How did boards afford USR Courier modems? reddit / bbs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bwann · 2022-12-31 11:44 I know in the 90s that Couriers were the gold standard for BBSes and ISPs, but I also remember them being very expensive at the time ($200-300 ea?). Out of curiosity how did people justify the cost or able to afford them? Was it just that compatibility (reliability, protocols, speed) with users was the utmost priority that made it worthwhile ahead of anything else? Did for-profit boards make enough to make it a non-issue? Or was I just a poor operator that coveted the nice things ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-12-31 11:49 USR and Zoom both offered Sysop discounts on modems. I know I bought a couple of Zooms and a couple of USR Couriers that way. I still have my USR Courier from 1996 that I bought via the Sysop program. I use it a few times every week. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BizzyHaze · 2022-12-31 11:59 I remember the USR Dual Standard modems, never was able to afford one myself back then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bwave1 · 2022-12-31 12:55 I was a 14 year old kid and I worked a summer job loading watermelons. I bought mine used for like $200. It was just a cost of having a BBS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- livejamie · 2022-12-31 12:59 Just like people afford expensive computer parts nowadays? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- e4e5nf3 · 2022-12-31 13:26 Heck, just having a home computer wasn't something everyone could afford. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- YserviusPalacost · 2022-12-31 13:31 The cost of the modems wasn't really a big deal when you compared it to the monthly bill for the extra POTS line(s). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- microprogram · 2022-12-31 14:19 here in the ph courier's/sportster are the gold standard for bbs its like a carrier grade modem.. it never goes down 24x7.. i believe the courier has a large ventilation on top? lower end ones are the supras (over heating issue) others used zyxel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dialsoft · 2022-12-31 14:29 I had several dozen members donate modems all through the life of my bbs. Hundreds over the years. thank fully today its just browser! www.magviz.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mike3y · 2022-12-31 14:49 I got lucky and my mother gave her old computer to me and bought me a modem. It was to keep me off the streets and getting in trouble. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PhotoJim99 · 2022-12-31 15:14 Supra did, too. That's how I upgraded from v.22bis (2400) to v.32bis (14,400). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PhotoJim99 · 2022-12-31 15:17 The Supras of the day (I used one) had aluminum cases instead of plastic, so were actually good for passive cooling. The electronics were superior in the US Robotics modems. Supras had simpler, less expensive Rockwell chipsets and were a little less reliable at connecting with certain modems (I remember a local user that was still stuck with a 300 bps modem that could not connect to my BBS, though he could connect to a friend's older Supra modem of the same model as mine). USRs pretty much connect with anything (though only with other USR HSTs, Dual Standards and v.Everythings at HST speeds, of course). Modern evidence of the quality of USR's design is found in how well HST connections work on today's VoIP lines compared to how well v.32bis and v.34/v.34ter connections work. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wildfire98 · 2022-12-31 15:40 Zoom owner checking in. I vaguely recall there being a red box and a blue box and one of those was the better 14.4k modem as I needed to take one of them back, I feel like the red one was the better choice also more expensive. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Call_Me_Mauve_Bib · 2022-12-31 16:37 I never got a sysop discount, but ZOOMs were the best modems, IMHO. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mcasao · 2022-12-31 18:30 Sysop discount for the win. They would login to your BBS and verify and send you a modem on the cheap. Well, Sorta cheap. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iheartbaconsalt · 2022-12-31 19:01 I lost 4 Zoom 24kbps modems to lightning! THEY sent new ones! I was so happy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-12-31 21:14 That interim speed. I remember that. I think I bought one and later had an EPROM upgrade to 28.8. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2022-12-31 21:14 That sounds right. I forgot that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iheartbaconsalt · 2022-12-31 21:16 Yes! They were so cool. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- roger_ramjett · 2022-12-31 21:20 I had a few that I got off of another bbs that shut down. They had labels on then saying "not for retail sale" so I assume he had got them as a part of some promotion. I had 15 lines but only 3 usr's. They were mostly used for bbs to bbs communications. The cost over time was saved by reducing long distance time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- roger_ramjett · 2022-12-31 21:20 V32biz for the win ---------------------------------------------------------------------- roger_ramjett · 2022-12-31 21:22 Our local telco still uses usr's for out of bandwidth access to various equipment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ericfresh442 · 2022-12-31 23:30 A user gave me his employee discount at Elek-Tek but the 16.8 DS was still over $400. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SpaghettiSort · 2023-01-01 02:26 Same here! That's how I got my 14.4k modem! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rays · 2023-01-01 05:19 Money I saved from my job building and selling computers. I got it as a 14.4 that was upgradable all the way to 56k with daughter cards or firmware updates. Loved that thing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Distribution-Radiant · 2023-01-01 05:37 USR heavily subsidized the modems. $200-300/ea was AFTER the discount, they were \~$1200 modems before the discount. Yeah, Sportsters were a little cheaper, but the Couriers were just better modems (though USR's warranty was great no matter what - I lost a Courier and 2 Sportsters to lightning, and they replaced all 3 no questions asked). The subsidized Couriers also had a metal plate riveted to them basically saying they were "samples", not for resale. Supra, Zyxel, and Zoom also offered significant discounts, off the top of my head. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-01 15:16 they had a sysop discount or they could get one for free. i knew a guy who got a great one for free. i was so jealous. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-01 15:16 it's different now ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mro1337_000 · 2023-01-01 15:17 they were decent but i had to use an init string as long as my leg to make it work right great. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dmine45 · 2023-01-01 20:23 Sort of cheap. And you had to advertise on your logon screen that you were using their modem. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- bwann · 2023-01-02 11:30 I realized that after some more googling after I posted, the sysop price for dual standards then was over $400, ouch! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-01-03 18:15 [removed] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jfalcon206 · 2023-01-10 07:35 You should check out this site that goes deep into the differences of analog modem handshaking. (Going to post this into a new thread) [https://goughlui.com/2016/05/03/project-the-definitive-collection- of-v-90v-92-modem-sounds/](https://goughlui.com/2016/05/03/project- the-definitive-collection-of-v-90v-92-modem-sounds/) And yeah, I ended up using the Hayes Sysop discount to go from 9600 to 28.8k once upon a time. A friend allowed me to use his system for the discount as I, by then, had already done my stint as a Sysop on Atari 8-bit and it was a PC vs. the world reality by then :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PhotoJim99 · 2023-01-11 00:20 Thanks - I will definitely check that out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MisterItcher · 2023-01-13 13:29 You didn’t have a cell phone, Netflix, prime, etc subscription to pay for back then. And your Chrysler K-car got 30 MPG.