Reliable USB GSM Modems for PC controlled SMS

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datahawk

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#31167 7-Mar-2009 11:13

I am having trouble locating recommended, reliable USB GSM modems.

Examples of what I am looking for would be Teltonika Modem USB E10 or the nice little Dynalink GSM/GPRS modem that geekzone reviewed some time ago.

The job for these is to attach 3-4 (with individual sims/accounts) to a single workstation running as a 24/7 SMS comms server, each one mapped to a different COM port. The PC software simply opens the required port and sends the AT commands to control the message sending/delivery for each account.

Using a bunch of cellphones is not practical for this job unless you can recommend phones where they can be powered from the USB cable connection without worrying about battery charging.

Can anyone recommend a nice simple (and not flakey) GSM modem for this job ?

sbiddle

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#199735 7-Mar-2009 11:48

Does it need to be USB?

I've purchased a few Wavecom units over the years and run one here at home as my SMS Gateway running under Windows. They are rock solid units but are RS232 but would obviously operate via USB if you purchased a USB-> RS232 adapter for each one.

A quick look on ebay shows somebody selling these for a reasonable price with a good shipping price or these from the UK. There are plenty of these modems around and pricing these days is probably around NZ$100 since the $ has dropped so much.

nate

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#199762 7-Mar-2009 13:52

datahawk: Can anyone recommend a nice simple (and not flakey) GSM modem for this job ?

There are a lot of online services that allow you to send/receive SMS, save you having to set up your own.

datahawk

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#199812 7-Mar-2009 21:15

sbiddle: Does it need to be USB?

I've purchased a few Wavecom units over the years and run one here at home as my SMS Gateway running under Windows. They are rock solid units but are RS232 but would obviously operate via USB if you purchased a USB-> RS232 adapter for each one.

A quick look on ebay shows somebody selling these for a reasonable price with a good shipping price or these from the UK. There are plenty of these modems around and pricing these days is probably around NZ$100 since the $ has dropped so much.

Thanks for that info. I had discounted the Wavecom just because I was avoiding RS232 but had not given any thought to using usb adaptors. I also like your 'rock solid' comment - something not often found these days

datahawk

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#199815 7-Mar-2009 21:24

nate:
datahawk: Can anyone recommend a nice simple (and not flakey) GSM modem for this job ?

There are a lot of online services that allow you to send/receive SMS, save you having to set up your own.

Thanks also. I have looked at a couple of these but I'm a software developer so the coding aspect is no problem. In fact I wrote most of the code needed for SMS texting in one day and slipped it into my application for my clients. I just need a solid reliable transmitter now.

nate

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#199843 8-Mar-2009 00:36

datahawk: Thanks also. I have looked at a couple of these but I'm a software developer so the coding aspect is no problem. In fact I wrote most of the code needed for SMS texting in one day and slipped it into my application for my clients. I just need a solid reliable transmitter now.

No worries, first time we developed an SMS application we played around with idea of running our own gateway - after reading API documentation, and seeing most SMS gateways can send SMS just by doing a HTTP GET command, we went with the quick and painless rather than the technical and geeky

richms

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#200223 9-Mar-2009 19:26

Local devices and sims lets you use bestmate, which no gateway I have looked at allows for.

Richard rich.ms