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If people are showing off a lab. My lab always sparks a conversation. I wanted to prove I could beat twilio's texting rates. https://i.imgur.com/gKknrJn.jpg ht

If people are showing off a lab. My lab always sparks a conversation. I wanted to prove I could beat twilio's texting rates. https://i.imgur.com/gKknrJn.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gKknrJn.jpg

SparkyMcUnicorn 6y ago
Care to share more details? Interested in the software stack, and what you use it all for. This is really intriguing. I'm currently running a SFF machine as a server, and thought about adding some Pi devices to play around with a local kubernetes cluster.
- ransom1538 6y ago
  It was a fun project - but I wouldn't use old cellphones. Having these old cellphones plugged in all day - basically just made the batteries enlarge and broke the casing. But you can get old android phones for nothing -- even cheaper than a raspberry pi.
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    Don't they work with the batteries removed?
    - crowbahr 6y ago
      Most phones do not have removable batteries anymore.
      - StavrosK 6y ago
        All phones have removable batteries. It just depends on how dedicated you are!
        fomine3 6y ago
        :) but i don't want to tear down a device before power off.
  - bigiain 6y ago
    It's pretty easy (at least for single devices) to use a timer powerpoint switch and guess/tweak an appropriate duty cycle to keep the battery topped up often enough without leaving it charging 24x7. I have an old iPad that's been running for 5+ years with 1hr/day charge time. (I cooked it's predecessor's battery to a screen-cracking-bulge in about 9 months.)
Nextgrid 6y ago
Do you use this commercially? The problem with texting rates isn't technical, it's that carriers essentially have a cartel and can set prices however they want, and have tools to detect and prevent such "abuse" of their cheap consumer plans for commercial usage.
- ransom1538 6y ago
  Do you use this commercially? <- no. just as test. "and have tools to detect and prevent such abuse" <- This was my assumption too. I tested all large carriers. Verizon, however doesn't seem to have these limits in place. With a verizon sim I can push out about 200 texts per hour per device. If you get rejected in my tests depends on the receiving carrier. "it's that carriers essentially have a cartel and can set prices however they want" <- yes. Carrier to carrier is where things are interesting. Sprint gets quickly blocked by ATT for example. But, wow, a UNLIMITED TEXT plan is pretty cheap...
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
firloop 6y ago
I've done something similar. I used to have a few Raspberry Pis with 3G modems attached to them, with prepaid SIMs that had "unlimited" SMS plans. It actually did work for a while. The problem that you run into is that carriers rate limit the number of texts per minute that a particular phone number can send (this is a problem with Twilio too, but in that case it's much easier to spin up a new number).
ian0 6y ago
I worked in telco in Indonesia where this type of thing is taken to the next level. Back in the day you would walk into a rooms filled with racks full of phones for SMS / Airtime sales "optimisation". I tried to google some pictures now but it turns out Im behind the times. They've gotten rid of the phone part completely! [0] Now you just buy the sim cards and let modems do the rest.. [0] http://modempool.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2-jual-alat-server-pulsa-jual-modem-wavecom-jual-modempool-modem-pool-8port-8-port-16-port-usb.png http://modempool.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2-jual-alat-...
- walrus01 6y ago
  things like [0] are really commonly used for grey market voip in all developing nations... There's devices which are specifically a GSM-based 2G voice interface on one side, with a SIM card, and a SIP phone you can register to asterisk on the other side. With 8 or 16 devices integrated into one enclosure.
owenversteeg 6y ago
How much did you beat their rates by? I'm curious!
app4soft 6y ago
It reminds me time when I was able to host personal site using Symbian smartphones with Raccoon (S60v2) and PAMP (S60v3) apps.

If people are showing off a lab. My lab always sparks a conversation. I wanted to prove I could beat twilio's texting rates. https://i.imgur.com/gKknrJn.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gKknrJn.jpg

SparkyMcUnicorn 6y ago

Care to share more details? Interested in the software stack, and what you use it all for. This is really intriguing. I'm currently running a SFF machine as a server, and thought about adding some Pi devices to play around with a local kubernetes cluster.

ransom1538 6y ago
It was a fun project - but I wouldn't use old cellphones. Having these old cellphones plugged in all day - basically just made the batteries enlarge and broke the casing. But you can get old android phones for nothing -- even cheaper than a raspberry pi.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  Don't they work with the batteries removed?
  - crowbahr 6y ago
    Most phones do not have removable batteries anymore.
    - StavrosK 6y ago
      All phones have removable batteries. It just depends on how dedicated you are!
      - fomine3 6y ago
        :) but i don't want to tear down a device before power off.
- bigiain 6y ago
  It's pretty easy (at least for single devices) to use a timer powerpoint switch and guess/tweak an appropriate duty cycle to keep the battery topped up often enough without leaving it charging 24x7. I have an old iPad that's been running for 5+ years with 1hr/day charge time. (I cooked it's predecessor's battery to a screen-cracking-bulge in about 9 months.)

Nextgrid 6y ago

Do you use this commercially? The problem with texting rates isn't technical, it's that carriers essentially have a cartel and can set prices however they want, and have tools to detect and prevent such "abuse" of their cheap consumer plans for commercial usage.

ransom1538 6y ago
Do you use this commercially? <- no. just as test. "and have tools to detect and prevent such abuse" <- This was my assumption too. I tested all large carriers. Verizon, however doesn't seem to have these limits in place. With a verizon sim I can push out about 200 texts per hour per device. If you get rejected in my tests depends on the receiving carrier. "it's that carriers essentially have a cartel and can set prices however they want" <- yes. Carrier to carrier is where things are interesting. Sprint gets quickly blocked by ATT for example. But, wow, a UNLIMITED TEXT plan is pretty cheap...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

firloop 6y ago

I've done something similar. I used to have a few Raspberry Pis with 3G modems attached to them, with prepaid SIMs that had "unlimited" SMS plans. It actually did work for a while. The problem that you run into is that carriers rate limit the number of texts per minute that a particular phone number can send (this is a problem with Twilio too, but in that case it's much easier to spin up a new number).

ian0 6y ago

I worked in telco in Indonesia where this type of thing is taken to the next level. Back in the day you would walk into a rooms filled with racks full of phones for SMS / Airtime sales "optimisation". I tried to google some pictures now but it turns out Im behind the times. They've gotten rid of the phone part completely! [0] Now you just buy the sim cards and let modems do the rest.. [0] http://modempool.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2-jual-alat-server-pulsa-jual-modem-wavecom-jual-modempool-modem-pool-8port-8-port-16-port-usb.png http://modempool.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2-jual-alat-...

walrus01 6y ago
things like [0] are really commonly used for grey market voip in all developing nations... There's devices which are specifically a GSM-based 2G voice interface on one side, with a SIM card, and a SIP phone you can register to asterisk on the other side. With 8 or 16 devices integrated into one enclosure.

owenversteeg 6y ago

How much did you beat their rates by? I'm curious!

app4soft 6y ago

It reminds me time when I was able to host personal site using Symbian smartphones with Raccoon (S60v2) and PAMP (S60v3) apps.