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NowSMS Support Forums ⬆ NowSMS Support - SMS Issues ⬆ Archive through September 15, 2006 ⬆ |
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| Author | Message | |||
| Humphrey New member Username: Humphrey Post Number: 1 Registered: 07-2006 |
I'm confused. I've searched a lot of discussion threads, but I'd just like a simple recommendation for an inexpensive GSM modem to get me started. Initially, I want to do 2-way SMS. But I might want to do MMS in the future. Recommendations? | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6189 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Humprhey, Inexpensive is always a tough requirement. If you're looking for a phone that could also do duty as a modem, then most SonyEricsson phones since the T68 are a good choice ... T68i, T610, T630, K700, K750, W800 (and a lot of other models). Only some of the low end SE phones didn't include modem capability. Info about which SonyEricsson and Nokia phones have support is in the following thread: http://support.nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/4218.html I lean toward SonyEricsson because Nokia Series 60 phones don't support 2-way SMS ... they support sending only (mid-tier Nokia Series 40 phones support sending and receiving). Basically, SonyEricsson GSM modem support is more standard across their product line. Motorola phones have a serious bug that prevents them from being able to send binary SMS types (long SMS, EMS, WAP Push, Nokia Smart Messaging, MMS Notifications). Regarding Samsung phones, we've had some unconfirmed reports here on this discussion board of problems with some Samsung phones receiving 2-way SMS when the message starts with a non-alpha character (such as *). That problem aside, it can be difficult to determine which Samsung phones do or do not have GSM modem support, as I haven't seen this type of detailed information published by Samsung. So basically, I tend to recommend SonyEricsson in the phone/modem category, because the support is more consistent. Often when people ask about "inexpensive", it is because they are planning to use it for "laptop demos". For demo on a laptop, a bluetooth connection to a phone can be a good choice. Or a PC card modem is another choice. Sierra Wireless PC card modems seem to be the best. Novatel modems have been flaky over the years. Many Nokia PC Card modems do not support 2-way SMS (sending only). SonyEricsson PC card modems are ok, but many people have setup problems with them (apparently you have to disable some of the software that installs with the modem, otherwise the modem will report errors sending messages). Option makes PC card modems that are OEMed by a lot of operators, they also work fine. (The most common problem with PC card modems is that many default to sending SMS over GPRS ... and if the operator does not support this, SMS sending may fail until you explicitly set "SMS Access" to "GSM " in NowSMS. So try this setting if you have a problem sending SMS messages with a PC card modem.) For dedicated external modems, the Siemens MC35 terminal is the old workhorse ... it is not the fastest, but people have been using it for years, and it is generally quite reliable. The Siemens modem does not support US frequencies. Multitech is the best choice for US frequencies. Multitech also has a version for outside of the US, but people report that it can be difficult to find suppliers. Multitech modems are based upon the Wavecom chipset, which is the industry leader ... Wavecom modems are also very good, but can be difficult to find suppliers. iTegno is a brand that we see quite frequently in Asia and some parts of Europe .... customers seem to be happy with the modems, but we have no first hand experience with them. Nokia also makes external modems that work well. (The most common problem we see with external problems is problems receiving MMS messages, where instead of receiving an MMS message, the user receives a partial binary SMS message. This problem is usually resolved by setting "SMS Message Storage" to "Direct to Modem" in NowSMS.) Note that when using a GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/WCDMA phone as a modem, you can generallly send MMS messages, but you will not be able to receive MMS messages with a phone as a modem. This is because the MMS client in the mobile phone intercepts the MMS notification and prevents it from being presented to the GSM modem interface. If you want to recieve MMS messages with a modem, it needs to be a dedicated modem device, e.g., a PC card modem or dedicated external modem (not a phone acting as a modem). Here's the link to that other thread again: http://support.nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/4218.html Hope that helps! -bn | |||
| Humphrey New member Username: Humphrey Post Number: 2 Registered: 07-2006 |
