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Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

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Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#21

Post by subway »

confounded wrote: post #12
hardwaresofton wrote: post #10

I've long suspected that the only way to make an actually private/secure cellular phone is by bypassing 3G all-together and making it optional -- forcing the SMS/SIP features of the phone were actually on separate hardware that had very limited integration with the phone itself (essentially as dangerous as any external USB device would be)? Most smart phones are considered pwned-by-default due to the inclusion of the…

> SMS/SIP features of the phone were actually on separate hardware... basically a phone that only uses SDR for connectivity? Not exactly what you’re after, but the Librem 5 (crowd-funded, at the head-scratching stage) aims to put the baseband processor in an optional M2 slot with killable power. On a device that runs Debian. From following progress on that project I’ve got the impression that everything to do with ch…

I think only the prototypes are using M2. The production devices likely won't have a removable modem, but it will still be a separate chip with separately controllable power.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#22

Post by znpy »

This was an awesome read. I finally decided to resuscitate my old ThinkPad x200s who had a modem card in it, put SIM card in the spot and do some testing. Sammy/fammi worked after some quarrel with ModemManager (not really it's fault, it was doing his job).

By the way this read has resuscitated an old fantasy of mine: adding an indirection layer to my mobile phone presence.

After this testing I am finally sure I can leave my SIM card at home and just use a regular internet connection to poll messages from home. My bigger fantasy is to be able to proxy calls too, so that I can finally leave this third-millennium-leash (my phone) at home.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#24

Post by jrcii »

confounded wrote: post #12
hardwaresofton wrote: post #10

I've long suspected that the only way to make an actually private/secure cellular phone is by bypassing 3G all-together and making it optional -- forcing the SMS/SIP features of the phone were actually on separate hardware that had very limited integration with the phone itself (essentially as dangerous as any external USB device would be)? Most smart phones are considered pwned-by-default due to the inclusion of the…

> SMS/SIP features of the phone were actually on separate hardware... basically a phone that only uses SDR for connectivity? Not exactly what you’re after, but the Librem 5 (crowd-funded, at the head-scratching stage) aims to put the baseband processor in an optional M2 slot with killable power. On a device that runs Debian. From following progress on that project I’ve got the impression that everything to do with ch…

The Neo900 has a completely sandboxed baseband, and you can kill the baseband with the Dragonbox Pyra. Both are on their way.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#25

Post by pknopf »

Is it possible to write an Android/OS app that has full control over SMS, and have that app connect (as a "node") to a central server for sending/receiving messages? Then, if you need more throughput, just turn on some more phones?

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#26

Post by rohit2412 »

znpy wrote: post #22

This was an awesome read. I finally decided to resuscitate my old ThinkPad x200s who had a modem card in it, put SIM card in the spot and do some testing. Sammy/fammi worked after some quarrel with ModemManager (not really it's fault, it was doing his job). By the way this read has resuscitated an old fantasy of mine: adding an indirection layer to my mobile phone presence. After this testing I am finally sure I can…

Just buy Google fi, and access/dial your phone calls/sms in hangouts.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#27

Post by ossguy »

znpy wrote: post #22

This was an awesome read. I finally decided to resuscitate my old ThinkPad x200s who had a modem card in it, put SIM card in the spot and do some testing. Sammy/fammi worked after some quarrel with ModemManager (not really it's fault, it was doing his job). By the way this read has resuscitated an old fantasy of mine: adding an indirection layer to my mobile phone presence. After this testing I am finally sure I can…

You could add this indirection layer with something like JMP instead.

With https://jmp.chat/ you don't need a SIM card at all - you just login to your phone number with an XMPP client (SMS/MMS) or SIP client (voice) and use it wherever you have an Internet connection. If you only want to use it at home, you can just use wifi and don't need to pay any cell carrier. But if you do want access to your number away from wifi, you can get a cheap data-only plan and use XMPP/SIP clients on your phone too. It's always up to you if you want to be tracked - you can turn off your phone('s modem) and use your number only over wifi whenever you like.

