Hey all! Does anyone have any recommendations for cheap, reliable dialup ISPs? I've tried dialup.world but the connection is not ideal since both my end and theirs are using VoIP ATAs.
I've also tried MSN but most of their numbers seem to be out of service, and I'm currently trying SDF.org's dialup network but I'm running into issues with PPP authentication on most of
their remaining numbers.


Regards,
VHSFuture
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ISPs? I've tried dialup.world but the connection is not ideal since both my end and theirs are using VoIP ATAs.

Modems and VoIP's have never had a good history of playing well together. You're bes bet if you're wanting to use a regular modem to to just get a POTS line.

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Modems and VoIP's have never had a good history of playing well together. You're bes bet if you're wanting to use a regular modem to to just get a POTS line.

Most if not all are being phased out... Do they even sell these anymore?

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Modems and VoIP's have never had a good history of playing well together.
You're bes bet if you're wanting to use a regular modem to to just get a POTS line.

Most if not all are being phased out... Do they even sell these anymore?

I think I would have a difficult time getting one here without paying
business rates (if I can get one at all)... and I strongly suspect that it would ultimately still be routed through the provider's VOIP system, even
if the lines leaving my house were copper.


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Dumas Walker wrote to NITER3 <=-

I think I would have a difficult time getting one here without paying business rates (if I can get one at all)... and I strongly suspect that
it would ultimately still be routed through the provider's VOIP system, even if the lines leaving my house were copper.

My family has a cabin up in the mountains. DSL has sort of been
available for a while. We still have a POTS line up there, was shocked
to see that the bill is over $75/month!



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Re: Re: Dialup ISPs?
By: Geri Atricks to VHSFuture on Sat Mar 21 2026 10:43 pm

Modems and VoIP's have never had a good history of playing well together. You're bes bet if you're wanting to use a regular modem to to just get a POTS line.

Can you even get a regular POTS line anymore though? If you want POTS telephone service at home, I think they pretty much all go through VOIP these days.

Nightfox
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Re: Dialup ISPs?
By: niter3 to Geri Atricks on Sun Mar 22 2026 08:47 am

Modems and VoIP's have never had a good history of playing well together.

Most if not all are being phased out... Do they even sell these anymore?

If you can't get a POTS line from a phone service anymore, there are VOIP services online that you can use to get a telephone line, such as voip.ms and others. With those services, you'd generally need to buy a device that connects to your network (usually via ethernet) and provides an outlet for a phone. You can configure such a device to connect to the VOIP service you sign up for.

Nightfox

Nightfox
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Re: Dialup ISPs?
By: Dumas Walker to NITER3 on Sun Mar 22 2026 10:17 am

I think I would have a difficult time getting one here without paying business rates (if I can get one at all)... and I strongly suspect that it would ultimately still be routed through the provider's VOIP system, even if the lines leaving my house were copper.

I added a dialup line to my BBS a couple years ago, and I'm using VOIP service from voip.ms, and what they charge isn't business rates, as far as I can tell. I feel like their price is fairly reasonable.

Nightfox
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I added a dialup line to my BBS a couple years ago, and I'm using VOIP service from voip.ms, and what they charge isn't business rates, as far
as I can tell. I feel like their price is fairly reasonable.

Also ATA box works better than others when using modems. I use CISCO ATA192-MPP (ATA192-3PW-K9) adapter for my VOIP line. They are very sensible to
delay (ping) on the Ethernet side, so you must use direct RJ45 cable connection to the router. Don't use wifi or Powerline technologie.

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I think I would have a difficult time getting one here without paying
business rates (if I can get one at all)... and I strongly suspect that it >DW> would ultimately still be routed through the provider's VOIP system, even >DW> if the lines leaving my house were copper.

I added a dialup line to my BBS a couple years ago, and I'm using VOIP service
from voip.ms, and what they charge isn't business rates, as far as I can tell.
I feel like their price is fairly reasonable.

Because it is VOIP... I think they'd charge you a whole lot more for a real honest-to-goodness copper line that probably winds up having calls routed through VOIP somewhere in their office.

Are users able to get decent connection rates and not get dropped often?

I have some callers who seem to struggle but I don't know what equipment
they are using on their end. Saturday, OTOH, I had a new caller that
connected at 9600 and didn't seem to have any issues during the 15-20
minutes they were connected.


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Re: Re: Dialup ISPs?
By: Gods69 to Nightfox on Mon Mar 23 2026 08:54 am

Also ATA box works better than others when using modems. I use CISCO ATA192-MPP (ATA192-3PW-K9) adapter for my VOIP line. They are very sensible to delay (ping) on the Ethernet side, so you must use direct RJ45 cable connection to the router. Don't use wifi or Powerline technologie.

Interesting - I also use a Cisco ATA192-MPP of the same model (ATA192-3PW-K9).

Nightfox
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Re: Dialup BBSing with VOIP
By: Dumas Walker to NIGHTFOX on Mon Mar 23 2026 08:46 am

I added a dialup line to my BBS a couple years ago, and I'm using VOIP
service
from voip.ms, and what they charge isn't business rates, as far as I can

Are users able to get decent connection rates and not get dropped often?

Honestly I haven't looked at the connection rates that closely, but I recall from when I noticed the connection rates aren't that bad (at least around 14.4k or so), and I don't think they get dropped often.

Nightfox
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Interesting - I also use a Cisco ATA192-MPP of the same model (ATA192-3PW-K9).

It was an upgrade for the older Cisco SPA122 that a have. I can't see to
much differences between the two...

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