PhoneFarm ReadMe
PhoneFarm ReadMe
What is PhoneFarm?
PhoneFarm is a way to use phones with cheap SIM cards to send SMS programmatically.
Normally, services like Telnyx cost 0.4 cents per text (outgoing), and 0.8 cents per text (incoming). For a high-volume operation, this can add up.
With PhoneFarm, you can get a phone with a prepaid SIM card, and send SMS for a flat monthly fee. This is much cheaper than using a service like Telnyx, and you can send as many SMS as you want.
Carrier Options
| Carrier | Monthly Cost | SMS | Data | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tello | $5/month | Unlimited | None | Recommended - Cheapest option, no data but not needed for SMS |
| T-Mobile Prepaid | ~$15-25/month | Unlimited | Limited | Original option used in testing |
What does Studio Corsair get out of it?
Cheap and easy SMS sending. We can use this to send SMS to people, and also to receive SMS from people.
What do I, the PhoneFarmer, get out of it?
You get paid $30 a month for providing the service, plus $10 a month per phone. So if you have 5 phones, you get $30 + $50 = $80 a month.
What do I need to do?
For a test farm (one phone): You need to have a Raspberry Pi and a phone. You need to plug in your phone to your Raspberry Pi. Then you need to install the software on your Raspberry Pi. (We will do that for you remotely).
For a full farm (multiple phones): You need to have a Raspberry Pi. You need a USB Switch (See Hardware page). Preferably, you also have a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) in order to keep the Raspberry Pi running in case of a power outage. You will also need several phones. 5-10 is a good starting point. You will also need SIM cards for each phone. We recommend Tello at $5/month per line for unlimited SMS.
How do I get paid?
We will pay you via Zelle or PayPal. We will pay you at the end of each month.
FAQ
Is this a scam? No, this is a legitimate service.
Is this legal? Yes, this is legal. We are not doing anything illegal.
Is this a pyramid scheme? No, this is not a pyramid scheme. You are not recruiting anyone.
Is this a ponzi scheme? No, this is not a ponzi scheme. You are not investing anything.
Have you done this before? Yes, but the previous version was much more complicated, had a dedicated Android App, and Studio Corsair couldn't update things remotely, we decided to scrap the v1 and rewrote the entire software stack to make things much simpler.
How do I get started?
- Get a Raspberry Pi (any model with USB ports)
- Get phones (cheap Android phones work fine)
- Get Tello SIM cards ($5/month unlimited SMS)
- Enable USB debugging on phones
- Connect phones to Pi via USB
- Contact Studio Corsair for software setup via tmate
Setup Process
We will use tmate to remotely access your Raspberry Pi and install the software. You will need to install tmate on your Raspberry Pi.
See: https://tmate.io/
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