And it's easy to transfer your existing number into JMP - see https://jmp.chat/#existing for details.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#28

Post by ossguy »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #10

I've long suspected that the only way to make an actually private/secure cellular phone is by bypassing 3G all-together and making it optional -- forcing the SMS/SIP features of the phone were actually on separate hardware that had very limited integration with the phone itself (essentially as dangerous as any external USB device would be)? Most smart phones are considered pwned-by-default due to the inclusion of the…

If you want to use an SDR instead of a dedicated 2G/3G/LTE modem, you would still need 2G/3G/LTE baseband firmware to teach your SDR how to access the cell network (if/when you wanted that). As mentioned by "pjc50", OsmocomBB (see https://osmocom.org/projects/baseband ) aims to do this for 2G, though it isn't quite ready yet. FreeCalypso (see https://www.freecalypso.org/software.html ) has a working 2G firmware, but is focused on very specific hardware. Note that any free/adaptable baseband firmware for 3G/LTE is still a long way off.

In the meantime, it's better to use a phone that gives you control over the cellular modem (if you still need the modem), as "confounded" suggested (with the Librem 5). Other phones similar to the Librem 5 are also specifically designed to ensure the modem is not doing anything unexpected, such as the Neo900: https://neo900.org/faq#privacy - "Unlike some other smartphones do, Neo900 won't share system RAM with the modem and system CPU will always have full control over the microphone signal sent to the modem. You can think of it as a USB dongle connected to the PC, with you in full control over the drivers, with a virtual LED to show any modem activity."

Regardless of which of these you choose, you can already separate your phone number from your SIM card with projects like https://jmp.chat/ so you don't need to use a cellular modem just to send/receive SMS/MMS and calls if you happen to be around wifi already. And you get other nice features like voicemail auto-transcribed and delivered as text by default, too (see https://jmp.chat/#voicemail for details).

So I'd start by using https://jmp.chat/ with your existing phone and phone number, then switch to new phones/modems as the modem separation gets better.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#29

Post by znpy »

ossguy wrote: post #27
znpy wrote: post #22

This was an awesome read. I finally decided to resuscitate my old ThinkPad x200s who had a modem card in it, put SIM card in the spot and do some testing. Sammy/fammi worked after some quarrel with ModemManager (not really it's fault, it was doing his job). By the way this read has resuscitated an old fantasy of mine: adding an indirection layer to my mobile phone presence. After this testing I am finally sure I can…

You could add this indirection layer with something like JMP instead. With https://jmp.chat/ you don't need a SIM card at all - you just login to your phone number with an XMPP client (SMS/MMS) or SIP client (voice) and use it wherever you have an Internet connection. If you only want to use it at home, you can just use wifi and don't need to pay any cell carrier. But if you do want access to your number away from wi…

No, that's not what I want. Stuff like JMP might not work in my country and would tie me to that particular provider.

I dream of a solution where I just put a SIM in and I am good to go (go as in "go away from the physical location of my sim card"). SMS will be forwarded to my email inbox and upon receiving a phone call it will be forwarded to the computer I am currently using via some protocol (SIP/webrtc?). Whether such computer is a mobile phone connected to the internet via a cellular modem or a laptop connected via some wifi that should not matter.

This should work with my current SIM card and with whatever other SIM card from any provider.

And BTW FYI: JMP does not work in my country. Please stop assuming everybody is from the US.

Re: Sending and Receiving SMS on Linux (2015)

#30

Post by znpy »

rohit2412 wrote: post #26
znpy wrote: post #22

This was an awesome read. I finally decided to resuscitate my old ThinkPad x200s who had a modem card in it, put SIM card in the spot and do some testing. Sammy/fammi worked after some quarrel with ModemManager (not really it's fault, it was doing his job). By the way this read has resuscitated an old fantasy of mine: adding an indirection layer to my mobile phone presence. After this testing I am finally sure I can…

Just buy Google fi, and access/dial your phone calls/sms in hangouts.

> Just buy Google fi, and access/dial your phone calls/sms in hangouts.

Please, tie yourself to Google a bit more.

FTFY.

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