Hi Bryce, Can I ask for a couple of clarifications: You said: " The most common problem with PC card modems is that many default to sending SMS over GPRS ... and if the operator does not support this, SMS sending may fail until you explicitly set "SMS Access" to "GSM " in NowSMS. " Does that mean if you set to SMS Acces to GSM that if will go out over both GSM or GPRS depending on the operator? When making a decision of phone as modem or dedicated modem when using for SMS only is one better than the other? | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6192 Registered: 10-2002 |
I probably shouldn't have mentioned anything about SMS over GPRS in that reply, as it only opens up another can of worms. SMS delivery to/from a GSM modem can occur either over the circuit-switched network (which normally handles voice traffic) or the packet-switched network (GPRS/EDGE/3G Data). For the sake of simplifying the terminology, I'll refer to SMS delivery over the packet-switched network as SMS over GPRS ... even if it is actually EDGE or 3G. And I'll refer to SMS delivery over the circuit-switched network as SMS over GSM ... even if it is actually UMTS/WCDMA/3G. SMS over GPRS is much faster than SMS over GSM, in that there is capacity for more messages to be transmitted per minute. However, SMS over GPRS is not deployed by all operators. And when it is deployed, especially in the USA, it tends to be deployed in some regions but not in others. Most PC card modems will default to using SMS over GPRS. And if SMS over GPRS is not available from the mobile operator, they will fall back to SMS over GSM. But for whatever reason, we see more instances with PC card modems where the fall back to SMS over GSM does not work properly. Therefore, if a PC card modem is reporting errors sending SMS messages (or failing to send SMS messages), then I recommend trying the SMS over GSM setting. Hopefully that helps clarify things.
Dedicated modem devices are generally more reliable for running unattended. They are also usually faster. | |||
| Justin Scambray New member Username: Jss Post Number: 1 Registered: 08-2006 |
Bryce - I am interested in setting up a small project integrated with sending and receiving SMS - It would work like a small version of GoogleSMS where incoming SMS messages with specific keywords in the subject or text box would generate information back to the sender. what is the best way to do this - it seems that SMS over GSM or GPRS would be too slow and not be able to send/receive many messages at once and not all phones will be supported. Is the best option to connect to a service with connectivity to an SMSC. I would appreciate any input -thanks - | |||
| Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support Board Administrator Username: Bryce Post Number: 6391 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hi Justin, For initial prototyping, a GSM modem is probably the way to go ... at least on the receiving end. That's the easiest (and least expensive) way to get started. It sounds like you're in the US, and if you go with an SMS service provider for receiving messages, then you're going to have to get a cross operator short code on which to receive messages, and that's not cheap. Ultimately, if you are to be successful, this is the route that you are going to want to take. Plenty of studies have been done in the rest of the world which show that services where the end-user sends a text into a short code get far more uptake than services where the end-user sends text into a regular phone number. (A regular phone number is all you could get with a GSM modem.) So it's going to depend on your budget and how grand your asprirations are. My advice would be to start with a GSM modem for prototyping and proof-of-concept. Simultaneously, investigate pricing options for receiving SMS via a short code with various SMS service providers ... and see how that will fit into your longer range plans. Some providers can offer you use of a shared short code, where you register certain keywords for that short code that get routed to you ... while other services receive other keywords from that short code. Which approach makes sense is going to again depend on budget and aspirations. As your service moves out of the prototype/proof-of-concept phase, you may want to evaluate the use of an SMS service provider for your outbound message sending. This will keep your GSM modem free for receiving messages, and avoid outbound message traffic from clogging up your receive path. It is quite common for a configuration for a GSM modem to be used for receiving messages, while outbound message traffic goes via a service provider.
Also, I just want to clarify on this point ... not all phones can be used as a GSM modem. But this is only an issue for you if you are going to use a phone as your GSM modem ... in which case you obviously would need to pick one that has GSM modem support (or better yet, get a dedicated GSM modem device). This has no impact on the end users of your service. They use whatever phones they happen to have. -bn | |||
