Now Available - NowSMS Beta - Android Phone Modem Support

Now Available - NowSMS Beta - Android Phone Modem Support SearchSearch
NowSMS Support Forums ⬆
NowSMS Support - SMS Issues ⬆
Archive through July 28, 2014 ⬆
 ◄    ►
Author Message
Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 4869
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2014 - 08:26 pm:   
NowSMS and NowSMS Lite versions 2014.04.15 and later support the ability to use Android phones as GSM modem devices for both sending and receiving SMS and MMS messages.

This beta will primarily be of interest to customers who are using, or are interested in using, modem devices to send and receive SMS and MMS messages via NowSMS.

Supporting Android phones as modems is significant for several reasons:

  • LTE Support - LTE based Android devices can provide higher speed support for MMS sending and receiving.
  • Network Compatibility - Some mobile operators (and modem device manufacturers) assume that modems are used for internet access only and disable SMS and/or MMS support for modems. This is not an issue for Android phones.
  • CDMA Support - For years, US based customers have asked us about modems that can support Verizon and Sprint. Android phone support allows us to support those network operators using both CDMA and high speed LTE.
  • Broad Device Availability - For customers interested in trying NowSMS, it is far easier to locate or acquire an Android device than a conventional modem.
  • MMS Performance - With conventional GSM modems, MMS performance is limited by the mode switching required to switch between data and SMS channels. There are no mode switching delays mixing SMS and MMS traffic on Android devices.
  • Multiple Modems - USB connectivity (and driver quality or lack thereof) is a major limitation for systems with multiple conventional GSM modems. For Android phones, the NowSMS server connects to the Android phones over WiFi, providing far greater performance for NowSMS to simultaneously control multiple modems. Modems can even be located in different physical locations to maximize signal strength. (The NowSMS server communicates over WiFi to a new app running on the Android phone.)


SMS text message formats supported include all text formats, including long messages, Unicode characters and emoticons. Other binary SMS formats, such as WAP Push, are not supported at this time.

MMS support may be limited by content types and size restrictions imposed by the mobile operator.

The Android phone should be running an Android version between Gingerbread (2.3) and KitKat (4.4), and must be connected to a WiFi network.

The NowSMS software runs on a Windows PC and will communicate with the Android device using TCP/IP.

For a first time configuration, we recommend that the NowSMS PC and the Android device should be on the same local network, so that they can easily communicate with each other. When running on the same local network, the NowSMS PC and Android device can find each other without requiring manual IP address configuration.

Beta downloads are available for both NowSMS Lite and the full Now SMS/MMS Gateway.

We recommend first reading the appropriate quick start guide:

Now SMS/MMS Android Modem Quick Start

NowSMS Lite Android Modem Quick Start

Follow the instructions in the quick start guide to install the Android application that enables NowSMS to use the Android phone as a GSM modem over WiFi.

Then download the appropriate beta release of NowSMS to allow the Android modem to be accessed from our downloads page at http://www.nowsms.com/download-free-trial.

Please note that all support for this beta will be provided in the discussion forum area of the NowSMS web site at http://www.nowsms.com/messages
Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 4872
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Sunday, April 27, 2014 - 07:14 pm:   
Updated to version 2014.04.24, which primarily improves performance.

The Android NowSMS Modem app has been updated to version 2014.04.26 to fix a memory leak that could lead to excessive memory consumption on the device.
Des - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Desosms

Post Number: 4891
Registered: 08-2008
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2014 - 08:21 pm:   
The Android NowSMS modem app has been updated to version 2014.05.11.

This update corrects a problem that could prevent sending and receiving MMS on some mobile operator networks where IPv6 is deployed.

Also addressed is a fix for a timeout issue that could occur when sending or receiving large MMS messages on slower mobile networks.

--
Des
NowSMS Support
Search Search Search Last 30 Days Login / Register Logout

NowSMS Technical Bulletins
Read more