Newbie questions from evaluation

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Conor Heffernan
New member
Username: Conorh

Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2012
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2012 - 12:33 pm:   

Newbie questions. I'm evaluating NowSMSLite, all going well so far but some questions:

(i) Incoming SMS'es are intercepted by default modem software when its running:
- I'm using a THREE Ireland mobile broadband dongle - Huawei E220. I notice if the Three MBB software is running, it intercepts the incoming SMS messages before NowSMSLite can get them. Any recommended solution for this class of modem? e.g. stopping autoload on cd's etc. does this happen with other modems you have tested? I tried O2 sierra mbb modem and same results.

(ii) How resilient is inboind SMS HTTP notification?
my test system is set up to notify a website via HTTP post when a new SMS is received. if i disconnect internet then NowSMS very nicely queues the SMS notification until connection is restored.
how long will it queue it before it fails etc? What happens if it does ultimately fail?

(iii) I can't get MMS working at all on the three modem using the lookup settings. Says invalid WAP server...

thanks,

Conor
Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 3824
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 - 07:06 pm:   

Hi Conor,

Apologies for the delay in response. I'll try to make up for it by giving a thorough response.

(i) Try the instructions given in this article: http://www.nowsms.com/sms-and-mms-with-the-huawei-e160-usb-modem

Its referring to a different modem, the E160, but I was just recently doing some testing with an E261, and the issue was the same. There is a configuration setting in the software to keep the received messages on the device. And while we normally recommend stopping the modem software from autoloading to avoid interference, with Huawei modems, it seems to be required or else the modem locks up frequently.

(ii) If messages do end up timing out because of extended downtime, you can find them in the SMS-IN directory with a .BAD file extension. Rename to .IN and they will be reprocessed.

By default, we retry 20 times with a staggered delay based upon the number of previous failures.

The default behaviour for the delayed retry schedule works like this:

After the first error, a retry can be attempted immediately (but first NowSMS will try other pending messages).

After the second error, NowSMS will wait 30 seconds before allowing the message to be retried.

After the third error, NowSMS will wait 60 seconds before allowing the message to be retried.

For each successive error, NowSMS waits an additional 30 seconds before allowing a retry.

After 20 errors, the message will be considered as failed.

The following parameters can be applied to the [2Way] section of the SMSGW.INI file to provide additional control for this retry schedule (this section of the file will not exist until you create it):

RetryDelay=
RetryDelayMultiplier=
RetryDelayAfterAttempts=
RetryDelayMax=
RetryMaxAttempts=

RetryDelay=#### specifies a number of seconds to wait to retry sending after an error condition, the default value is 30.

RetryDelayMultiplier=### specifies a multiplier to be applied for successive send failures, the default value is 1. For each failed attempt, the retry delay will be the product of RetryDelay*RetryDelayMultiplier*#FailedAttempts. To use a fixed retry delay of RetryDelay, specify RetryDelayMultiplier=0.

RetryDelayAfterAttempts=### specifies that the retry delay should only be applied after ### failed attempts, the default value is 2. NowSMS will immediately retry a failed message send until it has made RetryDelayAfterAttempts, after which it will apply a retry delay.

RetryDelayMax=### specifies the maximum number of seconds that NowSMS will allow to
elapse between retries, putting a limit on the multiplier.

RetryMaxAttempts=### specifies the maximum number of retries that NowSMS will attempt before a message is rejected, the default value is 20.

If memory serves me correctly, the default values will result in about 90 minutes worth of retries before erroring out. (And the message file being renamed with a .BAD extension.)

Similar parameters exist for controlling retry behaviour for outbound messages.

Outbound retry settings can be set with the same parameters under the [SMSGW] section header. The defaults for outbound retry settings are the same as what I mentioned above. Although there are also some protocol specific issues for SMPP, CIMD2 and UCP/EMI that are discussed here: http://www.nowsms.com/tag/retry-attempts

NowSMS Lite only supports a single outbound connection, but for the sake of completeness, I should also mention that retry settings can also be placed under connection specific headers (e.g., [Modem - xxx] or [SMPP - server:port]) so that different rules can apply to different outbound connections.

