As for cellphone service, I'm with Straight Talk, and it's the best
cellphone package I've ever had...$50 a month with tax, and I get 25
Gigabytes of data, before it gets throttled down..
But back to the dial-up, those modems only really work with analog
lines, and not with VoIP lines. Yet, I wonder what the fax machines are
working with...since practically all the old analog lines are now
digital/VoIP.
If there was a way to make that work, I'd put dial-up
access back on the BBS...but I saw a comment from Rob Swindell (aka
digital man), author of Synchronet, noting that "28.8 and 33.6 aren't as
fast as you remember them".
Hi Simon,
Sorry to butt in - but I hope more BBSes start to offer
dial-up. And more users switch off their routers and
dust off their modems.
With dialup lines costing nearly double of a broadband connections in my area, I seriously doubt I'll be able to afford it anytime soon.
Hello Daryl!
That's a *very* nice package. The closest I can get is $40 for 5GB until AA>it gets throttled down - with luckymobile.ca.
Is that what they call a "dry loop" line? Here, a dry loop has to be AA>specifically ordered, otherwise a new phone line is a real POTS line.
Even 33.6 would seem like a crawl. You are best to put the idea of a bbs AA>via dial-up out of your mind. ;)
I always liked dial-up BBSes.
I think that besudes the fact some people don't know how to use a modem anymore, there are also 2 small problems:
- Dial-up over VoIP lines can be a little tricky
- most modern machines don't have serial ports anymore, and the best
modems out there are still serial devices...
Just my thoughts...
Hi August,
Besides.. the modem technology is fickle, and slow.
I disagree. In all of the data centers I have ever worked at, there has -always- been one POTS connection as an emergency backup. The POTS
system is actually much more reliable than the Internet physically but
yes, it's slow, which is why it fell out of favor.
At 8:47 PM on 16 Sep 19, Sean Dennis said to August Abolins:has
Hi August,
Besides.. the modem technology is fickle, and slow.
I disagree. In all of the data centers I have ever worked at, there
-always- been one POTS connection as an emergency backup. The POTS system is actually much more reliable than the Internet physically but yes, it's slow, which is why it fell out of favor.
Forgive my ignorance...what's a POTS line? Is this the same as an analogue landline?
Forgive my ignorance...what's a POTS line? Is this the same as an analoguelandline?
I had wondered about VoIP as a solution to diminishing landlines - didn'tknow
data signals over VoIP are problematic.
At 3:37 PM on 15 Sep 19, Andrei Rachita said to Simon Geddes:
I always liked dial-up BBSes.
I think that besudes the fact some people don't know how to use a modem
anymore, there are also 2 small problems:
- Dial-up over VoIP lines can be a little tricky
- most modern machines don't have serial ports anymore, and the best
modems out there are still serial devices...
Just my thoughts...
I had wondered about VoIP as a solution to diminishing landlines - didn't know data signals over VoIP are problematic.
I've faced the serial issue on my Apple laptop, but overcame it by buying a fairly cheap USB to serial adaptor. This works well, giving me a serial device I can point my term software too.
The biggest issue I have faced is just getting old terminal software running on a more moderm OS (MorphOS). Everything seems to half-work. Not like first time around in the mid-ninties, where the process seemed to be very plain sailing. I've definitely wanted to give up a few times!
* Q-Blue 2.4 *
You would need a VoIP provider that offers G711a as a codec.
Modems don't seem to work with G729
Sounds like pretty terrible service. You would think with plenty of competit
such poor service would be a thing of the past. Maybe you moving on will hel
them review their customer service methods.
Sounds pretty good. I had half a gig of cell phone data for the longest time
probably should have been paying a lot less.
This is a worry really, as may scupper my dial-up dreams before they have SG>begun. I haven't noticed any major issues here in the UK however, but I dare
say digitial migration and VoIP is being rolled out at a snail's pace. I kno
we have much less fast broadband coverage than many other European countries
If this does become an issue, I wonder if cell phone modems (cdcadm protocol
think) might provide another route? With a cheap sim with unlimited calls in
cell phone USB modem, I could potentially add multiple dial-up lines for not
very much at all.
Yup. And that would be pretty demotivating. Still...tempted just to confirm.
Rather than advertising on the internet, I would put up local cards in SG>newsagents, computer shops etc. Some old timers might be tempted to get a mo
to give it a try. Or not. But would be interesting to see.
Forgive my ignorance...what's a POTS line? Is this the same as an analogue SG>landline?
Forgive my ignorance...what's a POTS line? Is this the same as ananalogue
landline?
Yes. POTS = Plain Old Telephone System/Service.
