SMS Gateway using Sierra Wireless USB Modem on Debian Wheezy

I have been planning to set up a SMS Gateway for sending and receiving SMS messages via a headless utility unit (Raspberry Pi) for a while. Since I had a leftover Sierra Wireless AirCard 880U from Telstra in Australia I wanted to re-purpose this unit with a spare SIM card. Unfortunately it was very hard to find any good setup manual for this particular combination and took some time to fiddle & debug. This is the working setup for future reference and hopefully it helps somebody.

Install dependencies

Note: install usb-modeswitch BEFORE connecting USB Modem
sudo apt-get install usb-modeswitch gsm-utils smstools gammu

Connect the USB Modem

Check if modem is recognised

lsub

Bus 003 Device 002: ID 1199:6855 Sierra Wireless, Inc.

Edit smstools config file

vim /etc/smsd.conf

Change the GSM1 entry
[GSM1]
init = ATE0;+CPMS="SM","SM"
device = /dev/ttyUSB2
incoming = yes
mode = new
baudrate = 115200
smsc = 61418706700
pin = ignore
#rtscts = yes
#cs_convert = yes
report = yes
sending_disabled = no
memory_start = 1
pre_init = yes
primary_memory = SM
secondary_memory = SM
secondary_memory_max = 40

Troubleshooting the modem

I installed gammu purely to have an easier way to test if the modem actually worked. You can use gammu-config to do a GUI config or create a config file manually

vim /etc/gammurc

[gammu]
port = /dev/ttyUSB2
connection = at115200

Testing

gammu-detect

; Configuration file generated by gammu-detect.
; Please check The Gammu Manual for more information.

[gammu]
device = /dev/ttyUSB0
name = Phone on USB serial port Sierra_Wireless__Incorporated AirCard
connection = at

[gammu1]
device = /dev/ttyUSB1
name = Phone on USB serial port Sierra_Wireless__Incorporated AirCard
connection = at

[gammu2]
device = /dev/ttyUSB2
name = Phone on USB serial port Sierra_Wireless__Incorporated AirCard
connection = at

#send sms
sudo echo "sms test" | /usr/bin/gammu --sendsms TEXT +61XXXXXXXX
#check received sms
gammu getallsms

Add your own user account to dialout group if you want to send from your own account for testing (gammu)

sudo adduser $UNPRIVILEGEDUSER$ dialout

Next I will have some fun setting up PlaySMS to allow me to send SMS commands and create some inbound SMS workflows for family.

References
PlaySMS: http://playsms.org/
Gammu: http://wammu.eu/phones/sierra/2551/
smstools: http://smstools3.kekekasvi.com/index.php?p=configure