Sierra Wireless Airlink Fastrack Xtend review

The Airlink Fastrack Xtend is the successor of the popular Wavecom line of GSM modems, Wavecom is now owned by Sierra Wireless.

Like the Wavecom modems, the Fastrack Xtend is fully programmable and can be extended with modules for GPS or networking through TCP/IP. This new model has a USB port in addition to the traditional RS232 serial port.

*Other models support different frequency bands and network protocols

Fastrack Xtend

RS232 serial port
Setting up the modem for operation with the RS232 serial port is straightforward. Just plug in the modem to the power supply, attach the external antenna and RS232 cable and insert the SIM card. Don’t forget to lock the SIM card with the lock switch, without the lock the SIM card cannot be read. The modem is detected immediately by Diafaan SMS Server and everything works as expected.

USB port
The use of the USB port requires installation of a USB driver, the driver that is supplied with the modem needs a Java Runtime Environment but apart from this there are no special requirements. The advantage of the external power supply is that the USB connection also works on USB hubs that supply limited power, sometimes a problem for other USB GSM modems.

Daily operation
During the test period I found no problems. Using the device on both the serial port and USB port proved to be very reliable. The modem supports a full reboot with a modem command, this means that Diafaan SMS Server can reboot the modem once a day to ensure that the Fastrack Xtend can operate for months without supervision.

Verdict: Highly recommended
The Sierra Wireless Airlink Fastrack Xtend is a very reliable GSM modem that is suitable for continuous use in critical SMS operations. The external power supply and antenna makes it ideal for installation in a server room or other technical environments.