Re-experience '90s internet with this new 56K dial-up modem

zohaibahd · 2024-10-28T13:38:00-0400

The opposite of cutting-edge: It's the era of 5G and gigabit-speed internet, and dial-up connections are dead in most places. However, that hasn't stopped a Japanese company from rolling out a brand-new 56K modem for anyone still relying on ancient copper phone lines to surf the web.

Planex Communications' new PL-US56K2(A) USB modem just hit the market. For around $40 on Amazon, this retro device connects to your PC via USB, allowing you to access analog phone lines for internet connectivity, data transfers, and even fax capabilities.

Sure, the speeds are laughably slow by modern standards, with a theoretical maximum of 56 Kbps for downloads. But hey, they should still allow you to browse Gmail – though you'd likely have been better off switching to the basic HTML version if Google hadn't killed it off earlier this year.

Planex states that the modem complies with the 56K ITU-T standard recommendations and supports the V.90 and V.92 protocols. It's also designed to be plug-and-play with the latest versions of Windows, meaning you can simply connect it to your USB port without needing to install drivers. Its compact size (25mm x 75mm x 18mm) and lightweight design (just 28 grams) make it easy to stow away, too.

Back in the 90s, most people with internet access connected using modems over telephone lines. The fastest modem in early 1993 had a maximum speed of 14.4 Kbps. The 28.8 K modem launched in 1994, doubling the theoretical maximum speed, followed by the 33.6 K modem in 1996. The 56 K standard used by this new modem arrived in 1998, offering a theoretical 56 Kbps download and 33.6 Kbps upload speed.

However, in practice, the advertised maximum speeds were rarely achieved due to infrastructure latencies. For instance, large downloads on a 28 K modem often averaged just 1-6 Kbps, taking hours per file even in the late 1990s. Everything changed when broadband internet arrived, revolutionizing connection speeds.

As for why anyone would want to return to dial-up speeds in 2024, there are still some niche scenarios where it might come in handy, such as accessing legacy systems that require an analog phone connection or sending faxes from older machines. Japan is also notoriously slow to move away from legacy technology (the country eliminated floppy disks from government use only this year), so it may still be useful for a few people there.

Permalink to story:

Re-experience '90s internet with this new 56K dial-up modem

Theinsanegamer · 2024-10-28T14:07:44-0400

I miss the dial up days. The internet was so much more fun back then.

yRaz · 2024-10-28T14:11:22-0400

I remember my dialup being fairly consistent and being both up and down at 56k.

The thing with the 56k modem, and this is why I think they might still be making them, is they are and incredibly reliable, durable and cheap way to send data and power to devices. This effectively turns a USB port into a serial port. Serial cables are nice, but they are expensive and not very effective over long distances.

human7 · 2024-10-28T14:13:37-0400

Does it make the dialup noises?

CrisisDog · 2024-10-28T14:23:36-0400

Our neighborhood has (had?) telephone lines that would not support anything over 28.8k, and damn Comcast was late to the show and also the only available broadband service for about five years. Finally jumped onboard the broadband bus in the early 2000’s when WOW became an option with cheaper prices. But yeah, dial up was a different, fun time, with many other computer options like Amiga, Apple II, OS/2, Mac “classic”, along with the now dominant Windows OS.

Master543 · 2024-10-28T15:31:13-0400

Ok but dont be nostalgia biased but these suck. I think. Havent ever used one of course

BuckarooBonzaii · 2024-10-28T18:58:43-0400

Don't want your friends calling you? It's web surfing time.

p51d007 · 2024-10-28T19:51:51-0400

Faxing...DON'T get me started! I've been dealing with fax since the mid-late 80's. Heck, even back then if they had the tip/ring reversed, fax machines wouldn't work properly. In the 90's I had a customer (hospital) that got a new (stand alone) fax and it would receive from EVERYONE except ONE number. The messaging service that would fax messages back to the hospital. A long time ago I built a speaker amplifier adapter that I could connect to the line, so I could monitor the entire fax transmission. Phase A, B, C, D. This one would hang up on Phase A. Old machine worked fine, new one wouldn't. I even had the district rep for the manufacturer come down and he had the curious look on his face too. We sent the data we had back to Japan and they called me back and said you need to turn off xyz code. I said that setting isn't even in the book. Oh, that's because you don't use that feature in the USA, but we use it in Japan. Turned the code off, machine worked. SOMETHING in the senders fax initial part of Phase A was being thought of as a "secure" fax. That meant the phone number of the sender had to be in the receivers address book or it would hang up. The sender was using an old AS400 system.
Then, when VoIP came along had all sorts of problems at the same hospital. Got lucky though. The guy running the telephone system there was an old Southwestern Bell guy and we were already friends. We sat in his office one afternoon, he showed me what his system would do and between he & I we came up with settings to make the fax work. Back then the ATA on the line couldn't handle 56K Super G3, so we slowed them down to 14.4k and changed about a dozen settings, some I still use today.
Fax...something "invented" in the 1800's technically, is still being used because politicians, lawyers, can't come up with a 100% fool proof way of using email instead of fax.
Shoot, we install more fax boards inside copier/printers today, than we sold when they were stand alone devices & now we now have Fax over IP available.

Re-experience '90s internet with this new 56K dial-up modem

zohaibahd

Posts: 588 +15

The opposite of cutting-edge: It's the era of 5G and gigabit-speed internet, and dial-up connections are dead in most places. However, that hasn't stopped a Japanese company from rolling out a brand-new 56K modem for anyone still relying on ancient copper phone lines to surf the web.

Theinsanegamer

Posts: 5,919 +11,273

yRaz

Posts: 6,978 +10,843

human7

Posts: 592 +596

CrisisDog

Posts: 338 +241

Master543

Posts: 7 +2

BuckarooBonzaii

Posts: 627 +443

p51d007

Posts: 4,206 +4,196

Similar threads

Latest posts