Nostalgia Hit - Dialup like it's the 90s

https://dialup95.com/

#dialup95 #dialup #90s #retro

Nostalgia Hit - Dialup like it's the 90s

https://dialup95.com/

#dialup95 #dialup #90s #retro

the world is divided between those who would turn up their noses at a $5 USR Sportster at a thrift shop, and mastodon

#1990s #dialup #retrocomputing

Feb. 16, 1978 -- forty eight years ago today -- the first public dial-up bulletin board system or BBS went online.

Wired: "1978: Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launch the first public dialup bulletin board system. The two unleash the kernel of what would eventually spawn the world wide web, countless online messaging systems..."

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/0216cbbs-first-bbs-bulletin-board/

I got my first modem in the summer of 1986, a Prometheus ProModem 1200A (modem on a card) for the Apple II. The first BBS I logged in to was OxGate, an RBBS/RCPM system the phone number of which I still can remember (my earliest BBS software -- firmware-based on that modem card -- had no phone book). I used BBSs avidly until sometime in 1994, when I subscribed to a local ISP's (Widomaker of Williamsburg, VA) dial-up modem-based PPP service that brought TCP/IP to my 486 PC with Windows 3.1. I could then browse the web from home, and that was basically the end of BBSing for me -- for the moment, anyway.

For those interested in experiencing this early form of online community, there are many BBSs online right now, accessible via telnet on systems old and new. I've enjoyed getting back into BBSing this way, especially when using vintage systems to login.

Most any computer can do it, today. Tips on how: https://bytecellar.com/bbsing

#BulletinboardSystem #BBS #BBSing #telnet #dialup #modem #online #terminals #terminalprograms #computinghistory #history #computers #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #nostalgia #ATDT #onlineforums #preinternet #internet #communication #RBBS #AppleII #CRT #memories #Wired #tech #technews #technology

there's a stash of CitaNews at https://lwr.wtf/wiki/Newsletters

Citadel history thread LETS GO!

been racking my brain trying to remember what all the networked rooms were, here's a list from an amiga board in August 1991

Citadel style BBSs may not have been that popular overall, but they maintained pockets of rabid popularity in a variety of major cities

Citadel-86 gained its own federated networking as early as 1986, (a mere few years after FidoNet began!) quickly becoming a mainstay of many Citadel BBSs

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

ah yes, before we posted pictures of food we had to simply describe it

i absolutely remember that room

Citadels attracted a mature literate crowd, a clear forerunner to modern twitter-like micro-blogging, that none the less reveled in irrelevant shitposting 😆

from a eulogy for three citadels by Michael Finley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press circa 1996?? now there's something to track down a scan of

https://lwr.wtf/citadel/Newsletters/news9604.html

so there you go, from top of the world in the early 90s, to rapid death around '96 along with the rest of the BBS scene...

as the large for-profit multi-line boards pivoted to full ISP service, the amateur sysops looked at their phone bills and began eyeballing DSL connections instead of second phone lines...

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

A few big names even ran Citadels

hometown hero PC Tech Inc ran a Citadel-86 before being absorbed into Zeos/Micron (and still has a Minneapolis office!)

Atari Corp ran a STadel circa 1988!

Bad Sector became Visi.com, a pivotal early Twin Cities ISP, and long since absorbed into god knows what...

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

@orc (hi!) famously implemented a UUCP gateway for STadel, bringing usenet groups (and email?) into CitaNet for a time, but got in to a bit of a row with Hue Jr and had left the 612 scene by the time i got online in 1994

a CitaNet overview, from December 1992

the original Test System, run by Hue Jr in Minneapolis was the beating heart of the CitaNet

i often called it as it was a good place to pick up most of the networked rooms 😀

a good ~25 nodes in MN alone

maybe half were still running in `94 and memories are shaking loose of a number of them...

