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First post, by TheRealOC

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Morning all,

I'm interested in connecting my Windows 98 PC to a 56k modem via a twisted pair cable with RJ11 connectors. My goal is to connect the modem to a media converter with an RJ11 input and an RJ45 output, which will then connect to my modern broadband network infrastructure of switches and a router.

I've been looking into using the US Robotics Sportster 56K External Faxmodem
for the modem and the Grandstream HT812 ATA device for the media converter. However, I am unsure if these devices are the best options for my intended purpose.

Would appreciate any feedback or advice from those with experience using these devices to access BBS bulletin boards or create peer-to-peer connections using retro computers. Additionally, if there are other devices that would work better for this purpose, I would be interested in learning about them. While I am not interested in using WiFi PCI cards for this setup, I am looking for a solution that can potentially work with a variety of retro devices that were designed to connect to standard analog phone lines, such as the Sega Mega Modem.

Thanks!

Reply 1 of 3, by Yoghoo

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I looked at the Grandstream HT812 ATA device in the past but as I found a Linksys SPA9000 very cheap I don't know how/if it would work. I'm also using 2* US Robotics Sportster 56K External Faxmodem (different case though).

Works great for VOIP, Fax and BBS systems. Maximum speed for modems is always 33k6 btw. Mainly using it for a couple of DOS retro pc's but works as well with Windows 98/2000 etc.

Tested it with some games, internal and external BBS systems without problems. So it definitly works as expected. Don't have any retro consoles like Sega etc but it should work without problems as long as you can define a phone number and the receiving site is still online. For external sites you need a SIP account as well. Im' using CheapConnect but there are a lot of alternatives available.

Reply 3 of 3, by Zeerex

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An alternative is DreamPi: You can build or buy a preconfigured one. I’ve never personally tried it but here is a video that shows it working using the built in modem of a Mac using the OS’s standard dial up networking: https://youtu.be/NFUTInM7gq8

More information: https://dreamcastlive.net/shop/

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