I worked for BT in the UK. The first Modems I dealt with back in 1969 had a maximum speed of 200 bits per second and was the size of a small microwave.

Back when I was BBS Sysop back in the 90s, the ultimate dream modem was the Courier I-Modem.

That really brings back some fond memories of running my own dinky little BBS and FidoNet node. Thank you so much for this video!

I've been dreaming about this modem in my teen years (1997 - 2003). Never had it. It was insanely expensive in Russia for me and my family. I had Zoltrix 33.6K int. and later Acorp 56K Ext.Then came cable internet... U.S.Robotics Courier was a symbol of reliability and speed.

@TheParallelPort

8 күн бұрын

Same here! As a kid, my friend's father was a salesperson for HP and I remember seeing a USR Courier box in the back of his car. I was so jealous, but then it turned out it was for a customer and not my friend, which was even more disappointing as that meant neither of us got to experience it.

The author of Qmodem approves!

@TheParallelPort

6 күн бұрын

would love to talk about doing a Qmodem video!

@NobodyYouKnow98

3 күн бұрын

A long-time user of Qmodem also approves. I was a loyal Telix user, but when I discovered QModem Pro 1.53, there was no going back.

@breakupgoogle

3 күн бұрын

@@TheParallelPort and zmodem. loved them both. zmodem would remember where u were in the xfer and pick back up if there was a disconnect.

I never knew dialback security was a thing. Fascinating!

this video brings back such strong nostalgia....

I remember the Sysop deals ... the only way I could afford anything like this as a teenager.

After your videos on the 90s ISP series I knew I had to get all this stuff just to get my mom's USR V.90 Message back up and running! I would have loved to be around during that awesome era. BTW, I'm also getting a USR Courier :)

The ferrite clamp goes around the power supply cable. You loop the power cable around it a few times then close the clamp. It is supposed to reduce noise within the modems electronics, particularly in the DAC/ADC

In the late 90's early 2000's I had a 56k modem and we lived in a new subdivision in Australia, it would connect at 53.333kbps or on a slow day it was 52. something. Original Counter Strike me and a mate using LAN internet sharing we could both get 180-220ping in CS on the same server. 'Good old days' Cheers for the great video mate.

Iconic, and super sleek looking....I have two proudly sitting on the display shelf behind me.

The best thing about the Courier was that it just.. existed. Drivers? Software? RS232 and AT command set, bud. That's all you need. I had at one point four modems on one machine playing with teaming, and the courier and the sportster were the only ones that didn't cause problems.

Back when I ran a BBS, another sysop said "that Courier will connect to a tree and hold the connection, if it has to" and he was only slightly exaggerating. I didn't own one at the time but I own one now. Wish I had it 25 years ago.

@breakupgoogle

3 күн бұрын

tribbs ftw.

That is the GOAT of the modems :D

I always aspired to a Courier when I first started using BBS's back in the day! This was a very unexpected nostalgic break! good video!

I've pulled so many of these, new in box, from corporate data rooms where AT&T provided one for out of band management of their equipment, but were never hooked up. Thanks AT&T...

I had (have?) this one. It worked great on crappy phone lines.

I just wanted to point out that you have got the concept of call back security completely backwards. The call back function is not part of the security it's self, but rather the security is there to protect the call back function. Business men out in the field would need to call in to their company computers and to avoid long distance charges from the remote phone. The remote would call in to make a request for a connection, give the call back number of the remote phone and just hang up (Making the call from the remote phone as short as possible.). The company computer would then call the remote number and the company's computer would get bill for the long distant call and the remote would get the call for free because it was being received. This was very handy for calls being made from a pay phone, because if you make a long distance call from a payphone, the operator would cut in now and then asking for more money and that would not go well for a modem connection. The call back security that was implemented in the hardware of the modem was to prevent spoofing or "man in the middle" attacks.

I had a Sysop Courier modem back in the 90s when 16.8k HST was the new hot thing. Been recently playing with a pair of Couriers going through SPA122 MTA to a remote dialup bbs on the SFWEM AREDN network. Crazy but it works!

@Darkk6969

6 күн бұрын

Yep, I remember getting mine via the Sysop deal years ago as a teenager. It was a dual standard 14.4k with a daughterboard upgrade to run 16.8K and later firmware upgraded to 56K. Thanks to that daughterboard it gave me the ability to do firmware upgrades to add more features and speed. This is actually my first firmware upgradable device in the 1990s. I still have the modem. 😁

@dashorken

6 күн бұрын

@@Darkk6969 Nice... wish I still had my original sysop modem though I want to say my daughter board was only the 20mhz one so it couldn't do v.90 or v.92. anyway.. I hope yours is worth some real money in 20yrs! ;-)

USR were so very expensive for a 14 year old kid running a BBS. I had to settle for a 28.8k Supera

@nickwallette6201

3 күн бұрын

Started out with a 2400bps that came with the family 386, and finally convinced the folks to upgrade to a 28.8k Zoom. It was quite a while before I got my own Sportster 56k. Like you said: Couriers were unobtanium for mere mortals.

