Would anyone here call a dialup BBS? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-08 14:23 I found a gem at a Goodwill thrift store some time back - a fully working USR Courier V.Everything modem - complete with power adapter (which, by itself, is pretty hard to come by - USR modems take AC power, so you can't use a universal DC adapter). I tested it out, and the bugger works like a charm - even over my digital phone line (provided by the cable company - they're still "fax machine" friendly, so they don't compress the signal like other IP providers do). So I'm considering getting a second line and re-setting up my BBS to have a dial-up line as well as telnet. So question - would any of you actually still call a dial-up BBS? Not many computers come with modems, though there are still some available (USR has a nice little USB jobby you can buy nowadays). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- z0m8ied0g · 2016-11-08 14:42 I'd look at doing it over VOIP, the cost of a line for the very few dialups you might is going to end up expensive. I have a dialup setup but I use the line that my ADSL 2 sits on which I have to pay line rental for just to get internet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-08 14:58 I've considered that, but everywhere I've read about it, has said that modems and fax machines don't work well on VOIP lines (VOIP systems compress the analog signal in such a way that it is perfectly fine for voice, but makes it next to useless for data). Having said that, my regular phone line is "Digital Phone" provided by my cable company, and it works fine when I dial out to another BBS. It probably varies from service to service (maybe the cable company doesn't compress the signal in the same way?) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _GiantCentipede_ · 2016-11-08 15:17 Nope, I don't even have a home phone any longer. I'd likely be more interested in packet radio, since I missed out on it back in the day. Why go dialup for a BBS if most phones now trunk to a digital back end? The error correction rate would be interesting to see. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dirkt · 2016-11-08 15:18 I'd definitely try one over VOIP. Actually I'm still looking for a [SI P](https://www.reddit.com/r/bbs/comments/557e9t/bbs_accessable_via_mod em_over_a_sip_voip_address/) one that I can connect directly over the internet to, so I don't have to pay international rates. There are people who run their [BBS over VOIP](http://www.insentricity.com/a.cl/230/using-modems-without-phone- lines), and report 31kbps work fine. I'd even be happy with a lower speed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FozzTexx · 2016-11-08 15:31 Modems and fax machines work over VoIP, as /u/dirkt pointed out, it's how I run my BBS. *Cell phones* will not work to transmit modem signals because of they way they compress the audio. Although I have had half-success using a VoLTE connection. My BBS however it gets very very very few actual modem calls. Most people that have a modem either don't have a land line or aren't able to physically connect their modem to their VoIP connection (or just don't try). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FozzTexx · 2016-11-08 15:33 I looked into trying to setup an incoming SIP address on Asterisk and it just looked like a nightmare of config files and firewall settings with ending up allowing people to hijack my PBX and make calls out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- derfherdez · 2016-11-08 16:19 Im in the same boat, I have a USR external, super fancy modem. But I think the number of dialup users in SE Asia are basically less than zero. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- m_bishop · 2016-11-08 18:35 I used to run a dial-up BBS back in the day, before my town had a local ISP. I miss those days. That said, though, I just can't see making the time to figure out how to connect since I no longer have a landline or modem. I'm sure I could emulate and do some VoIP, but I want to be honest and admit that I never will. If I were 14 again, and had a ton of extra time, sure, but not now and probably never again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chefgroovy · 2016-11-08 19:10 The cool factor is astronomical !! however, how many people have the ability to call? One really really cool thing to do, would be to set it up, make it like a "number station" type thing. Like a fake CIA spy thing. *leave the number somewhere * someone eventually will call * they hear the squeak, realize its a BBS * they get old OS/2 486 computer from garage * .... ???? * you profit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-08 19:32 > Why go dialup for a BBS if most phones now trunk to a digital back end? The error correction rate would be interesting to see. Basically the one and only reason I would have of running a BBS at all nowadays - the pure nostalgia factor. I admit that if I ever do go down the road of getting a second line (I'm really considering it - our cable company has a deal right now where it's something like $10/mo for the line) I'm probably calling myself more than anyone else would call me. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A_Downboat_Is_A_Sub · 2016-11-08 22:54 I think that using Telnet instead of a phone line would be better. You would be able to have all the functionality of a BBS, which could be reached from a modern internet connection. A friend of mine years ago made his board telnet ready and it could handle several virtual nodes which could play games, chat, etc... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-08 23:34 Oh no doubt. There is really no *good* reason to run a dial-up BBS nowadays (which is really why there are so few of them). The two really hugely supported packages being developed right now don't even support dial-up out of the box anymore (Mystic and Synchronet). For me, though, it's more a case of replicating the full look-and-feel of the BBS days - all the way to the dirty, slow, limited method of communication we all used. I remember being active on one particularly popular local WorldGroup BBS whose lines were *always* busy (between MajorMUD, Tradewars, and online chat with Farwest Trivia) when another user mentioned connecting through a "Telnet Bubble" to multiple BBS's at a time, through their one dial-up connection. Just the idea of connecting to one BBS to download a file, and connecting to another BBS to chat with users was *insane*. I got an account at a local ISP shortly after (probably was around 1994 or 1995) and connected over telnet. I suddenly found myself in the land of "no more busy signals", and I don't think I ever called that BBS directly again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vaporwaif · 2016-11-08 23:35 I'd be so down. I have a useless phoneline and a handful of machines from the 80's and 90's that could use more designated purposes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ShooterJennings · 2016-11-10 07:08 I've been calling up dialups all weekend and loving it. SIMNET has a great telnet gateway accessible by dialup. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Flyternal · 2016-11-12 01:59 Geeze, I hope some people would... But, I'm biased, as I'm running a BBS with dialup access (Telnet as well), along with an outbound and inbound AX25 packet radio link. I'm a sucker for punishment, I guess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- G_Porgie · 2016-11-12 02:22 Gimme your digits and I'll give your modem a handshake and play with your baud a little. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jfalcon206 · 2016-11-30 14:58 It's actually pretty easy to set it up to call inbound and ring your ATA. Then you'd just advertise your sip address for VoIP connections. Could get a cheap DID with stable latency and feed both into the same ATA/Modem. Also keep in mind, you could do the same with a old fax machine once configured slightly (Compression in an already compressed audio stream is 2nd killer after inconsistent latency). Me, I have a AS5300 running in a loopback to a Digium T-1 card. - mucho overkill but when doing PSTN cartography. The Black USR Courier sits on top of my desktop machine, ready to dial should the need arise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hUSiuzIz84 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnjyIcwFv-A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- darxide23 · 2016-12-03 08:41 It's less an issue of people being willing and more an issue of people even having landlines at home anymore, or having landlines that aren't VOIP through their internet connection that will still work with telephone modems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2017-01-11 12:26 [deleted]