Just ordered one of Oldnet's WiFi Modems for my Mac



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Author	Just ordered one of Oldnet's WiFi Modems for my Mac (Read 34567 times)
Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	on: November 20, 2023, 11:25 Most of you are probably familiar with The Old Net, kind of a retro-compatible gateway to archived websites (via the Internet Archive) But they also sell a WiFi Modem which uses your regular WLAN connection but emulates a Hayes modem on the hardware side. So you make your retro computer believe it is actually connecting with the outside world via a modem. They also offer an 8-pin adapter for the Mac to hook it up to the modem port, so no tinkering / soldering required. Well, since it seems my IIci's recent freezes / chime of deaths problems are caused by whatever the PiSCSI is doing via the SCSI port, I decided to try Oldnet's WiFi modem instead. You can find it up for offer on Tindie. (modern browser needed) I'll report back on its capabilities once I received it (probably 2-3 weeks) but I'm looking forward to browse the net on 33.6k again ;-)
Last Edit: November 20, 2023, 14:19 by Bolkonskij
Knezzen Administrator 512 MB Posts: 608 Village idiot	Reply #1 on: November 20, 2023, 12:55 Very cool!

68040 512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !	Reply #2 on: November 20, 2023, 19:31 Centronics, RS232, Acoustic Coupler - might be fun to torture some young kid with those terms. Maybe throw them around during the next tech conference and watch them scramble for Google. That modem looks sugar.

snes1423 256 MB Posts: 458 A Man born of Mechina	Reply #3 on: November 20, 2023, 20:20 @Bolkonskij dont you mean 56.6?

MTT 256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer	Reply #4 on: November 21, 2023, 00:16 A max configuration of 115,200 bps will approximate a v34 modem performance. This will be an interesting project to see how it works out for you. I don't think I would want to go back to dial up speeds. But it's really good to see that this is a possibility and available. I wonder if its SLIRP option would give a faster performance, though it would need to travel over the same serial pipes. I wonder if it gives the handshaking sounds, too
Last Edit: November 21, 2023, 01:53 by MTT
68040 512 MB Posts: 950 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !	Reply #5 on: November 21, 2023, 15:08 The sounds would have to be simulated though and I didn't see a speaker for that.

MTT 256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer	Reply #6 on: November 21, 2023, 22:53 Say, did you watch the youtube demonstration video at the tindie site? That guy has some amazingly pristine old Macs in his collection. Just beautiful to see. Playing his MUD game on a System 6 Mac Plus also cool to see. I see that the modem requires 5v USB to power it when connected to Mac's serial port. A spare 5v USB phone wall charger could come in handy there. Imagine uploading files to the MG via the Comms module of ClarisWorks Note: That is a _winking smilicon_ at the end of that sentence
Last Edit: November 21, 2023, 22:54 by MTT
Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	Reply #7 on: November 22, 2023, 09:19 I watched his video and I loved the idea of using a smartphone effectively as a battery to run the WiFi Modem out in the wild. Hadn't thought about that one. And yes, it's a wonderful case. No yellowing. It's not bad with my IIci either, but I think I'll give it a nice hot peroxide bath next summer to bring it back to its former grey glory :-) Playing the MUD is cool too. Never done that but sounds like a fun idea. There's so much stuff you can do on our old machines but strangely most people don't seem to care to rather just post photos of their collections on Facebook. I'm really in pleasant anticipation of receiving the WiFi Modem now. Got a shipping notice this morning, hope it won't take too long over the Atlantic.

Bolkonskij Administrator 1024 MB Posts: 2023	Reply #8 on: December 02, 2023, 16:46 Alright, got my modem yesterday from the gas station. Since there was a customs fee to pay (9 euros) and the delivery guy obviously didn't feel like he'd want to handle that. He decided not to ring but to leave a "You were not at home" note in our mailbox (despite us being at home!) and dropping the parcel at the local gas station for pick-up. Is that the same in your countries, fellow S7Ters? Anyway, got the modem out. I ordered the modem plus the chic 80's style grey box (came preassembled) and a 8-pin cable for plugging it into the Macs modem port. There's also a nice printed "Getting Started" leaflet that comes with the package and helps you to get it up and running. It's not Mac-specific and didn't mention any programs ("use a terminal program") which might be a bit hard if you're totally new to this. After some trial & error I found that Zterm 1.0.1 works very well on my IIci. On another note - the modem doesn't come with its own power adapter and requires a 5V one. I reused an old adapter from a long-gone smartphone that I had lying around and it works fine. Working with the terminal and commands takes some time to get used to (memorizing the commands) but I've been able to quickly connect to the Empire of the Dragon BBS (which comes bookmarked) Since it defaults to painfully slow 300 baud I'm next going to try around with setting the baud rate higher. :-) EDIT: managed! now browsing through BBSes at 38.4k Anyway, gooood first impression! Seems especially cool for Macs where network cards are a rare breed (e.g. Mac SE network cards). Somebody else playing with the idea of getting one?
Last Edit: December 03, 2023, 15:37 by Bolkonskij
17lifers 32 MB Posts: 57	Reply #9 on: December 03, 2023, 08:13 yeah, sometimes they drop off the package at the door and they dont ring eee

wove 1024 MB Posts: 1363	Reply #10 on: December 03, 2023, 14:12 Baud is a reference to the Baudot Code, which was developed in the 1870s by Emile Baudot. It was originally a 5 bit code and went through a number of revisions over the years. Originally a 5 key keyboard was developed to send the code over telegraph lines. It went through several revisions. By the 1920s various control codes had been added and the US standardized a version called American Teletypewriter code (aka TTY) which remained 5 bit until 1963 when it was replaced by 7 bit ASCII. Baudot code speed is measured in characters sent per second. Since the actual amount of information send depended on whether you were sending 5 bit code or 6 or 7 or 8 bit code, eventually Baud was dropped in favor of bits per second. The 300Baud modem was mostly the last modem to use a Baud rating. 48 Baud is still used in communication devices made for the hearing impaired. Paper punch tape has holes punched in vertical columns and one can tell the number of bits used per character by how many holes can be punched in a vertical column. The paper tape can be deciphered by human reading if you know the hole pattern used by each character. We like to think of our new and modern world, but overall it is just small incremental changes make over the course of decades, with the basics of the modern operation setup over a century ago.

MTT 256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer	Reply #11 on: December 04, 2023, 01:17 Quote from: Bolkonskij: "Is that the same in your countries, fellow S7Ters?" Yup. Twice in recent weeks. One was "priority paid". Tracking said "undeliverable no-one at address" -Lie. Tracking later claimed package was in Tasmania - I live two states away!! The package may have arrived quicker by standard post... Quote "Somebody else playing with the idea of getting one?" It looks great, but not yet as I would need to get a suitable Mac first and the only working Macs I currently own all have ethernet support built in.
Last Edit: December 04, 2023, 01:22 by MTT
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