
Is dialup still an option? - ashitlerferad
http://sobersecurity.blogspot.com/2016/09/is-dialup-still-option.html
======
contingencies
You can use VOIP based endpoints and software like _iaxmodem_. A few years ago
(~2007-2008) I had an E1 (30 telephone lines) to my office in mainland China
specifically for oldschool parallel wardialling .. err.. I mean sending and
receiving faxes.
[http://iaxmodem.sourceforge.net/](http://iaxmodem.sourceforge.net/)

------
avian
Interestingly, it seems dial-up is still an option for me, technically
speaking.

My laptop (a ~4 year old HP EliteBook) came with a built-in analogue modem
(never used, but I do see a /dev/ttyACM that responds to AT commands) and the
national ISP (telekom.si) apparently still offers dial-up access according to
their website.

I might try to set that up for fun one day. Although it will probably be a
challenge to find a true PSTN line around here.

------
mdip
Even worse - this assumes you can get your 56K modem to connect at 56K (and
remain connected at that speed).

Seventeen or so years ago when I had dial-up, I was lucky to get a stable 24k
connection due to a variety of issues related to poor in-home wiring and
outside phone wire quality. 16.8k was always reliable, above that, it was hit
and miss. Maybe things have improved enough since then that a 56k connection
can be taken for granted, but the wiring in my house hasn't changed, so to the
extent that it was my wiring at fault, I'd assume I'd still issues.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
And then there was the protocol issue. Some HDLC protocols spent more time
polling than transferring data. I rewrote one (for ConvergeNet) that turned a
packet protocol into a streaming one. The rule was: if you have a packet, send
it. Then send feedback about what packets were received. Once the high-water
mark passed a buffered packet #, it could be freed. This achieved nearly wire
speed in the good case.

Anyway, blast from the past.

------
sevensor
Even putting aside the barely-addressed question of whether it's even still
possible to sign up for and use dialup internet service, I think we all knew
the answer to this question already. Nonetheless, it's sobering to be reminded
how much bandwidth we take for granted. (The answer is no, you can't use the
internet on dialup. At least not the same internet everybody else is using.)

~~~
shakna
Providers in my town still offer dialup [0]. Utterly useless considering that
a) websites are enormous and b) they're supposed to be shutting down the
copper lines in favour of the new fibre.

I have seen one or two people purchase it: for long running processes that
don't use speed. Like a dedicated IRC bot.

[0]
[http://offers.dodo.com/dialup1_1304/](http://offers.dodo.com/dialup1_1304/)

