The 56k Modem Days!

The worst was trying to play AVP online via gamespy and not understanding why I got disconnected everytime.. then I discovered the evils of a software modem...
 
Oh god yeah Barrysworld and Wireplay.

One time I connected my net to Wireplay and i was amazed at my 160ms ping. Everyone was jealous too.

Occasionally an Isdn (i think it was that) guy would join our CS servers and would get griefed for being an LPB (Low ping bstard), The community was fantastic back then :)
 
I miss the 56k Days, the noise of the modem, the feeling you got when your download eventually finished etc most notably 700mb MTV Unplugged concert, I waited 2 weeks for that!

Anyone remember the search engine NorthernLights? Was my favourite many years ago.
 
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Did anyone use an ISP called callnet 0800? I think it was the first freephone dial up service launched in the UK.

I remember when I was little and waking up at the crack of dawn on a weekend to dial up to AOL, only for my dad to get up and give me the lecture of how much it costs! I even tried to offer my pocket money a few times just for extra minutes online! :D

p.s. I'm assuming some people here did play MUDs! ;)
 
Back when I was on 56k and playing on Wireplay, it used an 0845 number. At the time, NTL weren't charging time on 0845's, only a connection charge of 50p so you could play for as long as you wanted for 50p (as long as it didn't disconnect of course). Then NTL realised and changed the rules :(

I switched to BT & ISDN a while afterwards, 128kb line it came at a bad time as I'd just got into Everquest....cue £700+ quarterly bills :eek: Think my highest was £1350. I kinda reigned myself in after that!
 
Think my first ISp was one called X-Steam . basically was completely free no call charges or monthly bill but you had to have a massive banner displaying ads at the top of your screen.
You would also get disconnected every 2 hours (all isps were doing this more or less) but if you got disconnected at peak times would literally take you 1-3 hours to reconnect as was that busy.

Shame that I only realised at the end if you manually created a dial up account instead of using their software you would not have the massive banner on the screen. Essentially free net.
 
Hedge said:
I used to have a Diamond SupraExpress modem, Im pretty sure that was the model, I bought it especially for playing counter strike. Was pretty fast compared to some at the time :)
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haha yeah i used to have 1 too, external blue one. was chuffed when id get 140-160 pings :D

some good memories, first pc i had used a sw modem i quickly got a hw 1 and started playing UT at 3 am in the night lol. had to flush the toilet when i had to redial so parents wouldnt know i was online at that time.

barrysworld/jolt had the best servers. blueyonder used to have some too. lpb/hpb lol.
 
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I used to tweak my 56K modem with init strings to keep the connection speed down a bit and decrease the amount of lost packets, I then used to get smooth gaming at 46,667 whereas 51xxx was rubbish and kept 'phonejacking'.
 
The only game I could ever be bothered to play when we had 56K back in the day was annoying random people in chat rooms.

Contrast to that, my parents 512K connection (which I remember upgrading to from 56K and it felt like lightning) now feels like a bag of crap compared to my home 20Mb Virgin service.
 
Ace Modder said:
I remember being with CompuServe when I was around 15-16 years old, and their chatrooms were ace on a 28.8k modem. Shame the phone bill used to total around £35 per week for it back then.
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I was with Compuserve but knew how to get free internet.
You launched the browser and entered their support room(this was free).
Then you lanched a second instance of the browser and whatever you did was free!
 
Stolly said:
My first connection was 300 baud (or 0.30kbit/sec) and that was to a BBS.

The internet came a fair bit later....
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75 baud on a Commodore Vic-20. No auto-answer/auto-dial capability. Had to dial the phone first, then unplug the handset and plug it into the modem before the other side picked up. When I stepped up to the 300 baud auto-answer, my first BBS was online in a few days. Create a U/D ratio and voila! No more excessive phone bills to get programs. :)

lakitu said:
I miss the 56k Days, the noise of the modem, the feeling you got when your download eventually finished etc most notably 700mb MTV Unplugged concert, I waited 2 weeks for that!
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Ahh, the times when you spent hours, sometimes days, waiting for a DL to complete. The excitement starts, you attempt to run the app... *CRASH* You have nothing to do then but shrug your shoulders and think that was a complete waste of time... then go look for something else. :D

lakitu said:
Anyone remember the search engine NorthernLights? Was my favourite many years ago.
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Never used that one. AltaVista was my first favourite.
 
dangerstat said:
fap....................................fap fap fap.............................fap.............................fap fap fap........................................fap fap fap fap........................................fap.............fap........................fapfap.....................................fapfapfapfapfapfap
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You forgot the five minute break in the middle of that sequence when you went to make a cup of tea. ;)
 
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