First-time setup

A new box with firmware 0.8.9 or later sets itself up on its first start: it makes its own setup hotspot, its own passwords and its own certificate. Every box gets different ones. All you need is a phone or a laptop with Wi-Fi.

1. Join the box's hotspot

Power up the box. When it is ready, its screen shows SETUP: JOIN WIFI, the hotspot's name (Netstalgia- and six letters or digits) and its password. The password uses only capital letters and digits, without 0, O, 1 or I, so you can type it exactly as you see it.

On your phone or laptop, join that Wi-Fi network with that password.

2. Open the setup page

In the browser, go to https://192.168.4.1.

Your browser will warn you about the page's certificate. That is expected: the box made its own certificate on its first start, and no outside authority has signed it. Accept it and carry on (in most browsers: Advanced, then Proceed or Accept the Risk).

3. Log in and choose your password

Log in as admin with the password netstalgia. The box asks you for a new password straight away: 12 to 128 characters. Choose one and write it down. The setup page stays on that screen until you do.

4. Connect to your home Wi-Fi

Open Setup > Wireless Uplink, scan, pick your home network and type its password. The box works with 2.4 GHz WPA2-Personal networks (not 5 GHz, not WPA3-only, not open or enterprise networks).

When you save, the box leaves its hotspot and joins your Wi-Fi. If it can't join, it goes back to its setup hotspot after a few minutes, so you can try again. Once it is on your Wi-Fi, the NET lamp lights up.

5. Set your country

Put your phone or laptop back on your home Wi-Fi and open https://netstalgia.local. (Windows XP and older Android phones can't find .local names: use the address your router gave the box instead.)

Open Setup > Setup Hotspot and enter your two-letter country code (such as GB, DE or US), so the hotspot follows your country's radio rules. The box starts with US.

6. The USB modem driver

Windows needs a small driver file for the USB modem. It comes from the box itself: on the setup page open Maintenance > Downloads. Copy the files to the old PC on a USB stick, a floppy or a CD. The same page offers Netstalgia-Drivers.iso, a CD image with all of them.

• Windows XP: download Netstalgia-USB-Modem.inf. Plug in the box's USB cable; when Found New Hardware appears, choose to install from a specific location and pick the file. You get the Netstalgia 56K USB Modem.
• Windows 98 Second Edition and Me: use the two files in the windows/win9x folder. Found New Hardware appears twice: point it at that folder for "USB Interface for Netstalgia 56K Modem", then again for "Netstalgia 56K USB Modem". Windows may ask for its own CD for usbser.sys.
• Windows 95 and Windows 98 (first edition) have no USB modem support. They need the serial port, which is being tested.

7. Dial in

The easiest way: install Netstalgia Online, choose the Netstalgia box as your Location in the Sign On window, and click Sign On. The program makes its own Dial-Up Networking entry for the modem the first time. After the call connects it waits up to a minute for the box to open the line, then signs you on over port 80: nothing to set up on your router.

To dial with Windows' own Dial-Up Networking, make a new connection with the Netstalgia 56K USB Modem:

On Windows 95, 98 and Me, Netstalgia.dun from the driver files makes this connection for you with a double-click. You can change the number and the login on the setup page, under Setup > Modem and Setup > Dial-Up Account.

Listen to the call, watch the lamps, and you're online. Welcome back!