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

there's a stash of CitaNews at https://lwr.wtf/wiki/Newsletters

Citadel history thread LETS GO!

been racking my brain trying to remember what all the networked rooms were, here's a list from an amiga board in August 1991

Citadel style BBSs may not have been that popular overall, but they maintained pockets of rabid popularity in a variety of major cities

Citadel-86 gained its own federated networking as early as 1986, (a mere few years after FidoNet began!) quickly becoming a mainstay of many Citadel BBSs

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

for how many retro BBSs are out there now, maybe two of them are Citadel?

doing my part, and attempting to resurrect Citadel-86, widely used in its hometown of the Minneapolis 612 and beyond, and root of many later Citadel forks

does anyone out there remember these?

tell me your stories because they are rapidly being lost to internet decay

did you notice bbsmates is gone?

Citadel-86 is now borderline lost media, the last version is MIA along with some extra tools for database resize and the Ease config tool

does anyone have them? check those dusty floppies

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

for how many retro BBSs are out there now, maybe two of them are Citadel?

doing my part, and attempting to resurrect Citadel-86, widely used in its hometown of the Minneapolis 612 and beyond, and root of many later Citadel forks

does anyone out there remember these?

tell me your stories because they are rapidly being lost to internet decay

did you notice bbsmates is gone?

Citadel-86 is now borderline lost media, the last version is MIA along with some extra tools for database resize and the Ease config tool

does anyone have them? check those dusty floppies

#BBS #Citadel #Citadel86 #Minneapolis #retrocomputing #bbsing #dialup #dialupdays

How many companies are still providing dial-up?

AOL's dial-up internet still exists, but not for much longer

https://www.engadget.com/computing/aols-dial-up-internet-still-exists-but-not-for-much-longer-193004233.html?src=rss

#AOL#DialUp#Internet#Tech

AOL is ending dial-up internet access on September 30th. Related news: AOL was still offering dial-up internet. The service first launched in 1991 and survived acquisition by Verizon in 2015 and spinoff as a subdivision of Yahoo in 2021. https://help.aol.com/articles/dial-up-internet-to-be-discontinued#AOL#DialUp

With AOL killing Dial Up Internet I was curious what still exists. I've found that there is over an estimated 160,000 people still using dial up in the US as their only connection (there are others using dial up as a fallback)

https://data.census.gov/table?q=internet+subscription

Earthlink quietly shut off dial up access in early 2024 (best I can tell).

Incredibly Juno and NetZero both still offer 10 free hours of dial up a month (and unlimited subscriptions).

#dialup #internet #aol#EarthLink #netzero

With AOL killing Dial Up Internet I was curious what still exists. I've found that there is over an estimated 160,000 people still using dial up in the US as their only connection (there are others using dial up as a fallback)

https://data.census.gov/table?q=internet+subscription

Earthlink quietly shut off dial up access in early 2024 (best I can tell).

Incredibly Juno and NetZero both still offer 10 free hours of dial up a month (and unlimited subscriptions).

#dialup #internet #aol#EarthLink #netzero

as promised, the treasure trove of US Robotics dialup ISP software is now available on IA. Please note that while I've done my best to describe the software, none of it has been tested. If you're planning on doing something like firmware upgrades, be 100% sure it's the right equipment and firmware.

and if you're one of those lucky 9 people that has a USR Total Control device, i'd love to hear your results.

USR Total Control SNMP Manager MIBs:
https://archive.org/details/tc-mibs

US Robotics SNMP Total Control Manager 2.0.1 and 4.13 Upgrade DIsks
https://archive.org/details/usr-tc-nmc-snmp

COM/US Robotics Total Control NetServer 8/16 Manager and Utilities
https://archive.org/details/usr-tc-netserver8-manager

US Robotics Total Control Modem Pool 8/16 Firmware:
https://archive.org/details/usr-tc-mp16-firmware

Novell NetWare Services Manager 1.1
https://archive.org/details/novell-nsm-1.1

US Robotics Total Control SNMP Manager for NetWare NMS:
https://archive.org/details/usr-tc-snmp-extras

US Robotics Modem Software Downloader 1.7 & USR Sportster Modem Firmware upgrade
https://archive.org/details/usr-sportster-upgrader

US robotics hardware upgrade offer document for dial-up ISPs. This is just a marketing document, but it's a fun read:
https://archive.org/details/usr-x2-offer

#retroComputing #dialup#softwarePreservation#digiPres