The Netstalgia box

A 56K modem that dials over Wi-Fi. Its cable plugs into an old PC's USB port (a serial connection is being tested). Windows sees a modem and dials it with the Dial-Up Networking it already has. The box plays the whole call through its speaker, shows it on its screen and lamps, and puts you on the old web, today's web or a BBS.

The call

When Windows dials, the box answers the way a real modem and phone line would, and shows each stage on its screen: four lines of 21 characters.

Most calls connect at V.90, like a 56K modem, at rates from 44000 to 53333 bps. Some fall back to V.34 at 31200 or 33600 bps, as a 33.6K modem would. The line is slowed to the speed of the call, so pages load the way they used to.

• Realistic line problems (Setup > Modem, on unless you turn it off): now and then the line is busy or the handshake fails with NO CARRIER, just like the old days. Turn it off for a perfect line every time.
• Random line drops (Setup > Modem, off unless you turn it on): an online call drops about once an hour. Somebody picked up the phone!
• Wrong number: dial a number the box doesn't know and you hear the three rising tones and the "not in service" message, then NO CARRIER.
• Hayes commands: ATM0 silences the speaker and ATL sets its volume, as on any Hayes modem.

The number to dial is 638-782-5442: NETSTALGIA on a phone keypad. A new box asks for the dial-up login netstalgia, password 123456, like an ISP account. You can change both on the setup page.

The lamps

Eight lamps across the front, like an external modem.

Which web: Archive mode and Live mode

Old browsers choke on today's sites. The box can bring you the web as it was instead, at the old addresses, so Internet Explorer 4 or Netscape find what they expect.

• Archive mode: only the web and FTP come from the archive. Pick Protoweb for restored copies of popular sites of the 1990s, or the Wayback Machine and a year for pages as they were captured then. Names that still exist get their real address; dead 1990s names work too, because the box gives them an archive-only address. With Protoweb, old FTP sites work as well: type ftp://ftp.inode.com/ in your browser or use the FTP window. FTP is refused with the Wayback source. Everything else your PC does (IRC, mail, games, Netstalgia Online's own services) goes to today's Internet, at dial-up speed. Secure https sites are refused in Archive mode: the archive has none.
• Live mode: today's Internet, at dial-up speed, for software that can still use it.

Netstalgia Online works in both modes: it reaches netstalgia.online over port 80 either way, with nothing to set up.

Your mailbox, on an old PC

Mail providers now insist on encryption that Windows 95 and 98 can't do. The box adds it on the way. In Advanced > Mail pick your provider, then point Outlook Express, Netscape or Eudora at netstalgia.local with the usual ports (POP3 110, IMAP 143, SMTP 25 or 587), no SSL. Netstalgia Online's own mail accounts use the box automatically. Only the dial-up PC is served, and passwords pass through without being stored.

Dial a BBS

Some numbers ring a bulletin board. The box keeps a phonebook of up to 16 entries. Dial one of its numbers from HyperTerminal or any terminal program and you hear a full V.34-era call, then you are connected to that BBS, with no Internet settings on the PC. Each number spells the board's name on a phone keypad.

Type +++ (with a second's pause before and after) to get back to the modem, then ATH to hang up or ATO to go back online.

Set it up from your phone

The first time, the box makes its own Wi-Fi hotspot, and its screen shows the hotspot's name and password. Join it from a phone or laptop, open the setup page, pick your home Wi-Fi, and the box moves over. Later the same page is at https://netstalgia.local on your network. If a Wi-Fi change fails, the box goes back to the settings that worked. Step by step: first-time setup.

The local dashboard

Every Netstalgia box carries its own control center: a set of setup pages served by the box itself, in the dependable style of the network equipment of the day. There is no software to install and no account to create. Any phone or laptop with a web browser will do.

Typing http:// is fine too: the box sends you on to the secure page. Windows XP and older Android phones can't find .local names, so use the box's address there. The box makes its own certificate, so your browser warns you the first time; that is expected. The dashboard answers only on Wi-Fi, never on the dial-up line, so the old PC can't reach it.

The screenshots below come from the dashboard itself, filled in with example settings and an example call.

Logging in

Log in as admin. A new box starts with the password netstalgia and asks you to choose your own (12 to 128 characters) before anything else. After 30 minutes without a click you are logged out again, for your peace of mind.

The menu on the left holds everything, in four groups:

• Status: Overview, Call Log.
• Setup: Modem, Phonebook, Dial-Up Account, Wireless Uplink, Setup Hotspot.
• Advanced: Archive, Mail, Remote Access.
• Maintenance: Firmware Upgrade, Diagnostics, Logs, Administration, Downloads (the USB modem drivers), Restart.

Status > Overview

The whole story at a glance. Modem shows the line: connected or idle, the speed of the call, the time online, the PPP link, the bytes in and out, the port, the number dialled and who logged in, and the Archive setting. Wireless Uplink shows the box's own Wi-Fi: the network, the signal and its address. Device shows the firmware version and how long the box has been running. The page keeps itself up to date (every 3 seconds during a call), and Hang Up ends a call from across the room.

Status > Call Log

The last 20 calls, newest first: when, on which port, the number, the user (or the BBS), how long, how each one ended and the speed it connected at. A busy line, a dropped line and a wrong number are all on the record, just as they happened. Clear log starts afresh.

Setup > Modem

The heart of the box. Choose the access number your PC dials, or let any number through; with a number set, a wrong number hears the "not in service" message. Set the speaker volume, or mute it. Turn the USB modem on or off. Under Line, choose realistic line problems, random line drops, and the connect message: detailed (such as CONNECT 49333) for the Netstalgia driver, or compatible (CONNECT 56000) for Windows' standard modem driver.

Setup > Phonebook

Your personal directory of bulletin boards: up to 16 entries, each a number, a name, a host and a port. Dial one of these numbers from a terminal program and the box connects you to that BBS. Restore defaults brings back the four boards every box ships with.

Setup > Wireless Uplink

Where the box finds its way to the Internet. Press Scan, pick your network from the list and type its password. The box tells you up front which networks it can't use, and why. It joins 2.4 GHz WPA2-Personal networks. With several access points you can choose one to use, or ones to avoid. If the new network doesn't work out, the setup hotspot comes back on its own.

Advanced > Archive

Your time machine. Turn Archive mode on and choose the source: Protoweb, or the Wayback Machine and a year from 1996 on. A change reaches a call in progress within a few seconds, without a redial.

Maintenance > Diagnostics

The service bench. Test each lamp, preview the screen, play any sound from the dial tone to the handshake, or run a full demo call with lamps and screen in step. Further down: both modem ports (RS-232 and USB), a modem self-test, connection checks for the Wi-Fi and the Internet, and the box's health, including its temperature, memory, storage and power supply.

Maintenance > Firmware Upgrade

New features arrive as a signed release file. Upload it from your computer, or paste a link and the box fetches it. A dropped connection picks up where it stopped. Your settings stay as they are, and the box keeps two copies of its firmware, so an update that fails falls back to the one that worked.

Specs

Want one? Build your own. Then sign on to Netstalgia Online: it gives your box somewhere to go.