(iii) Try changing the WAP Gateway address setting to this:

http://213.190.129.170:8799

--
Des
NowSMS Support
Conor Heffernan
New member
Username: Conorh

Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2012
Posted on Monday, March 12, 2012 - 03:24 pm:   

Des,

thanks for the considered answer. Also apologies for the length to respond. Some more info for you on huawei modems and still no joy with 3 Ireland MMS...


(i) modem software inbound SMS intecept...

I couldn't find the settings for the E220.

With the Huawei E220 the software reloads evwery few minutes - so the answer was simply to write a windows app to search for it and kill it!

I purchased a Huawei E353 which is proving a lot nicer - the 3connect software can be open and does NOT interfere with NowSMS as long as the NowSMS service has run first and grabbed the modem exclusively. (3connect shows a no network message).

But it too stops working after an unpredictable length. The solution to avoid a hard reboot is simply to close the 3connect software and reopen it. Again i wrote a windows vb program to do this - close and restart the 3connect software every ten minutes - and its been working seamlessly ever since, no reboots needed.


(ii) thanks.


(iii) no Joy whatsoever! MMS on three ireland is proving difficult. I've tried:

http://213.190.129.170:8799
http://mms.3ireland.ie
http://mms.3ireland.ie:8799
http://mms.um.3ireland.ie
http://mms.um.3ireland.ie:8799
http://217.171.129.2:8799
http://217.171.129.2

Are there any logs I can send you to give you more specifics on the problem?



Regards,

Conor
Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 3839
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - 09:10 pm:   

Hi Conor,

Apologies for the delay in response.

I'm used to using unlocked modems, which don't have carrier branded software.

I'm loading up some of the software to refresh my memory on where to find the settings to stop the software from removing received SMS from the modem.

Looking at one Huawei modem (E261) under Settings/Text Message, there is an option that says "Save on SIM/USIM card or device". That setting keeps messages on the modem so NowSMS can access them.

On an E160, this same option was found under Tools/Options/Text Message. The setting is labeled "Save on SIM/USIM card or device".

It is also important to make sure that there is not autoconnect enabled for any of the profiles. Neither of these devices seem to support autoconnect in their settings. But I have seen this type of setting with other modems.

NowSMS should be able to run just fine with the modem software loaded, as long as the software does not try to activate a data connection.


On the MMS settings issue, have you tried putting the SIM from the modem into a phone and confirmed that it can send MMS?

One of the other reasons for unlocked modems is that the SIMs that come with modems are tied to plans that are restricted to mobile broadband. They assume the primary use for the SIM is internet access. In this case, the SIM is often provisioned to allow SMS, but not MMS, because the software provided by the carrier does not support MMS.

Regarding the logs, MMSWAPDEBUG.LOG might show me something. It is automatically enabled when the configuration interface tries to make a data connection.

I do see more references to this address: http://217.171.129.2:8799 ... instead of the one I gave you.

I would be curious if you put the SIM into a phone and tried sending MMS with it. Then confirm those settings.

NowSMS needs a numerical IP address for this WAP gateway address, whereas a phone does not. The reason for this is because on a phone, the 3G data connection is the only active data context. On the computer, the 3G data connection is not the only data context, and it is not the primary data context. We can make explicit data connections over it, but we can't look up DNS over it. At least we cannot in the current implementation, which is why this setting requires an IP address instead of host name.

--
Des
NowSMS Support
Conor Heffernan
New member
Username: Conorh

Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2012
Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 11:26 am:   

Des,

it was the SIM card! :-|
I was full sure I was using one which was MMS enabled, but backtracked and tried a PAYG sim in the modem - mms worked.

And just to confirm the correct MMS WAP setting for Three Ireland / 3 Ireland is http://217.171.129.2:8799

Thanks,

Conor