Activation Codes and Methods, Hardware Details, Sniffing
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MartinHankler
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Jul 2019, 21:40

Will this work? K4203 Vodafone Black

Post by MartinHankler » 26 Jul 2019, 21:45

Hi,
im planning to buy the K4203 in Black from Vodafone.
What I want to do is switch modes and then use it to receive SMS.
I will do this on my raspberry pi using SMStools

I want to buy 5 of these sticks, each with a simcard on a 5 port active USB hub.
Now, I have used the search function here and found out that there seems to be some kind of serial problem with the K4203.

So my question, will the K4203 work with what I am planning to do?
I would just try it out, but i do not want to waste money.

And: What OS should I use that is lightweight and can cope with so many USB sticks (perhaps even want to add 5-10 more).

I only want to receive sms, not send.

I would be glad to get some help, thankyou guys!!! :)

LOM
Posts: 1404
Joined: 11 Jul 2012, 15:14
Location: Koh Samui, TH

Re: Will this work? K4203 Vodafone Black

Post by LOM » 27 Jul 2019, 06:47

K4203 is a dongle without serial communication interfaces, it has instead direct network interfaces so it will not work with your SMS app.
Buy an older type of dongle like Huawei E367 from Ebay instead, you can get them for USD 20 or less.
Avoid older Raspberry Pi, they can't handle many USB devices. The RbPi 4 should be ok though.

MartinHankler
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Jul 2019, 21:40

Re: Will this work? K4203 Vodafone Black

Post by MartinHankler » 27 Jul 2019, 15:20

Alright, thanks then.

Would the following combination work:

1 Raspberry Pi 3b+
2x 10 port USB hub
20 Sim cards
20x UMTS-Stick HUAWEI E303 (is cheap.. cant afford a lot)

Then put all SMS into one folder and let email send the content of each message to my email.
Again, only want to receive, not send SMS.

Or would I need a raspberry pi 4 with 4gb ram?


I would be very glad to hear some answers,
thankyou all very much!.

EDIT: I am struggeling to find alternatives that are available in Germany (Surfsticks)
The E303 is working for mode switch, but apparently also does not have a SCI interface.

Which one is available in high quantities for cheap price that is available in Germany? :)

LOM
Posts: 1404
Joined: 11 Jul 2012, 15:14
Location: Koh Samui, TH

Re: Will this work? K4203 Vodafone Black

Post by LOM » 29 Jul 2019, 06:20

MartinHankler wrote:
Would the following combination work:

1 Raspberry Pi 3b+
2x 10 port USB hub
20 Sim cards
20x UMTS-Stick HUAWEI E303 (is cheap.. cant afford a lot)

Then put all SMS into one folder and let email send the content of each message to my email.
Again, only want to receive, not send SMS.

Or would I need a raspberry pi 4 with 4gb ram?
The USB controller in RPi3+ has hostchannel limitations so it can only cope with 5 UTMS dongles.
An USB 2.0 port can only deliver 500mA and that is the minimum an E303 draws, it will probably peak up to 600-800mA when transmitting so your hubs will need to be separately powered. I don't think you will find a 10 port hub that can deliver 10x500mA even if it is separately powered.

What should work is 2xRPi 4 which has USB 3.0 (XHCI) where the hostchannel limitations are gone and where the USB port can deliver 900mA. You won't find a USB 3.0 hub with 10 ports of 900mA so you will need more than 2 hubs and they must be separately powered.

If you are not going to send any SMS then why all these UMTS dongles when you can do with just one?

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