Calibrate Now” alert will occur. Following this first calibration your sensor readings will start displaying within 5 minutes.
- 3 or 6 hours after the first calibration, the second calibration will be due. To know by when this second calibration is due, tap the “Drop” icon.
- After your second calibration, a “Calibrate Now” alert will occur at least every 12 hours. “Calibrate Now” alerts may occur more frequently than every 12 hours to maintain the accuracy of your sensor. The “Drop” icon timing will be updated automatically.
The Guardian Connect system monitors your sensor readings throughout the day to ensure your sensor glucose readings remain accurate. The system may sometimes request that you do an extra calibration if it detects that the accuracy of your sensor could be improved.
The time to next calibration displayed in the app will typically reflect any changes in calibration timing. In some cases, the system may bring forward the next calibration, to happen at 6 hours instead of 12 hours. In other cases, the system may detect a need to calibrate immediately to maintain accuracy, and you will receive a “Calibrate Now” alert without seeing any prior change in time to next calibration.
If you do not calibrate when prompted, the Guardian Connect app will stop displaying your sensor readings until you have entered a valid calibration.
CareLink® Personal
To use Guardian Connect, you do need a CareLink account. You do not necessarily have to send your information to CareLink and/or to enroll any care partners, but you do need to have a CareLink account in order to use Guardian Connect.
You can share your data with up to five people.
No, care partners do not need to have Apple devices in order to access Guardian Connect data. Care partners can access the CareLink Connect tab data from any internet-connected device (any phone, computer, or tablet with internet connectivity).
When care partners set up their CareLink accounts, they have the ability to specify for which alerts they wish to receive SMS messages. Care partners can also choose to set a delay period between when the alert is triggered in the app and when they receive the SMS message. This delay period was designed to allow the person with diabetes to take action to bring their sensor glucose levels within range before the care partner is notified.
If the transmitter and iOS device are within range and you are in cellular or wireless network, the SMS should be sent within one minute from the time that the alert has triggered from within the app (unless you care partner has set a delay).
Medtronic pays for the service of the SMS message to be sent from CareLink t to the care partner. Please refer to carrier for information on charges for received SMS messages.
Yes, care partners can follow more than one person using Guardian Connect. Care partners will need to have unique logins for each CareLink account in order to follow more than one person. Care partners can also receive SMS messages for more than one person using Guardian Connect. The name of each person will be prominently displayed in the relevant SMS messages.
Within your CareLink Connect tab, you will be able to remove care partner from seeing your data.
If you have the ‘Sync to CareLink’ setting turned on, you will no longer have to manually upload your data to CareLink. This means that you’ll save time during your office visits because you will not need to download your data while in the office. Furthermore, having more details about your diabetes will allow you to have productive conversations with your healthcare professional about your treatment options.
At this time, you cannot see all information in one place. You’ll need to have separate credentials to login to each of your children’s CareLink accounts.
If you are unable to complete your registration to CareLink from your mobile device (by ticking the “I am not a robot” box), please scroll to very top of the page to complete the verification (clicking on the appropriate images as indicated).
The best way to change the messages you receive is to change your preferences on the CareLink Connect website. You can change which types of alerts you want to receive, or choose to stop receiving alerts completely by de-selecting all alerts. Go onto
www.carelink.minimed.eu / Carelink Connect tab / Menu / Notification settings.
Alternatively, you can reply to the CareLink Connect number with STOP (in English) to stop receiving notifications. This opt-out overrides all settings on the CareLink Connect website. You will receive a confirmation message in English. To restart receiving messages after you’ve opted out, reply SUBSCRIBE (also in English).
Please note that not all mobile phone networks support opting out by replying to the CareLink Connect SMS. If this method is not supported by your mobile phone provider, you can still adjust your settings on the CareLink Connect website.
Press the Menu icon on the top left corner of the Home Screen of the app. Tap on Sync to CareLink / Manage Care Partners. You are automatically redirected to the CareLink Connect tab on www.carelink.minimed.eu. Log-in with your CareLink credentials. Then tap the Menu button on the top left corner / Connect Settings / Add Care Partner.
Fill-in the mandatory fields for your care partner (First, Last name). Create a username and temporary password for him, then click Save. This temporary password is valid for 24 hours. You are no yet connected to your care partner.
Now, you need to contact your care partner.
- Provide him with his temporary CareLink credentials.
- There is no need for your care partner to download the Guardian Connect App.
- Tell him that he has 24 hours to log-in to www.carelink.minimed.eu (from any Internet connected devices) to finish setting up his account.
- Your care partner will be requested to change his password upon his first log-in to www.carelink.minimed.eu.
- Then he will be requested to submit his mobile phone number and select the SMS alerts he wishes to receive.
Only after these steps, will you start being connected and sharing your glucose information with your care partner.
For more information on the CareLink Connect tab and how to manage care partners, please refer to the CareLink Connect User Guide found in the CareLink Connect tab of CareLink Personal.