I have a few of these, They are beasts of modems. Software upgradable.

@TheParallelPort

8 күн бұрын

I think even the earliest models from 1994 were software upgradable to 56K? The hardware was so good.

@Veeb0rg

8 күн бұрын

@@TheParallelPort i know the software upgrade went pretty far back but I'm not sure on specifics. I have one of these for a dial in node on a bbs I still run. Love em!

@Darkk6969

6 күн бұрын

@@TheParallelPort Yep. Mine have a special daughterboard that I had to get from USR to give me the ability to do software upgrades. Real slick feature in the 1990s. I still have this modem!

@nickwallette6201

3 күн бұрын

I am torn on how to feel about this. O1H, that was a unique feature. Usually, when you needed a faster modem, you bought a faster modem. That's just how it was done. OTOH, there wasn't a lot that was technically different. It was all DSP. Why weren't modems ALL upgradeable after, like 14.4K? That said, you easily paid for two or three modems when you bought a Courier, so I guess they got theirs either way. Maybe if other manufacturers charged a nominal amount to buy the upgrade, and tied it to the serial number (because otherwise, of course it would be pirated), we could've all had nice things. My mind just rallies back and forth between "that is sooo cool" to "why wasn't this just a thing for everybody???"

Includes voice detection - it was awesome for war-dialing.

For the carrier dropping right after connecting, is the other terminal program doing something with DTR? I remember from back in the day lowering DTR would disconnect the call (as opposed to. +++ then ATH0 maybe?) I think you can configure it with an S register.

I am happy I stumbled upon this.

So close. You _almost_ have the best modem ever made. You really want the USR Courier V.34 Dual Standard modem. It is the GOAT of modems. It was freely upgradeable to v.92 and also supported the HST protocols. When V.90/V.92 was finally released, it was faster than HST, but the Dual Standard modem supported both. More supported protocols = technically better. Also, the Dual Standard was far more expensive than the V.only models.

Thank you for the USR everything review. I have the USR 58k v92 modem like that. But, not v. everything. Tons of people had those External Sporster modems. I hated USR. One reason if the ISP was using USR modem rack (from my understanding USR was almost giving away modem racks.). You had to either use a USR modem or find one that was good enough. Oh and I tried a internal hays modem and had issues with higher speeds. The next reason was standards. k56flex from Rockwell was used as almost everything. Except USR who used X2. (I hope I remember this right.) So instead of giving in they went and pushed for a standard. Thus, V.90 was born. Years later I found out about V.92 but I was already depending on what year DSL or Cable.Now, I do have to give credit on the V. Everything. Between modules, and firmware upgrades after the initial purchase price. You saved good. I can't remember but, you had some strange non-standardized speeds. 110, 300, 600 (not really used or skipped. I can't remember.) 9600, 14.4 28.8 33.6 (I swear something in this spot then 56k Though maxed at 53k? Anyway please add or correct any mistakes. On final note. The place I worked at did the homework and it was funny replacing out brand new modems with high quality modems that we know worked with the local ISP. We contacted them to get a list (or make a list.). Like now when you get a DSL or Cable modem list. Oh and plug in play when you rebooted the machine and the software could not find the modem.

@xheralt

5 күн бұрын

600 baud was never a thing. It went from 300 to 1200, then 2400. If you had 2400 in the BBS days you were cruising, "styling and profiling" as it was called, and often received preferential treatment by BBS's (even specific dedicated 2400-only phone numbers). 9600 I only ever saw internally within a network, that was the speed a terminal interacted with multiuser minicomputers like the Alpha Microsystems AM100 & AM1000 or mainframes such as a VAX. DSL pretty much bypassed that speed for dialup. The standard step you were looking for after 33.6 was 48k. Actual speeds could vary. Using a 56k modem on a DSL dialup, I saw reported transfer rates like 43,000 and 45,333 baud. Best performance I was ever able to squeeze out of that hardware/provider combination was 53,333 baud (middle-class/bougie neighborhood of urban area, within 1 mi. of telco switching center)

@idahofur

5 күн бұрын

@@xheralt I had a 2400 baud modem towards the end of the BBS era. I also had a 14.4, 28.8 and finally a 56k. This is going to drive me up the wall though. I decided to check modem speed. I know they have a list of certified stuff. I thought of a speed of say 19.2 or something like that. Mostly say USR / firmware upgrades. That was not a standard. Currently I'm deep diving into T1 circuit with things like ISDN, PRI, BRI, etc. I like to play with legacy phone systems and thus, having a small T1 circuit with pri channels. Works great between them and a Cisco router.

