The value of vintage modems?

[Keatah]

The value of vintage modems.. how come they are still dirt-cheap? Even on ebay, you see many going for $10 - $30.

 

I'm just surprised things like the Hayes MicroModem II (and many others) don't garner any interest among collectors or even causal users, if only for the purpose of allowing ancient telecom software to boot completely to the menu. For fun, for nostalgia sake. For allowing old BBS software to boot and go into "..awaiting call." mode.. You know..

 

In the WarGames era, modems and dialerz and BBS'es and A.E. lines were a big stink and it was all the rage. And we were blown away by the Diversi-Dial multi-line "chat centers". And modems were the best way to do wArEz if you were too young to drive or lived out in the boondocks.

 

I'm well aware of the limited (or no) practical use today. But then the same can be said for vintage computers themselves, too.

 

So why the lack of nostalgia and "for old times sake" when it comes these things? Because, to me, modems were like a magic box. There was a mystique surrounding the little black box that could connect to "strange and alien" systems of unknown origin and capabilities thousands of miles away. What would be found inside the wires? That sort of stuff you know?

 

[R.Cade]

I have a pile of old Courier V.Everythings... When I look, they go for maybe $20 shipped, so I will just keep them forever.

 

Generally my line of thinking is that if I would buy one for what they sell for, I may as well keep it.

Edited April 12, 2017 by R.Cade

[CatPix]

I guess it's because only a farction of users had one BITD. Also, because outside of BBS, there isn't much use for them.

It's like minitel terminals here. Sicne the network was stopped, a handful of peopel turn them into Linux terminals, gut them to make minicades, but only a few people really care to make a Transpac/X25 server and connect them from the phone line.

[bpatte02]

Modern tech also allows the use of WiFi on some computers such as The Commodore 8 bit line, which might be more lucrative. There are also many who don't have a landline anymore so that limits use as well.

[Keatah]

It's not necessarily about the use, but about the aura, the nostalgia, the coolness of what we had back in the day. People buy Apple II (not + or e) to collect them rather than do anything remotely useful with them. Same deal with the modems I'd hope.

Edited April 12, 2017 by Keatah

[AtariLeaf]

I had one for the coco BITD but I don't have any interest in owning one just for nostalgia sake. Like games I don't play, I don't keep around hardware I don't use. Vintage printers fall under the same category. I suppose if I found a modem in the wild cheap for one of the computers I own I'd grab it but I wouldn't go out of my way for one.

[Opry99er]

I use a US Robotics Courier 56k modem to dial in to a few BBSes on my TI.

[Flojomojo]

One good thing about modern phone service -- I have unlimited domestic long distance, so I wouldn't have to worry about the cost of toll calls.

 

I dislike the idea of acquiring another phone line -- or even tying up the line I have, even though I rarely use it -- for making dialup connections. Always-on is so much sexier, and more like the pure telnet links from a university or government computer network from vintage days.

 

Dial-up? Might as well get nostalgic for fax machines, too. Bleccchhh

 

Or go out of your way to find an Apple II virtual machine that can drive a vintage printer.

[Laner]

I have a couple of dial-up modems lying around, but everyone else has enumerated the reasons why they remain gathering dust. I miss the dial-up BBS days, but that's one area in this hobby where you just can't go home again.

[+save2600]

Modems?

 

Nearly completely worthless if it weren't for the fact you can turn their cases into something useful for all the modern peripherals being released today that DON'T have cases.

 

Which reminds me - have a mint/new/boxed Amiga 1680 modem I should sell soon. Or not. Won't be long until another bare naked accelerator, floppy emulator, or something else comes along that needs a case.

[+nanochess]

Modems worthless? it's because you're not prepared for the armageddon, land lines are the law.

[Flojomojo]

Especially the gasoline-powered ones.

[Keatah]

I like the ones where you hafta fart to push the data out. Modulate in MorseCode.

[eightbit]

I have one 1200 baud C64 modem that I will keep forever just because

[spacecadet]

Do vintage modems even work with modern VOIP systems? (ie. phone service from your cable provider or similar.) I know my alarm system wouldn't and it works pretty much the same way - I had to get an adapter to allow it to work on broadband.

[Flojomojo]

Seems like they would ,.. but I'm not running lousy rj11 wires around to find out!

 

I think my American Dreamcast has a modem. Can't think of anything else that I could use to test. I think the last laptop I used with a built-in modem was a colorful clamshell iBook, LOL

[CatPix]

Modems should work over your phone line, or even your smartphone; given that smartphone can recognize dialtones used to call a number

it should work for transmitting data over VOIP, but unless you have a system or a phone that recognize the dialtone to make a phone number, again, you won't be able to "call".

Data transmission from old modems is like tape data, it's just modulated sound that any system that transmit sound can transmit.

The issue our old modem meet today is that modern systems (triple play boxes with VOIP phones) wo'nt recognize the dialtones used to call the service number, which make the connection fail.

One easy way to connect an old modem to Internet today is to pick up an internal PCI modem on your computer and make it receive and transmit data from your old modem to your broadband/cable/whatever Internet service.

[Keatah]

Mmm.. There's a lot of trickery going on with speeds faster than 300/1200 baud. VOIP and other internet protocols are too sloppy and harbor too many random delays to allow hi-speed modems to connect. This little graphic illustrates some of the complexity involved in connecting two old-school analog modems.

[Grimakis]

Modems should work over your phone line, or even your smartphone; given that smartphone can recognize dialtones used to call a number

it should work for transmitting data over VOIP, but unless you have a system or a phone that recognize the dialtone to make a phone number, again, you won't be able to "call".

Data transmission from old modems is like tape data, it's just modulated sound that any system that transmit sound can transmit.

The issue our old modem meet today is that modern systems (triple play boxes with VOIP phones) wo'nt recognize the dialtones used to call the service number, which make the connection fail.

One easy way to connect an old modem to Internet today is to pick up an internal PCI modem on your computer and make it receive and transmit data from your old modem to your broadband/cable/whatever Internet service.

 

No there are a lot of issue with modems on VOIP.

 

I have two VOIP services. One is Optimum Voice the other is Magic Jack. Optimum voice works rather reliably, whereas Magic Jack is very hit or miss with modems.

 

The thing is that VOIP doesn't provide the same bandwidth as copper lines. Unlike a copper line which just sends the analog waves over the wire, VOIP samples it and digitized it. Not all VOIP is created equal. They are generally optimized for human speech, and they don't necessarily sample the frequencies out of that range.

 

Also it is often compressed. Since the modem relies on specific timing, if the sample rate of the compression doesn't line up with the rate at which the data is being modulated, you're going to lose data. Trust me. I can dial out with magic jack just fine. I can make the connection, but the carrier signal can drop at any point. You may start seeing garbage characters. Higher speeds don't work.

 

It just isn't the same.

[82-T/A]

I would think proprietary connector or custom name-brand modems (Atari, Commodore, Apple) would be worth more than the run of the mill US Robotics or Hayes modems that you could buy aftermarket for any machine..

 

Like the Atari phone coupler... that's gotta have some value!

 

I remember seeing one in my school's music room where we took violin lessons. There was an Atari coupler up on the shelf up there, and I was incensed by it because I owned an Atari 2600 at the time (and a Nintendo 8-bit) and was a big fan of the Atari name... though at the time, didn't really know Atari made computers.

 

Had to have been like 1987 or 1998 or something... so by that point, it was probably so old no one used it anymore.

[Keatah]

I would have hoped the Hayes MicroModem II for the Apple would have increased in value beyond $40-$50. But no.. The highest priced modem for the Apple today is the Apple-Cat II. A completed set might pull in $300-$350.