dumb question: what are the network requirements to host a BBS?
reddit / bbs

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[deleted] · 2020-06-23 03:06

I was curious about trying to create a ham radio based BBS but wanted
to know the specifics the networking for a BBS. It's such and old
technology nowhere mentions the minimum requirements!

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Mehtevas1978 · 2020-06-23 03:52

Winserver. Basically wildcat 5 with tcpic/ telnet. There was a site I
long forgotten that would direct a url to your telnet address.
Dark..something. it worked perfectly.

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ThisEffinGuyz · 2020-06-23 09:24

It depends on what bbs your looking to host, I personally used WG3 and
it has all of the files you need

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Iron_Slug · 2020-06-23 18:05

I think you mean hardware/software requirements.  Am I right?  If so,
the requirements are extremely modest.

For instance, many people are running BBSes on a RaspberryPi with 2GB
of RAM, a basic ARM CPU, and a 32GB SD card.  100MB network is
sufficient for all but the biggest boards (are there any anymore?)

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CharlieBrown197 · 2020-06-23 21:28

The network requirements are incredibly minimal. Remember, they used
to be run on dial up modems. Granted, one user per modem, but still.
Even 10Mbit would probably suffice, but any modern WiFi/Ethernet
connection would suffice. Faster is better if you want to host large
files, but if you are mostly going to be facilitating messages and
games, any connection will be fine.

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[deleted] · 2020-06-24 00:54

no, the server is easy, like you said a rasberry pi. The issue is the
networking where ham radio ranges from 1-2 kb/s

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[deleted] · 2020-06-24 00:55

I'm trying to run this over HF/VHF radio, which tops out around
1-2kb/s!

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CharlieBrown197 · 2020-06-24 00:56

Ah, 1200 baud AX.25! I am trying to do a similar thing myself. I have
made several posts on the amateur radio subreddit, so look through my
post history. I guarantee you will find some good information from
some other guys. It will be slow, but it will function. What BBS
software are you trying to use?

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[deleted] · 2020-06-24 01:26

I don't even know what is available. I was thinking a text based
forum. Kinda like 4chan without the images, or  pedophiles, or nazis

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CharlieBrown197 · 2020-06-24 01:31

So that is basically every BBS package. They all include message
functionality, and some use forums. A lot of people use LinBPQ, but I
have had some success using an ASCII-modified version of Mystic BBS to
accomplish this.

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dmine45 · 2020-06-25 23:41

Heck, I used to host a telnet BBS on a 28.8K modem back in 1996. Now
it's on 100 MB bi-directional fiber optics. In other words, doesn't
take much bandwidth at all.

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richorr70 · 2020-07-24 23:56

You can easily run a BBS on your home network using IP Forwarding with
your ISP. A BBS will barely register any notice - they are running in
straight text after all and not all this fancy graphics stuff of FB or
Reddit.