In this tutorial you will learn how to implement Asynchronous serial communication on the Arduino in software to communicate with other serial devices. Using software serial allows you to create a serial connection on any of the digital i/o pins on the Arduino. This should be used when multiple serial connections are necessary. If only one serial connection is necessary the hardware serial port should be used. This is a general purpose software tutorial, NOT a specific device tutorial. A tutorial on communicating with a computer is here. Device specific tutorials are on the Tutorial Page. For a good explanation of serial communication see Wikipedia. The software serial connection can run at 4800 baud or 9600 baud reliably.