Hello,
I have had an Arduino GSM Shield for awhile now and I'm finally at a point where I'm ready to start testing my proof of concept-tracking device. One of the reasons I got the GSM Shield in the first place was because it came bundled with a true "M2M Friendly" SIM Card and service plan. I'm aware that it states clearly in http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoGSMShield that -
You cannot use the included SIM to place or receive voice calls.
You can only place and receive SMS with other SIMs on the Movilforum network.
It's not possible to create a server that accepts incoming requests from the public internet. However, the Movilforum SIM will accept incoming requests from other SIM cards on the Movilforum network.
For using the voice, and other functions of the shield, you'll need to find a different network provider and SIM.
However, in my mind I figured that such restrictions were basically intended to prevent people from simply replacing their cell phone sim cards with a low cost M2M sim. Now that I'm trying to finally get it activated, it appears that the above restrictions basically prevent the card from being useful in any manner whatsoever!
So I thought I would ask. For users outside the Telefonica service area (I'm in the U.S.), is there ANYTHING you can do with the MoviStar SIM account? Can you set up a cloud server? If it only works with other cards on the Telefonica network then can you buy another SIM card to use as a base station? Otherwise, are you just out of luck if you live outside the Telefonica service plan area? (Spain, Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, United Kingdom, Germany, Czech Republic and Slovakia) I found no such options on the providers' web site other than the webinterface and firmware sketch.
When I bought the board, I knew there would be restrictions, but I had assumed there must be SOMETHING you can use it for or Arduino would've stated clearly "ONLY WORKS IN SPAIN, IRELAND, etc..." If I assumed wrong, then it wouldn't exactly be false advertising. But sleazy nonetheless...