What Was Your First Modem?

[64K]

I know we have had plenty of threads about your first computer but I'm wondering about something more specific like what was your first modem? For me it was the mid 80s with a 300 baud modem (300 bits per second) on a Commodore 64. 56K was still a decade away for PC and around 200 times faster than 300 baud.

My modem sounded like this:

And this is what it looked like connected to a BBS reading posts:

Even as small as games were back then it would sometimes take hours or even a day to download a game from a BBS. The only game I can recall that was online on a BBS was Empire and the only cheater, if any, was the Sysop who could change the variables in the Basic code.

 

[bonehead123]

A string and 2 tin cans, hahaha

I can't even remember what my 1st one was, but then again I got into computers back when the 1st series of Apollo rockets were being designed....

 

[TheLostSwede]

I was given an external 2,400 baud modem, but it wouldn't work with my PC for some reason, so ended up buying an internal 9,600 baud modem at a computer show. No idea what the brand was. Then I ordered a dodgy 14k4 modem that had a slightly lose capacitor that needed to be wriggled with once every couple of months for it to work.
That then got upgraded to a 28k8 modem and then I finally got a USR 33k6 Sportster. I had several different 56k modems before getting the Alcatel Stingray ADSL modem.

The dream was always to get a USR Courier, but I never had the money for one of those...

If you didn't get a USR, the other brand to have was Supra, later Diamond Supra.

Friend of mine was running a BBS on an Amiga 500 and another friend (with rich parents) had a multi-user BBS running on Windows with a fancy point and click UI. He also downloaded a bunch of stuff weekly from the US. All his computers were connected to a token-ring network and he had a really, really long cable, so he could sit outside and connect to his network from his laptop... Later he started one of the first ISPs in Sweden, which he sold for a lot of money just before the bubble burst...

 

[The Egg]

I started in early ‘94 with older setups (286’s and 386’s).

First modem was a USRobotics 14.4k in ISA. I did later use some older 9600 and 2400 models, though not extensively.

 

[bonehead123]

Ahhh yea.....US Robotics.....now those were the days

Total crap by today's standards, but back then they were "da Bomb" in modems.....

 

[The Egg]

Ahhh yea.....US Robotics.....now those were the days

Total crap by today's standards, but back then they were "da Bomb" in modems.....

Are they even around? I seem to remember them getting bought-out near the end of the dialup era.

In any case, I do remember them being the more premium option. Everything else was based on a Rockwell chipset, IIRC. At least in the later years when I was a participant.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Ahhh yea.....US Robotics.....now those were the days

Total crap by today's standards, but back then they were "da Bomb" in modems.....

They're still around, of sorts.

Connectivity hardware for applications

Connectivity hardware for applications including Point of Sale, remote management and monitoring, out-of-band backup connections and cellular replacements.

www.usr.com

Are they even around? I seem to remember them getting bought-out near the end of the dialup era.

In any case, I do remember them being the more premium option. Everything else was based on a Rockwell chipset, IIRC. At least in the later years when I was a participant.

USR bought Palm weirdly enough and then merged with 3Com. These days they're part of Unicom.

Rockwell and Conexant were the two big ones, then the horrible soft modems came along that fitted in the AMR/CNR/ACR slot on motherboards

Amusingly, people are apparently still trying to sell the old Alcatel Stingray ADSL modems...
It was amazing at the time, but if you had a VIA chipset, you had to buy a PCI USB card, as the VIA chipset based boards couldn't deliver 500mA, which this thing required.

On a side note, these guys are still selling modems...
They even have PCIe modems...

Analog Data Modems: Connect Legacy Equipment to IP Network | MultiTech

MultiTech modems connect legacy equipment to IP networks easily and affordably. Our analog data modems are carrier-approved in 50+ countries. Learn more now.

www.multitech.com

 

[Roddey]

14.4k all the way to 56k, All day to download Netscape Navigator and then have the connection drop a few minutes before completion and starting the fun all over again! Oh the good times.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think it was an external 14.4K modem that connected via serial port. It might have been slower. I'm thinking it was made by USRobotics but not 100% sure. It was beige (like everything was in the 90s).

On a side note, these guys are still selling modems...
They even have PCIe modems...

Analog Data Modems: Connect Legacy Equipment to IP Network | MultiTech

MultiTech modems connect legacy equipment to IP networks easily and affordably. Our analog data modems are carrier-approved in 50+ countries. Learn more now.

www.multitech.com

Oh damn, those first two look like it! :O I mean, it definitely isn't (because 56K) but stylistically, that's what it looked like.

 

[Deleted member 158293]

Was about to buy a 110 baud, but splurged for a 300 baud that DIDN'T need the handset seated in it.

