Build Your Own Dial-Up Network for Your Retro Computers
With this Raspberry Pi setup, you can emulate a 56 kbps network connection between two or more clients.
Networking today is seamless and easy to achieve — just connect to whatever WiFi is available. If you need a hardline, most computers still have Ethernet port (though they’re becoming far less common on laptops due to space constraints). But retro computers may not have any kind of built-in networking hardware, or just a basic modem if they do. It’s unlikely that you want to pay for a dial-up service just to connect those, but you probably still want a way to get them talking to each other. Fortunately, you can use a Raspberry Pi to create your own dial-up modem pool for your retro computers.
This project has you essentially creating your own dial-up service that runs on a Raspberry Pi. This will give your modem-equipped retro computersthe ability to communicate with each other. Theoretically, you could also pass content to those computers over the network since you’re essentially creating your own mini ISP (Internet Service Provider). If your retro computers don’t have their own built-in modems, you can use an external modem. Obviously compatibility varies wildly, so you just need to look up what modems work with the specific computer you want to use. This is also going to max out at 56 kbps, so don’t expect Ethernet speeds here.
In addition to the Raspberry Pi and your client computers and modems, you’ll also need a server modem and telephony adapters. There are a few options for the former and the guide recommends Linksys SPA-2102 analog telephone adapters for the latter. There are three key pieces of software used to create your little ISP (in addition to the Raspbian Lite operating system). Those are Asterisk (v16.2.1) for telephony, Samba ppp (V2.4.7) for a tunneling daemon, and Mgetty (v1.2.1) for a terminal manager. Other options are available for the latter two if you want. You can then follow the guide’s instructions to configure the software. You’ll then be able to dial into the modem pool from any of your retro computers that have the appropriate modem!