Arduino to USB 4G modem to send an SMS

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi.

I have an Arduino and a USB dongle style 4G modem. Can it use this to send an SMS?

** (A long time ago the the old USB port used to look like a com port and you could send it AT commands)

I can either do this with some sort of USB to UART / SPI / I2C converter or maybe I need some sort of WiFi device?

Open to all opinions and suggestions. and thanks in advance.

Telstra 4GX USB Modem 2 Part O4H13 rebranded from Orbik to Telstra

2

For that modem you need a USB host port.
Most of us use SIMCOM 76xx as 4G modules now, they only need a serial port (3-wire)

Ideally use a controller that uses hardware serial (not software serial) !!

3

You need an USB host controller on your Arduino board. Probably there are "hats" for that. Then you can access your modem via AT commands.

Suggestion:

  1. Get an USB host controller module for your Arduino board and plug your dongle into it.

  2. Get an SimCom board (SIM800 for 2G networks or SIM7600 for 4G) - they are very cheap and have UART for sending AT commands.

  3. Examine internals of your dongle to find out if it has an UART accessible and solder to its pins. This is a bit difficult and tricky tho

For me #2 was the easiest way.