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Are dial-up modems useful for anything?

Krille said:
Yep, that's how my program works, it hangs up after half a second. Though I've been thinking about letting the program keep the modem off-hook just to tie up one of their lines for as long as possible (at least 2 minutes if they don't try to use the line again, more if they do, in a large and busy call center with automated dialing probably all day long). You can probably tell that I really despise telemarketing. :)

The disadvantage is of course that my line is also tied up, lol :D

Speaking of disadvantages, the Caller ID system used in the US and Canada has a "design flaw" in the sense that it sends the Caller ID info between the first and second ring which means that it's not possible to block calls silently (one ring will always get through).
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I guess the advantage in the United States is having the Do Not Call Registry (and the ability to have an unlisted number)...
 
IBMMuseum said:
I guess the advantage in the United States is having the Do Not Call Registry (and the ability to have an unlisted number)...
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I can only assume that this was an attempt at sarcasm. Folks with DNC registration and/or mobile phones in the US are being hammered by offshore and internet-spoofed calls. My call block list is about 30 numbers long. The FCC and various state agencies have stated that they're powerless to do anything about it.
 
Somehow the DNC doesn't apply to non-profits and begger calls so it doesn't reduce much, that and a lot of companies that don't seem to care and call anyway. Probably off-shore as Chuck suggested. However all the stupid wardialing political calls are what used to bug me the most.. somehow thought it was illegal.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I can only assume that this was an attempt at sarcasm. Folks with DNC registration and/or mobile phones in the US are being hammered by offshore and internet-spoofed calls. My call block list is about 30 numbers long. The FCC and various state agencies have stated that they're powerless to do anything about it.
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No sarcasm (I have been on the DNCR for several years now, which seemed to mostly work back when), but I do suspect that my unlisted residence number has much more to do with it currently...
 
If you want to get an idea of what's going on, google "Card Services call". The crazy thing is that they sometimes spoof numbers belonging to someone else, so some poor schlub gets a stream of angry calls. My numbers have been on the DNC list ever since its inception--and on the state one before that. I have a feeling that these "services" also mine the net for numbers.
 
Of course using dial-up for internet access reduces the number of crank calls. The telemarketers just can't get through. :inlove:
 
Caluser2000 said:
Of course using dial-up for internet access reduces the number of crank calls. The telemarketers just can't get through. :inlove:
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Unless you have call waiting and forget to dial the disable code before connecting, in which case their calls will disconnect you.
 
I looked at that modem I thought was new in box. It does show very slight signs of usage, mainly marks on the DIP switches where someone altered it's settings. It is however in great shape and who ever had it before me put it back in it's original packaging just like it had come when it was new. They took exceptional care of it. It's an Avatex 1200 with everything it came with, even the plastic bag!

Pictures should be available here.
 
I've got a mobile Dynalink 1200 which can use a 9v battery as it's power source. It's a wide as but a bit longer than a cigerete packet.
 
mbbrutman said:
From the page you linked to:

"The FCC does not limit modem speeds per se. Instead, it limits the amount of power that can be sent through the phone line in order to prevent interference with other electrical devices."​


Limiting the power used to transmit to prevent interference with other devices seems perfectly reasonable. How is that "crippling" and isn't it a function of government to regulate to prevent unwanted interference with preexisting devices ?
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I noticed that too. However I'm sure I've read somewhere that the power limit ends up snipping the top off the coveted 56K for some technical reason. Still, in real life, who cares if the top speed is 48K or 56K? I can't tell tell the difference.
 
One wonders why some other modems were much larger. I've got a Packard Bell PB 2448 2400 baud Mini Modem which is about that size, takes a 9v battery, and (presumably limilar to Caluser's Dynalink) screws right onto a DB25. However, I've also got a Practical Peripherals self powered 2400 baud which isn't much bigger than an adaptor. I use it for testing since it doesn't need a power wire or adapter or battery and "just works". Funny how those weren't more popular.
 
IBMMuseum said:
I guess the advantage in the United States is having the Do Not Call Registry (and the ability to have an unlisted number)...
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Oh, we have that too, except it's called NIX and yes, it's completely worthless. About unlisted numbers (we have those too ;) ), I'm not sure how much protection you get from having an unlisted number since the automated dialers could just call a random number anyway. Though I guess that is probably rare as it pays off more to call the "known easy targets", that is, people who at one point have bought something from a telemarketer or given money to some charity organization, both actions which are guaranteed to have your number put in a list which is subsequently sold to other telemarketing companys.
 
Krille said:
Oh, we have that too, except it's called NIX and yes, it's completely worthless. About unlisted numbers (we have those too ;) ), I'm not sure how much protection you get from having an unlisted number since the automated dialers could just call a random number anyway. Though I guess that is probably rare as it pays off more to call the "known easy targets", that is, people who at one point have bought something from a telemarketer or given money to some charity organization, both actions which are guaranteed to have your number put in a list which is subsequently sold to other telemarketing companys.
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Besides my number being unlisted, there are some other factors that help:

Relatively new area code...

New, lesser-known exchange that is currently very small...

A sequence of the last four digits being separate from other numbers...
 
Ole Juul said:
I noticed that too. However I'm sure I've read somewhere that the power limit ends up snipping the top off the coveted 56K for some technical reason. Still, in real life, who cares if the top speed is 48K or 56K? I can't tell tell the difference.
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With the compression used in modems (such as V.42bis with a max compression ratio of 4:1) you need (at least in theory*) 4 times the modem speed between the modem and the computers serial port to avoid having a bottleneck. Now, most computers have their UARTs set to 115.2 kbps which means that any modem speed above 28.8 kbps could (again, in theory*) cause the serial port to be a bottleneck.

* Of course, all this depends on the compressibility of the data being transferred. How much does it affect real world usage? I have no idea, just a thought I pulled out of my rear end.
 
To address that bottleneck there were modems that connected through the parallel port. I have never seen one; they were not terribly popular.

A nasty side effect of compression is latency. Compression and error correction works best with a block of data so the modem has to delay the transmission of bytes while it tries to fill a block. (Modems optimized for gaming backed off on this requirement, and thus were not as efficient at data transfer but suffered less from transmit latency.)


Mike
 
I always found modems to be fun and intriguing toys. I've been on and off about setting my dialup BBS again with the analog line I still have in my house. Occasionally, I send faxes.

About a year and a half ago, I picked up a brand new still in the box voice modem from a little computer store in a tiny little town for five bucks. I've been searching for one for a long time, just to play with it. I was able to get the thing running, and have it dial a list of friend and play the Muppets song "Ma-nah Ma-nah" when they answered. I could easily start my own tele-spam company!

The other thing that I still like doing occasionally is war dialing. There's still a lot of modems out there which can be found with a really good dialing prefix. It's kinda neat to see what's out there.

Other than modems being a toy, there isn't much practical use for them anymore.
 
Bungo Pony said:
. . .Other than modems being a toy, there isn't much practical use for them anymore.
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How can you say that? I bet the (rather computer savvy) people who posted above, saying that they use dialup for internet access, would be insulted. :) I would also point out that a large proportion (about 10%) of North American internet users are on dialup. Dialup internet connection is very functional, and very real. It's cheap, it's fast enough, and it's usually available in the many places that don't have cable or ADSL. In short, millions of people think that internet access is a practical use for modems. I'm curious why you don't.
 
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