MMS with Fastrack

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Author Message
Roy Woods
Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 09:07 am:   

Hi,

Reading through various treads on this forum I'm getting mixed messages about the ability of the Wavecom Fastrack modem to handle MMS messages. I'm just about to invest in a GSM modem (primarily for SMS) but want to keep my MMS options open. Am I restricted to SMS only if I buy the Fastrack?

Many thanks
Roy
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Posted on Thursday, October 02, 2003 - 06:44 pm:   

Roy,

It's not clear.

We've tested the SMS functionality of the gateway with Wavecom Fastrack GSM modems.

To keep your options open with MMS, you need a modem that supports both GSM and GPRS.

A Wavecom Fastrack modem with GSM/GPRS support should work for MMS messages. However, we had a technical support incident with one account where they claimed to have a Wavecom modem with GSM/GPRS support, but the modem did not implement any of the AT commands related to GPRS.

Basically, what the Now SMS/MMS Gateway wants with regard to GPRS is a GPRS modem that supports the AT command set defined in ETSI GSM 07.07 (and ETSI GSM 07.05 for SMS). Specifically we want the modem to support the AT+CGDCONT command, and we expect the modem to use ATD*99# to establish a GPRS connection (both of these commands are defined in ETSI GSM 07.07).

It would surprise me if a Wavecom Fastrack modem that claimed to support GSM and GPRS did not support these two commands, and they are about as basic as you get when it comes to GPRS. Without supporting those commands, I don't see how any GPRS functionality would be available, unless it was completely non-standard.

My suspicion is that the customer who was experiencing problems actually had older Wavecom Fastrack modems that did not have GPRS support, as it was clear those modems did not support these commands (they were modems that were left over from another project, so they were older). They went out and bought the Siemens MC35, and everything worked great.

So right now, this is the only reason why we currently have a question. The spec sheet at the Wavecom web site (http://www.wavecom.com/products/docs/m_1200_gprs_spec.pdf) says that the device supports ETSI GSM 07.05 and 07.07 commands, so in theory it should work. I just have a question because of an experience in one account. My gut tells me that the problem there was that these were older modems that probably did not support GPRS.

-bn
Roy Woods
Posted on Friday, October 03, 2003 - 08:19 am:   

Wow...

Many thanks for a very thorough response.

Roy
Marty
Posted on Friday, October 03, 2003 - 08:21 am:   

Since Wavecom doesn't deliver clear specs for each individual device it is not always clear to what the modem is able. They like to suggest that their modems are GPRS ready but when you take a look at their (very very compact) user guide it doesn't say a word about it. Maybe one of you two has a better user guide or tutorial of the modem. I have the Fastrack M1203A with Wismo WMOD2B. The best thing I've found till now is a 24-page WMOD2B user manual.