SMS and MMS with the SonyEricsson MD300 or MD400 USB Modem

Posted by on Sep 17, 2009 in Support Blog

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The SonyEricsson MD300 USB Modem is a very good modem to use with NowSMS to send and receive SMS and MMS messages.
When attempting to add the MD300 modem to NowSMS, you may encounter the error “Modem does not properly support command for sending SMS (AT+CMGS)”.
This is due to a power management feature of the modem. You may notice that there when using the SonyEricsson Wireless Manager, there is a blinking light on the modem. However, the light is not blinking when NowSMS reports this error.
NowSMS versions after 2009.08.14 include support for automatically powering up SonyEricsson modems, which will resolve this problem. If you are using an earlier version of NowSMS, an update can be downloaded at https://nowsms.com/download/nowsmsupdate.zip.
For general information on configuring NowSMS to send and receive SMS and MMS messages with a GSM modem, such as the SonyEricsson MD300, please see the NowSMS Quick Start Guide at https://nowsms.com/doc/quick-start-guide.
Frequencies supported by the SonyEricsson MD300:
3G/UMTS/HSDPA – 850Mhz/1900Mhz/2100Mhz (Good for most of the world, plus AT&T USA)
EDGE/GPRS – 850Mhz/900Mhz/1800Mhz/1900Mhz (Global)
HSDPA Max Performance: Download speed – 3.6 Mbps; Upload speed – 384 Kbps (no HSUPA support)
UMTS Max Performance: Download speed – 384 Kbps; Upload speed – 384 Kbps
EDGE Max Performance: Download speed – 247.4 Kbps; Upload speed – 123.7 Kbps
GPRS Max Performance: Download speed – 85.6 Kbps; Upload speed – 42.8 Kbps
NowSMS Support Summary: Supports sending and receiving both SMS and MMS messages. Supports “Direct to Modem” (does not support Phase 2+).
SMS Delivery Receipts are supported, but problems are noted. If a delivery report is received while a message is being sent, the modem will neglect to acknowledge that the current message was sent, resulting in a delayed retry, and most likely a duplicate message.
The SonyEricsson MD400 supports the same frequencies as the MD300, but adds higher speed HSDPA and HSUPA support:
HSPA Max Performance: Download speed – 7.2 Mbps; Upload speed – 2 Mbps
The SonyEricsson MD300 and MD400 modems do not support an external antenna (uses internal antenna only).

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