CuTEL Dial Up

The UK's Largest Dial Up ISP


Due to popular demand, we have launched our BETA Dial Up service!

Stack of modems

Overview

Our Enterprise Dial Up service is provided by 4x US Robotics Courier Modems connected to a Grandstream ATA to provide the phone lines, and a Mikrotik hAP ac² acting as a PPP server. A Kamilio based SIP proxy relays calls between subscribers ATAs and the ATA hooked up to the modems. The proxy has been customised to allow users to connect instantly with shared credentials, avoiding having to setup accounts or spending real money calling over the PSTN.

The Dial Up service cannot currently access the full internet. Instead connections are isolated to a number of different services aimed at retro computer users - you can select which service you wish to connect to by adjusting your PPP login details. In future we hope to add access to additional services and potentially the full internet. If you have a service you'd like to be able to access, get in touch.

Unfortunately running modems over VoIP is known to be problematic due to packet loss and jitter that isn't present in the traditional PSTN network, but we've hopefully optimised things to give a reasonable experience. During recent testing a session remained connected for 45 minutes with only 3% packet loss, although it did train down to 14kb/s. Think of it as an authentic Dial Up experience over an aluminium telephone line. After its been raining.

Please note this is a BETA and the service may become degraded or decommisioned entirely in the future.

Connecting to the Dial Up Service

PSTN

+44 (0)20 3422 7464

VoIP Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA)

You can connect your ATA directly without needing to create an account. For the best perfomance we highly recommend Cisco VG202 and VG204 devices, but setting them up is a slightly involved process (Instructions coming soon). If easy setup is prefered, We've had good results with the Grandstream HT8XX range.

Server: modem.cutel.net
Username: modem
Password: modem
Dial Up Number: 1000

To optimise your ATA for modems use the following settings:

Codec: G711A
Voice Activity Detection (VAD): Disabled
Echo Cancellation: Disabled
Fax / T.38: Disabled
Jitter Buffer: Fixed to "medium" or similar

PPP Settings

Protoweb

Protoweb is a free public service that hosts historical Internet websites to demonstrate the Internet in it’s early days. It offers 100s of carefully curated and restored websites, with a focus on the late nineties and early noughties.

Username: protoweb
Password: protoweb

Once connected, go to www.inode.com to view the list of restored websites available on protoweb

ucanet

ucanet is an alternate-root DNS server for vintage and retro computers, with a completely fresh set of domains to register. Their goal is to provide retro computers with an entirely separate user-generated web ecosystem.

Username: ucanet
Password: ucanet

Once connected, go to ucanet.net to view the list of services available on ucanet

Modem Settings

Modems use AT commands to configure various settings, and most devices and operating systems will allow you to define a list of these commands to send to the modem before connecting. The recommended settings for popular modems are listed below:

US Robotics Courier

AT&S=1&N=0&H=1S19=0

Thanks

A big thanks to MrJoshua for hosting the hardware, Shadytel and dialup.world for their inspiration and support, Electromagnetic Field for being the catalyst that led to CuTEL, and all our loyal subsribers and fans.

Feedback

We'd love to hear from people accessing the service - what kind of speeds you achieved, if the connection disconnected after a while, or just kind words.

Get in touch by sending an email to dialup@cutel.net, joining our Discord Server, or send us a toot