2600.network : The Umbrella POTS Dial-in Gateway : Hosted by Flex

/in /by

One of the most amazing developments in The BBS Scene is Flex's POTS Dial-in Gateway.  This system allows people who want to dial into bulletin board systems have a portal for doing so.  Its a simple yet profound idea: have a large bank of modems connected to a server that hosts up various bulletin board systems, having a choice of which BBS system to connect to out of a large assortment of options.  So on systems where its impractical to have a phone connection to, all you have to do is add the BBS into a listing of many BBSes and the user, after connecting, can determine which system they want to access and get redirected to whatever BBS they choose amongst the wide variety of systems with redirects to them.  I have personally connected at around ~46 kbps on occasion, but I get a solid connection at 19.2 kbps.  This is all the speed you need to logon to check your mail.  In a situation where someone can't get the Internet but can get dial-up, this would be optimal as an e-mail store and forward system.  Flex has several lines into his network.  My own personal setup to access Flex's system is a US Robotics 56k v.92 External Serial Modem, a DTECH FTDI Chipset Serial to USB connector, and a Cable-to-Go 7′ highly insulated RJ-11 (phone) cable.  I've also got a DB-9 to DB-25 Serial to Serial adaptor so that the USB connection wire will have the right connection to the modem.  The DTECH cable is rather fancy in that it has colour indicators that indicate whether one is sending or receiving from the serial connection.  So…. mad props to Flex for helping so much to the BBS community.  His system is yet another example of a person with an awesome idea and changes things up and makes the vision a reality.  Truly spectacular Flex!  Good job!

C2G RJ11 High-Speed Internet Modem Cable, 7 Foot Long, Transparent Blue
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000083JZ0/

USRobotics USR5686G 56K Serial Controller Faxmodem
https://www.amazon.com/USRobotics-USR5686G-Serial-Controller-Faxmodem/dp/B003U9ZH7Y/

DTECH USB to RS232 DB9 Serial Adapter Cable 15 Feet with FTDI Chip
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J1HWLMM/

StarTech.com DB9 to DB25 Serial Cable Adapter – F/M – Serial adapter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00066HOWK/