GSM Shield

I want to buy the arduino gsm shield but it will cost me over $100 USD. Ouch. I am seeing others for around half that price but I don't know if they are any good. I want to use the bluevia service with this. Anybody recommend a good gsm shield for around $50? LinkSprite maybe?

Thanks!

anybody

you can try this one: http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/GPRS_Shield_V1.0

It is cheaper. I purchased it from ebay for around $45

What service do you use with it. I want to use bluevia and I want to make sure that shield will work with that and I can get everything up and running smoothly. Are there any simple tutorials for that shield?

Thanks.

get the SM5100B from sparkfun :stuck_out_tongue:

Is that just the module or does it come with that sim holder and everything and a sim card? Because I need all of that.

bump

anyone

Before buying any GPRS/GSM shield you should check the bandwith in wich it works. For example I bought this one:

http://www.robotshop.com/gps-gprs-gsm-arduino-shield.html

and in specifications it shows this

works on frequencies EGSM 900MHz/DCS 1800MHz and GSM850 MHz/PCS 1900MHz.

Im from Argentina, and I know that the 3 cellphone companies here work on tohse bandwith so I wont have any troubles working with any of them.
Most of this shield do not come with a SIM card, because that depends on your country companies. Im not sure, but i doubt they do.
As for the comunication, there are plenty of libraries, not sure they work. I connect by serial and use ATcomands (probably you should read about that too, about the limitations and if its compatible with your project). Anyways, im not sure if I answered your question. But as long as the shield bandwith is compatible with the companies on your country, I dont see any obstacle on getting a cheap one over the expensive one (besides some features the expensive one may have).