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486 online

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bbcmicro

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Apr 2, 2006
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The subject of this post is again my latest aquisition, a 486 laptop.

I installed Arachne web browser on this laptop out of curiosity. It works fine so now I am actually going to try and get it online.

First hurdle, I don't have dialup. I do however, have broadband and an ADSL modem :)

Second hurdle, I dont know anything about internet connections, cables, etc. etc.

So, My laptop has 2 ports on the back, that look like telephone extentions and are narrower than the cable from the modem to the modern computer. One labelled PHONE and the other LINE.

The modem itself broadcasts a wireless signal and also has 3 spare wired ports at the back for the wider (ethernet?) cable.


If it is impossible to set up broadband with arachne, tell me the name of a browser that will fit on a floppy that will and run under win 3.11 or FreeGEm or DOS 6.22

My ISP is BT Broadband

Thankyou ;)
 
I tried it, and it is soooooooooooooo slow. It worked, but it was painful. However, that was on a 486 SX25 with 8MB RAM.

When I get my DX4 100 with 32 (or even 64!)MB or RAM, I'll try it again.
 
i am not sure if it can work through broadband, but there is a version of Internet explorer 5.0 for Windows 3.11! Maybe with a pcmcia lan card you can set up as proxy server your router and work that way :)
 
aquasonic said:
i am not sure if it can work through broadband, but there is a version of Internet explorer 5.0 for Windows 3.11!
Click to expand...
With the TCP/IP stack for Windows 3.11 you can use whatever browser level you prefer for the user interface (I've tried IE 3.02 with a NIC connected to the DSL modem)...
 
I got my 486 online with a 3Com Etherlink III card (it has an Ethernet adaptor). You can get it to connect to a home network with broadband by installing the TCP/IP stack protocol software in Windows 3.11.

I did try doing this on my 486DX100 laptop with a PCMCIA network adaptor, but I found the adaptor ate all the memory up and not leaving enough for anything else.
 
bbcmicro said:
Anyone willing to talk me through getting this thing surfing?
Click to expand...

It's time to do some homework on your own.

First assignment is figure out how you are going to connect. If you are not going to use the built-in modem then you need to tell us how you are going to do it. Usually people stick an Ethernet card in a slot and connect that way.

Once you have some physical way of connecting, then we can talk about walking you through it.
 
I dug out an old parrallel 28.8 modem yesterday, no cable to connect it but is it of any use?
 
I agree with mbbrutman, do some research. That modem you have is serial, not parallel, I don't think anyone ever made a parallel modem, though I could be wrong(lotsa odd hardware out there). That thing'll only work if you have a dialup account.

Look around for a serial to ethernet device.
 
Actually, there were some parallel port modems out there. I've never seen one, but the idea was that the serial port was generally too slow for the faster modems and certain UART combinations. Using the parallel port for a modem seems unnatural at first, but it does give you a lot more bandwidth.

Any parallel port on a bad day is still going to beat a serial port.
 
Yep, Its a motorola 3400 modenm. Got a port on the back that looks like a 25 pin centronics style printer port. Dunno if a cable similar to a laplink cable would work. Date code is 1996
 
bbcmicro said:
Yep, Its a motorola 3400 modenm. Got a port on the back that looks like a 25 pin centronics style printer port. Dunno if a cable similar to a laplink cable would work. Date code is 1996
Click to expand...

NO BBC!!!! don't attempt to connect it to your parallel port, almost certainly 25 pin serial. when those modems were about, 25 pin was more common than 9!

:eek:
 
a link to the user manual....

http://www.data-connect.com/V3400_modem.htm

DCE on the connector means "data communication equipment"... that means it's DEFINITELY serial, terminals often have DTE (data terminal equipment) written on. I think most old 25 pin serial ports on pcs (confusingly) are DCE, cos they used to be connected to terminals.

welcome to the wonderful world of serial comms!

I have a spare breakout box somewhere, I'll post it to you when I get back off hols. but you'll have to get your own 9 to 25 way leads.

Nig
 
He said Centronics. I assumed the 25 pin thing was a miscount. I shouldn't have assumed ...

BBCMicro - do some reading. If you don't know the difference between a 25 pin D shell and a Centronics parallel port interface, you really don't belong opening machines up.
 
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