Ah the Golden age...

 

[P4-630]

My first modem I had was included in the Philips CDi internet package, it was a 14K4-modem , it was 1996 I think it was...
I still have it in a box somewhere.

My second modem was a compact flash card modem for my palmtop pc (around year 2000).
Also still have it somewhere in a box.

Something like this:

And it went into my Casio palmtop pc:

 

[biffzinker]

I think my first modem I remember was a Global Village Teleport/Bronze Modem 33.6 Baud

 

[dorsetknob]

Amusingly, people are apparently still trying to sell the old Alcatel Stingray ADSL modems.

Speedtouch 500 looked almost same as this ( twas my 1st Broadband modem and mine is in safe storage last time i tested it it still worked) .
cannot use it on my current conection as its VDSL.
My 1st modem was some isa 300/9600 b generic crap.

 

[Divide Overflow]

Hayes 300 baud external modem. Although it was the same speed, it felt like a big advance from the phone cradle type of the time.

 

[Athlonite]

this was the first piece of dial up junk I owned

 

[blobster21]

An Olitec Self Memory/Speed'Com V92 Ready 33,6k (it was pretty popular in France back then)

Then later a dual chanel 64k ISDN line, with an ISDN pci card.

I also remember using the alcatel usb stingray when the adsl started to spread. 512k !

 

[Steevo]

I was stuck on 14.4K until I moved out, then it was 36K, and when supported 56K for years while I waited on 756Kbps from DSL.

 

[Splinterdog]

I'm pretty sure we had numerous USR Sportsters in the house and at work, before we moved over to ISDN x2 (and twice the cost of x 1 lol).
Yeah, those soft modems were pretty awful. Either way, I always managed to get on a Q2 server and brag about our sexy new ISDN.
Those were the days

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I have no clue how some of you remember this stuff ,i can't even remember the baud rate , the dramma the wire caused drowns out any other details from memory, all with an aol cd off a magazine.
I wasn't very privileged as a kid ,my parents would have staired at me like i was an alien if i had asked them to sort some internet out at that age, the phone was off limits bar being pa to them.

 

[Splinterdog]

USR V.92s are still available on Amazon. What?

Amazon.com: US Robotics V.92 USR5686E External Modem + Fax, 56K : Electronics

Amazon.com: US Robotics V.92 USR5686E External Modem + Fax, 56K : Electronics

www.amazon.com

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Can still use them to fax. There's also remote places that can only get 56K internet... I mean, Juno email service is still a thing.

 

[Liquid Cool]

My first computer was the Commodore, but not exactly the same as the one you had 64k. I had the Commodore SX64 Portable...man I loved that computer! Although, it was replaced by an IBM clone...8088, then an 80286, then a REAL IBM 80386...and the king daddy...the 486 DX2 66MHz. My all-time favorite pc. My case was on wheels with a door. I bought the case out of the Bible! Computer Shopper Magazine!

Back in the day...I spent my weekends breaking in to telephone company vans and grabbing telco equipment(avid reader of 2600) & dumpster diving.

Fortran, Assembler, Basic, Cobol, C and chinese food was all part of my steady diet.

Today. I can barely remember a thing.....

Although...I do remember this...

I picked up a part-time position as a teachers aide at a local community college. I picked up the job to make some extra cash when I was going to school. Between classes one of the students handed me a floppy that said Linux on it. I can remember the name written in pencil on a tan disc...the first time I saw it....I laughed and thought the name seemed like a cheap play on UNIX. "That surely won't go anywhere!, well, here I am now using linux full time.

As far as modem's go...I only remember back to the 2400 baud internal modems. I used those mostly. I didn't mind the upgrade to 9600, to me it was ok...but I really liked the 56k's! I don't even remember the 28.8's or the 33.6's that TLS mentioned...I just remember my 56k being used for about a year or two before going to cable. This was about the time the BBS's started dying off. Then I was doing command line on the internet...way before there was GUI.

I remember even hooking up a cable between a Motorola Flip-phone's RS232 port and a modem on a laptop to surf the net circa 1993...

Those were the days....

Liquid Cool

 

[phanbuey]

14.4 kilobits modem bro. And a sick refresh rate.

Seriously though, mine was a 14.4 kbps in an AST rig.

 

[Liquid Cool]

phanbuey...

I think "Cuckoo's Egg" was probably more down my alley, but I did enjoy that movie.

Best,

Liquid Cool

 

[Athlonite]

Can still use them to fax. There's also remote places that can only get 56K internet... I mean, Juno email service is still a thing.

Unless your on a VOIP line that makes faxing a bit more complicated LOL