Dial-up Internet Sound

[LOLZpersonok]

I had no idea where to post it, so I figured I'd post it here.

As I am too young to remember hearing the dial-up Internet sound (I was living and using the computer during dial-up days, but when Ethernet was starting to come into play. About 1998-2001) I don't have any idea where the sound comes from. I know what it sounds like and I have an idea as to what the sound is. But, I don't know where the sound actually comes from, like what device produces the sound.

I'm thinking that it is the modem that you'd hang on the wall (in the way we have our Internet router screwed sideways to the wall) but I think it may also be the actual modem inside your computer, or both. Or maybe it's the phone? I also have this odd idea (odd to me, might be true) that the sound comes from the actual cable connecting your computer to the big modem.

Anyone know what device or devices actually produced the iconic dial-up sound? Is there a speaker in said device that makes the sound, or some kind of electronic inside the device? And, is there a way that I could actually get these old devices to make the noise?

 

[Menel]

I had no idea where to post it, so I figured I'd post it here.

As I am too young to remember hearing the dial-up Internet sound (I was living and using the computer during dial-up days, but when Ethernet was starting to come into play. About 1998-2001) I don't have any idea where the sound comes from. I know what it sounds like and I have an idea as to what the sound is. But, I don't know where the sound actually comes from, like what device produces the sound.

I'm thinking that it is the modem that you'd hang on the wall (in the way we have our Internet router screwed sideways to the wall) but I think it may also be the actual modem inside your computer, or both. Or maybe it's the phone? I also have this odd idea (odd to me, might be true) that the sound comes from the actual cable connecting your computer to the big modem.

Anyone know what device or devices actually produced the iconic dial-up sound? Is there a speaker in said device that makes the sound, or some kind of electronic inside the device? And, is there a way that I could actually get these old devices to make the noise?

It comes from a speaker on the modem.

You'd need a landline, computer with a PCI card modem, and access to a dialup internet or message board.

 

[S.B.G]

If you just want to listen to it....

 

[maflynn]

Anyone know what device or devices actually produced the iconic dial-up sound? Is there a speaker in said device that makes the sound, or some kind of electronic inside the device? And, is there a way that I could actually get these old devices to make the noise?

The only device that made sound was a modem, a MOdulator/DEModulator, a device that converted digital signals to analog signals. The sounds were used to negotiate the speed and protocol. I'm sure there are MP3s and WAV sounds of this. Just get that instead of trying to duplicate old technology in a modern age.

 

[satcomer]

Just search for dialup modem sounds. The article The Mechanics and Meaning of That Ol' Dial-Up Modem Sound should answer your question.

 

[maflynn]

If you just want to listen to it....

YouTube: video

That brings me back to the days of BBSs', As great as technology is, and how much its improved. There was something special during those days. Ahhhh the good ole days

 

[Menel]

That brings me back to the days of BBSs', As great as technology is, and how much its improved. There was something special during those days. Ahhhh the good ole days

Good days... they were not

 

[LadyX]

If you just want to listen to it....

YouTube: video

Sounds like someone trying to communicate with aliens.

 

[maflynn]

Good days... they were not

I disagree, sometimes it was frustratingly slow to be sure, but I had a lot of fun with the BBs back then.

 

[S.B.G]

That brings me back to the days of BBSs', As great as technology is, and how much its improved. There was something special during those days. Ahhhh the good ole days

Those were the days. I was alway's trying to get the best modem so I could get the fastest connection, as close to 56k as I could.

 

[S.B.G]

Sounds like someone trying to communicate with aliens.

Yeah, it was/is a funny sound.

 

[heehee]

The offices photocopier's fax line makes this sound.

 

[Menel]

I disagree, sometimes it was frustratingly slow to be sure, but I had a lot of fun with the BBs back then.

It was the dark ages of information sharing and information access other than super nerds.

Still have one of these in a wire basket on a shelf in my laboratory

 

[balamw]

I disagree, sometimes it was frustratingly slow to be sure, but I had a lot of fun with the BBs back then.

Definitely! I loved my BBS days. I was also among the first batch of subscribers to Quantum Link (the Commodore based predecessor to AOL.) In many ways that's why I like this place, it's the closest thing to that feeling of community we had back then.

B

 

[SkyBell]

If you just want to listen to it....

