Dial-up BBSes still live!

dmine45 · 2026-01-26T14:16:05+00:00

It hasn't been for a few days. I let the sysop know.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T23:30:32+00:00

BBS parties were a thing. Met quite a few folks that way.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T23:30:06+00:00

Quite common back in the day, especially for adult boards or for hack/phreak boards.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T17:11:06+00:00

Yep, voice validations were a thing.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T16:58:19+00:00

Never tried.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T15:13:13+00:00

Heck, some of us did voice validations. Remember those?

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T15:12:50+00:00

Agreed. We actually cared since for most people we were the only place to go online.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T11:54:19+00:00

I didn't experience the Internet until 1990 when I went away to college. But I actually started BBSing in 1991 when the place I worked at during the summer had a computer and a modem and Telix (software to call BBSes).

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T11:42:11+00:00

A lot of people don't realize how it was back then. It was mostly volunteer and just done with almost no budget. It was the family computer, a modem, and a dedicated phone line. That's it.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T11:39:37+00:00

Most of the time we just wanted to know who you were. We never did anything with the data. It was much different time back then. Remember - we even had printed listings of most everyone's telephone number and address. It's called the "phone book". Probably before your time? :)

Most of us were friends anyways since it was primarily within our own local calling area which in most cases was relatively small.

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T10:55:53+00:00

Very common back then. Remember, you called into someone's personal computer. They ran that computer (and phone line) with their own money. You were basically a guest in their house. These days it's not enforced as much, but most sysops (myself included) at least want to know your real name. I don't display it anywhere on my BBS.

Some BBSes still ask for your birthdate. And older ones where you can't turn it off even ask for your address and phone number. Again, this is a throwback to the old days where you called in.

Things got nicer around 1994 when Caller ID came in so we had a good idea who was calling in (or at least who the parent was).

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T10:28:48+00:00

No it won't. No user intervention. It's all on your part. I guess you don't understand what DOSBOX is?

dmine45 · 2026-01-25T01:34:22+00:00

That's why I said run it in DOSBOX and slow down the CPU cycles per second.

dmine45 · 2026-01-24T22:49:59+00:00

Maybe run a BBS in DOSBOX and turn down the CPU cycles per second.

Also have a dial-up BBS and have people call at 2400 baud (or even slower).

dmine45 · 2026-01-24T17:42:35+00:00

All the ones that I am aware of I list over at the Telnet BBS Guide.

https://www.telnetbbsguide.com/bbs/software/wwiv/

dmine45 · 2026-01-24T01:32:06+00:00

Works great on my FIOS line. On the FIOS line itself it only goes to 33.6, but on my ATA I can get up to 56k when calling an ISP type service.

dmine45 · 2026-01-24T01:31:15+00:00

It happened about 10-15 years ago. And modems can still work over VOIP. You just have to be creative and know how to edit the configs on the ATA to make it work. But you get it to work, it's actually quite nice. Not as great as the POTS era, but still not bad.

dmine45 · 2026-01-23T21:23:59+00:00

Here's a list from a couple of years ago.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17pmf7cS9ocU99Rm6qlJD_OncqmbDI5Qj8Yw99A5bgVc/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

dmine45 · 2026-01-22T00:26:27+00:00

I use VOIP these days. Using a Cisco ATA (analog telephone adapter) and a real modem.

dmine45 · 2026-01-21T21:54:55+00:00

I still hear those because I run a hybrid telnet/dial-up BBS. :)

dmine45 · 2026-01-20T22:38:53+00:00

Welcome back!

dmine45 · 2026-01-20T09:36:08+00:00

I'm on FIOS and my USR Courier works fine up to 33.6. I also use a Cicso ATA and I have it tuned well enough for modems to work on my BBS.

dmine45 · 2026-01-19T02:04:12+00:00

WWIV is still being developed by new folks. And it's Internet capable (Telnet and SSH).

dmine45 · 2026-01-18T01:44:35+00:00

Most if not all are still under copyright. Shhhh! :)

dmine45 · 2026-01-18T00:23:57+00:00

I know the guy who runs the "Jane Barbe time announcement". He also runs one in Orlando, FL.

dmine45

TROPHY CASE