I still have a couple in a box somewhere that I'd previously used for OOB management. Those things could get a stable connection over 2 tin-cans and a piece of wet string.

Asked for this for Christmas- got a 14.4k Rockwell RPI instead that constantly disconnected!

@khx73

12 сағат бұрын

omg Rockwell RPI... _shudder_. Worked support for a small ISP in 96..those were dreaded.

Why is watching some guy spend half an hour dialing a Y2K modem *so* fascinating? Why?? Lock me away now.... with a PC and phone line a Courier Biz modem. 🙂

@j_r_-

3 күн бұрын

This video is also preserving history

its goes around the phone line cable and its a ferrite choke to remove unwanted RF

@khx73

12 сағат бұрын

hah I love how there's three different comments on that in here now.. one for serial cable, one for power cord, and one for phone line cord. :)

The lights on the front from my memory (honest) ... HighSpeed, AutoAnswer, CarrierDetect, OffHook, ReceiveData, SendData, DataTerminalReady, ModemReady, RequestToSend, ClearToSend. Not 100% sure of SYN and ARQ 30 years later... But I knew them at the time! :)

@khx73

12 сағат бұрын

These things were the gold standard.. I had Courier HST Dual Standard, looked the same. There was a free flash update that I believe brought it up to this V.Everything iirc

Ferrite beads filter out high frequency interference such as might be picked up when the cable acts as an antenna (or transmitter) on the phone line loop at the ferrite..

I got an earlier version of one of these during the compuserve era. I think 14.4k maybe, when I bought it? Over the next few years, multiple firmware updates took me all the way up to 56k. Any other modem brand would have had to be replaced multiple times. It was awesome, and well worth emptying my bank account for.

I still have one, with the original power supply and manual, but not the box. I bought it when I was in college. I obviously haven't used it in many decades, but I've no desire to get rid of it.

I had 4 of those on my bbs.. had zoom 9600's prior. The main problem with them was you could never get 56 on naked phone lines. You needed a different service. they were limited to ~48k

This channel should *really* be called _The Serial Port._ Oh, wait...

I bought 1 of those from eBay in 1999 or 2000 I think. I don't remember if it came with the CD. I was mostly using Linux. I never used the call back feature.

j got this modem way back when, took a lot of begging and saving and getting As in classes before my parents would buy it for me. When I started, it was a 28.8K modem., It came with a free firmware upgrade for 33.6K. Later on it got the 56k x2 upgrade (when it was between x2 and k56flex), and finally an upgrade to v.92. Still have it. Didn't know they were still around until my old work upgraded to gigabit internet and the ISP put in a media converter and a phone line. The phone line plugged into a Courier that was connected to the console port of the media converter. These are features that aren't on my Courier. And what's with the massive number of typos on the document for Dialback Security?

OMG. I worked on these back in the days... I am surprised you still have a POTS line to use this 😅 The folks that designed the chips in these are all retired!

@nickwallette6201

3 күн бұрын

He doesn't. Hence "pretty good for a VoIP line" at the beginning, and then the tour of the Linksys ATA.

USR was always trying to outdo the Hayes Smartmodem.

@john_in_phoenix

Күн бұрын

I owned both, Hayes was definitely in second place.

I have a C variant of that modem that I have no use for, its still brand new. don't have the box or accessories though.

Look for an old school DOS communications program called Terminate. You'll have an easier time managing your modem with this piece of software.

I still have one! No box though.

I never thought that dialback security procedure would take up one minute. Shouldn't it switch to another number in shorter time frame, e.g. 30-40 seconds?

@TheParallelPort

7 күн бұрын

Yeah the 1.5 minute wait seems so arbitrary, and it's not configurable!

Noticed the click-of-death-drive 😅

80 users on a modem... bam

Holy frell, that user manual is so full of typos it makes the "manuals" of cheap AliExpress knock-off products you can buy for a buck or two look like the Merriam-Webster. Oof.

The real reason you wanted to watch this video: 10:38

When I was in HS I decided I wanted to be an engineer and work for US Robotics. Well, I became an engineer, but USR was gone by the time I graduated. Just as well... I got a better job.

Ironically I am watching this at 155564 kpps

@khx73

12 сағат бұрын

Watching on a 1.5Gbps fiber connection... such a thing was beyond imagining when I had my Courier modem :)

Must stop watching videos like this.... just put an offer in for a used one of these modems on eBay.