Want to set up a Apple BBS but don't have a phone line. reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 02:50 I recently came into the possession of a Macintosh SE computer with a hard drive and it came with an old 300/1200 baud modem. I can of course connect said modem to my Mac via its included cable (the round type) and if I were to have a normal land line I would just plug in the 4 pin RJ11 cable into it and I'd be in business. The problem is that this is the 21st century so my family has abandoned land lines years ago. What I would love to do is emulate the experience I had in the early 80's when I had my Apple II and would dial into BBS's at 300 baud. Only this time I want to be the BBS. So what kind of gizmo is out there that I can plug the modem into it via the RJ11 cable and then plug a Cat5 cable into it and my router and presto, I now have the ability to receive calls as if I had a land line? I know one guy that did something like this on Youtube and he used Google Voice and an old cell phone with a store bought sim card and a OBi200 from Amazon. This in theory would be the best move but then I also found out about a thing called WiFI232 but they guy that made them took a "short" break back in 2017... There are things that look similar on ebay with zero documentation and I won't take that risk. So I am here asking for your help. I just want to set up a fun little Apple related BBS with a super slow dial up connection to replicate the really old days before 56k v.everything modems came along and I really don't want to call the phone company. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- YserviusPalacost · 2020-01-26 03:00 Do you have BBS software for the Apple? I used to frequent a BBS back in the day running Hermes software. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HotCharlie · 2020-01-26 03:28 Did the Obihai thing work? I've had one rigged up for a while now that works great for faxing, but, for whatever reason, not with modems (though I only just fiddled with it the once). Again, flawless with the faxes. I think the low-low baud rate might work in your favor, there. They're slick little devices. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- arcadeshopper · 2020-01-26 03:32 You can use a wifi modem like the gurumodem and a modem cable.. it will be telnet access tho ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 05:09 Haven't heard of that. I'll google and check it out thanks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 05:10 I don't know if it will work. There is a youtube video a guy did where he set it all up. The only part that bothered me was relating to needing to set up a new phone number on an extra phone with a sim card and then forwarding numbers from google voice. I didn't want to go through all that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 05:10 I do not yet have the software set up. I do have something I downloaded yesterday called Telefinder that I was going to learn to use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- HotCharlie · 2020-01-26 05:13 You don’t necessarily need the extra phone. Can use whatever you got now. It’s mostly just for set up. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- liquidzero · 2020-01-26 05:59 Telenet over IP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kazz9201 · 2020-01-26 06:04 This should work with most terminal programs. I have the win232 and this seems to be its alternative https://www.cbmstuff.com/proddetail.php?prod=WiModem232OLED ---------------------------------------------------------------------- twitch757 · 2020-01-26 06:36 You'd probably be hard pressed to find an analog land line in some places these days. Dial up modems get their minds blown by the square sound waves from a digital telephone line. They are just too cool for school or bad hemorrhoids. Like vinyl records or something. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CharlieBrown197 · 2020-01-26 11:17 With the Obihai device, you shouldn't need a SIM card, unless you have an existing number you want to transfer. You should just need a Gmail account. For your reference, it should work fine for your purpose, as I have achieved connection speeds of up to 24.4 kbps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- denzuko · 2020-01-26 13:59 fax with obihai is good, data not so much. I've been able to get good results with 9600/8/1/n/xoff using a usb modem. Anything higher in baud tends to get unstable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 19:36 Thanks! I ordered a refurb Polycom Obi200 from Amazon for 42.00 and I signed up last night for google voice and got a number. When this arrives next week or so I'll take a step forward. I may end up running the BBS on my IIgs instead of a mac but either way its progress forward. I think I'll lock it down to 1200 max baud. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Redditisaladder · 2020-01-26 21:05 Yes, this is the easy and modern way to do that. If I wanted to go easy I'd just dust off my old copy of WWIV and install it on one of my old PC's. I actually am trying to replicate the actual 1980's experience on both ends. Slow and painful.