YouTube: video

Geez that's a flood of nostalgia. My family had dial-up until about 2005, I remember browsing eBay and clicking on an auction listing, going downstairs to get a glass of water, and returning to the computer to find the page about halfway loaded.

 

[S.B.G]

Geez that's a flood of nostalgia. My family had dial-up until about 2005, I remember browsing eBay and clicking on an auction listing, going downstairs to get a glass of water, and returning to the computer to find the page about halfway loaded.

Yep. Those were the days when it took longer for Windows (that's what I was on at the time) Updates to download than it did to install them. Now, it takes longer to install GB's than it does to download them.

 

[VI™]

God I feel ancient.

Someone somewhere in someplace asked a bunch of kids what the diskette icon in the menus of programs meant and most all of them replied that it was the save button. They didn't realized that it was a representation of a 3.5" floppy...or what a 3.5" floppy was even for. It could store one and a half megabytes!

 

[localoid]

God I feel ancient.

Someone somewhere in someplace asked a bunch of kids what the diskette icon in the menus of programs meant and most all of them replied that it was the save button. They didn't realized that it was a representation of a 3.5" floppy...or what a 3.5" floppy was even for. It could store one and a half megabytes!

Despite the floppy's shortcomings, it was much more reliable/simplier than storing programs/data on a cassette tape.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yep. Those were the days when it took longer for Windows (that's what I was on at the time) Updates to download than it did to install them. Now, it takes longer to install GB's than it does to download them.

Oh, yes. This I do remember……..and plugging in the computer to the landline and being awfully grateful if the speed showed anything over 35k, (49 to 56 was a rare and much desired occurrence)..

And the eternal Windows updates taking forever to download…..

God I feel ancient.

Someone somewhere in someplace asked a bunch of kids what the diskette icon in the menus of programs meant and most all of them replied that it was the save button. They didn't realized that it was a representation of a 3.5" floppy...or what a 3.5" floppy was even for. It could store one and a half megabytes!

Yes. At times such as this you feel your age….

 

[S.B.G]

Oh, yes. This I do remember……..and plugging in the computer to the landline and being awfully grateful if the speed showed anything over 35k, (49 to 56 was a rare and much desired occurrence)..

And the eternal Windows updates taking forever to download…..




Yes. At times such as this you feel your age….

And if we didn't get our desired minimum speed, we'd disconnect and attempt to reconnect over and over again!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

And if we didn't get our desired minimum speed, we'd disconnect and attempt to reconnect over and over again!

Exactly! Anything below 25 k (especially the dreaded 17 or 19 k reading) meant an immediate disconnection, and attempting to reconnect - yes, sometimes, over and over and over again……

And any image took forever and forever to download - which is why I developed a strong preference for reading text online, and loathed images.

Sigh. Those were the days….

 

[localoid]

Submitted for your consideration:

"Modem Song" was a tune by the Scottish group "Looper", on the album "The Geometrid", released in 2000.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Someone gifted us a year of internet access in 1997/8. The modem is still in the other room.

I remember getting on our Windows 95 machine and logging onto it everyday. Internet Explorer 4, haha. Amazing how fast Safari has moved to the next version compared to it.

I was more excited when they got T1 speeds at school though. Those were fun.

 

[Roller]

Oh, yes. This I do remember……..and plugging in the computer to the landline and being awfully grateful if the speed showed anything over 35k, (49 to 56 was a rare and much desired occurrence)..

And the eternal Windows updates taking forever to download…..




Yes. At times such as this you feel your age….

Ha! I remember well the days of acoustic couplers, where you'd take the telephone receiver and insert both ends into cups on the modem. In those days, 300 baud (not technically the same as 300 bps, but close) was pretty good. I started off with Teletypes and progressed to CRTs, which we called VDUs (Video Display Units).

When the speed of dial up improved in the 1990s, it was a revelation to me, though downloading was glacial by today's standards. I once downloaded a beta of Mac OS 8 that lasted overnight and actually completed without an error. But I had a dedicated phone line for the modem so people couldn't sever the connection by picking up another handset.

 

[MacNut]

Don't pick up the phone don't pick up the phone!!! Ah crap.

heh I remember buying an "upgraded" modem of 33.6 for faster speeds.

45 mins just to connect to AOL only to lose the connection 30 seconds later.