Some VOIP providers may allow the end user to configure their VOIP protocols some. I have heard that mentioned before and folks who know which ones to tweak seemed to not have troubles like others do. Other providers do not apparently allow the tweaking. I do not see any way to
do it with my Magic Jack, for example. I only use it for voice.
Hi Simon,
You would need a VoIP provider that offers G711a as a codec. Modems
don't seem to work with G729, or at least for me it didn't.
You will also need an analogue telephone adaptor or ATA that will
convert VoIP to analogue, so that the modem can talk over VoIP.
I personally recommend AudioCodes MP series like the MP114.
As a modem I use a courrier 56K V.Everything, serial and managed to get 33600 bps connections to some BBSes.
If you need more info, feel free to ping me.
I don't think Magic Jack is something that has made it across the pond yet. >Most people's VoIP usage is via Skype or similar. How does it work, from an >end-user perspective? Does it give you a traditional style phone just hooked up
to your internet connection? Do you have a traditional-style telephone number?
Using the Business Card Software (commercialware), I designed cards
for my BBS, and give them out when telling folks about the system.
Yes, it can give you a traditional phone and telephone number. The "dongle" I have plugs into a power source and has two ports... one is an ethernet jack that I plug into my router, and the other is a phone jack where one can plug in a traditional phone or, in my case, run the line
to the home phone jack so that the whole house is wired (if you do this, you have to make sure the old phone box on the outside of the house is disconnected!).
It also allows me to install an app on a smart phone that gives you
"home" phone capability (and free texts) on the smart phone.
Interesting. I wonder if this is a difference in the respective markets. Cell/smart phone penetrance is so massive here a lot of people, below say50,
have forgotten about the existence of a phone wired to a socket in the house (whether analogue or VoIP). I'm not sure it would make a lot of sense tothat
segment, who have phone contracts with thousands of free voice minutes each month, to use a tethered connection.
Most people here don't think of having a home phone any more, either. I am guessing the market is more for people who still want one. I am almost 50, so maybe you are right. :)
Mike
You know, in Spain, ISPs are giving the home phone line for free with their home Internet packages. This way, ltos of people end up having a home phone but it does not actually see much use anymore.
You know, in Spain, ISPs are giving the home phone line for free with their >home Internet packages. This way, ltos of people end up having a home phone but
it does not actually see much use anymore.
Most people here don't think of having a home phone any more, either. I am MP>guessing the market is more for people who still want one. I am almost 50,
Same in Australia but juding by the younger generation (my children) they don't even connect a phone, they are probably right to do this as mostnusicance calls are on a home phone line.
Terry Roati - 3:640/1321 tfb-bbs.org
Same in Australia but juding by the younger generation (my children) they don't even connect a phone, they are probably right to do this as mostnusicance calls are on a home phone line.
I think part of the problem with home lines is that the actual home
phone lacks the blacklisting
capabilities of a smartphone, or even a feature phone. The second time a mexican phones to your
cellphone, you block him. Many fixed home phones lack that option.
So I have a landline, only because my internet was cheaper if I had it. Nothing is plugged into it though, and hasnt been for atleast 5 years. (Ridiculus right?)
Anyway, I got a lot of nusance calls on my mobile now - and my mobile
is not even in my name. But it is the number I use when filling in any form "whats your number". So somebody is selling that info, and
spammers are calling me on it.
They clever, as they are manipulating the caller ID - making calls
appear local, (local city, state or Australia).
...ëîåã
Quoting Simon Geddes to Simon Geddes on 09-21-19 21:18 <=-
I like the idea of there being a semi-local contingent to the user
base. Back in the nineties, I got local callers because it was a local rate call (amongst more spend-thrift national and even international callers). And similarly tended to call mostly local BBSes. I remember
one BBS running on an Atari Falcon, a few miles down the road. Never
met the person, but was good to have the shared experience of living locally.
This more local approach to BBSing, alongside fidonet providing the international dimension, has a definite charm. Especially with the
idea of your echomail messages working there way board by board across
the globe, night by night.
I think I'm just getting nostalgic as I hit middle age.
All you can do is use an APP like TrueCallers which helps block mostnuisance calls.
All you can do is use an APP like TrueCallers which helps block mostnuisance calls.
Ahh, thanks for the tip. I've been thinking of looking for something like this (or creating one) - so I'll give it a try.
...δεσπ
I think part of the problem with home lines is that the actual home phone la
the blacklisting
capabilities of a smartphone, or even a feature phone. The second time a RF>mexican phones to your
cellphone, you block him. Many fixed home phones lack that option.
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 292 |
Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
Uptime: | 191:22:53 |
Calls: | 6,616 |
Files: | 12,166 |
Messages: | 5,315,209 |